“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Pet. 3:15-17). We have seen that in order properly to defend our beliefs, we must first be sure that we have set aside Christ as Lord in our hearts so that He will receive the glory in our response. Second, we should prepare our answer in advance by knowing what we believe and why. Third, we need to present the message of hope in our answer, and our reason for hope lies only in the life and death of Christ. Thus our answer must focus on Christ and the hope we have in Him.

We continue with our analysis of the verse by looking at Peter’s caveat that the answer should be with gentleness and respect. It may seem odd to think of answering pagans with gentleness and respect, but a reading of Paul’s message to the pagans in Athens at the Council of the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31) shows a great measure of gentleness and respect. Paul refrained from attacking them, but rather began by commending them for their being so religious. If we answer cultic people or people of non-Christian religions, or any others who are outside the pale of historic orthodox Christianity, we can still do so with gentleness and respect. We are gentle in that we realize that these are fellow humans created in the image of God, and respectful in that we respect their convictions and devotion to what they believe is right, whatever it is.

When we deal with fellow Christians, we should be just as conscious of our manner and mode of response. Christians who differ with us deserve our respect as brothers, and they deserve gentle treatment. There is really no excuse for taking a superior, arrogant, pontifical approach. There is no excuse for demeaning a person’s character or his standing as a fellow in Adam.

There is no excuse for failing to maintain a gentle spirit and give a respectful answer, except in the case of dealing with religious leaders who deceive people and dishonor God. These are instances when the Lord and later the apostle Paul unleashed venomous denunciations. People who dishonor God for gain, people who enslave others with religious laws and traditions, and people who are pompous hypocrites receiving praise from men need someone to deflate them. But remember we are neither the Lord nor the apostle Paul, and so this kind of reaction should occur only under extreme conditions, and always personally and directly – not by way of anonymous attacks or gossip.