Apologizing For Jesus

Under pressure, we tend to do one of two things. We hit back, or we hide. Retaliation or retreat. Peter closes both doors, and he opens a third: make a defense. The word he uses is the greek apologia, from which we get our word apologetics. That may sound like an academic discipline reserved for experts, but Peter envisions the ordinary witness of believers and the church. Before the church makes an argument, the church itself must become a kind of argument.

Francis Schaeffer brilliantly defended the Christian faith philosophically, yet he called the church’s visible love and unity the “final apologetic.” The character of our life together gives credibility to our witness. Consider V8 in negation: “All of you, do whatever you want, be indifferent to each other, keep relational distance, have a hard heart, and always think you are right.” This is anti-community, but the gospel is meant to create a countercultural and compelling contrast. The supreme contrasting value is a commitment to good in the face of unjust suffering, while continuing to bless rather than curse.

This internal work becomes an outward witness. Peter continues to focus not first and foremost on the convictions and clarity of our defense but on the conduct of our character. The goal is not to simply win an argument, but win a soul, and this takes more than logic. A syllogism can be debated or refuted, but a person who will suffer unjustly and willingly while continuing to bless and do good cannot. Why? Because at heart of Christianity is not an airtight argument but an airtight person. It is impossible to look at Jesus and see an evil man, but “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” Our defense is simple: this changed me. And as we walk in like manner, it becomes an unavoidable argument for the reality of Christ.