Why?
This morning, I was reading 1 Peter 3. One verse that really stuck out to me was 15. It says, “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.”
Why did this verse strike a chord with me? Well, because I’ve realized that people have a tendency to ask the infamous question “why”. And, it doesn’t matter what the subject matter, the “why” question will come up in all circles on a very frequent basis. “Why do you listen to that music”, “Why do you go to Starbucks”, “Why do you eat granola”, “Why are you a dirty hippie”, “Why did you do that”, “Why didn’t you do that”, “Why did you vote for __________”. And the list could go on and on…
But, here in 1 Peter 3:15 were told, as if we’re all Boy Scouts, to be prepared. And the state of preparedness (is that even a word?) is to be a constant thing…not just on Sunday mornings or at Bible study, and so on. But, we are to always be prepared to give an answer to anyone that asks us “why”. And, in addition to being prepared, we’re told to do this with “gentleness and respect.” (on a side note, my guess is that many of the street preachers, funeral protesters, abortion clinic bombers and their buddies like to overlook the whole “gentleness and respect” bit…which, I guess in my little rants about them, I like to ignore those too).
So, this leads me to the question “why”.
- If you’re a Christian, why do you believe?
- If you’re not a Christian, why don’t you believe?
- If you go to church, why do you go to church?
- If you don’t go to church, why not?
- If you pray, why?
- If you don’t pray, why not?
To be honest, I think I’m more interested in the “why not” questions. I’m pretty interested to know why people don’t believe, why they don’t go to church, why they don’t pray.
Anyway, that’s what went through my head while reading 1 Peter 3 this morning (side note- for those of you that attend Center Chapel, 1 Peter 3 was our reading assignment this week).