By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
There’s an expression that sometimes circulates on social media in posts or memes—that the best sermon is lived, not preached.
There’s good intentions in this, but it can really misdirect us.
Our words are incredibly important for two reasons: so that our actions line up with what we say we believe about the Bible and so that we can clearly communicate the gospel. We can live a Christ-like life but if we can’t help people understand what it means to have a saving faith in Jesus, our actions help no one with their eternity.
People want to know why we live differently; why our actions might be different than those. Why did you give money to that homeless guy when you know he’s going to buy drugs? Why didn’t you just knock that guy right off the bucking chutes for acting like that back there? Why would you shake that rodeo judge’s hand when he’s cheated you out of the finals two years in a row?
Even if they don’t come right out and ask it, our actions lead to questions in their thoughts but if they also hear us speak about our faith, they can obviously connect it all together as having something to do with Jesus and the door might open to tell them about our faith if we haven’t found a way to bring it up already.
But how we live our lives and the Christ-centered reasons we give for it can lead to people hating us or challenging us.
1 Peter 3:15-17 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
The hope Peter is referring to here isn’t the same as hoping for a certain outcome, it’s about those with a saving faith in Jesus understanding there is nothing here for us compared to what is to come in an eternity in Heaven. Our hope or trust isn’t in anything from this world but in Jesus and heaven.
Peter wants us to live out a life that honors Jesus and his holiness while being able to tell people how to get to heaven through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, repentance or our sin and a desire to be forgiven in the understanding Jesus took the punishment that was otherwise meant for our sin.
Peter stresses the importance of how we live our lives, that it can actually lead to suffering in a culture that hates Christian beliefs but because of our efforts to live like Jesus, it makes those who come up against us look shameful.
But he also stresses we have to be prepared to defend our faith and share the gospel with others. Our words are necessary to explain that sermon we are living out.
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