“… 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.” 1 Peter 3:15
“You have something that I don’t have, and I want to know why. What makes you different?”
This was my seventy-two-year-old father’s question from his hospital bed. He was terminally ill with a rare, untreatable cancer. Time was running out. And he wanted to know what made me different.
I told him it was my relationship with Jesus, a personal, intentional walk that held me through everything life threw at me, including my own cancer diagnosis five years earlier. He responded, “I want what you have. Will you be my spiritual mentor for whatever time I have left?” Eyes filled with tears, I agreed.
For the remaining weeks of his life, I prayed and talked about God’s Word with him daily. We sang hymns from his childhood and planned his funeral together.
Nine days before his death, I held his hand as he asked Jesus to be his Savior. That experience is one of the deepest blessings of my life.
His question helped shape my thoughts about evangelism.
Peter writes that we should be prepared to explain the reason for the hope within us. His audience is Christians scattered as “sojourners and exiles” (1 Pet 2:11), living under Roman rule hostile to their faith and way of life. They cannot hide their differences because their values set them apart.
Peter’s strategy isn’t out loud evangelism. Instead, exhibit good behavior in Christ, behavior that even critics have to respect. Live in such a way that people are driven to ask “What makes you different? What is the reason for the hope I see in you?”
What if evangelism is less about what we say in planned events of ministry and more about who we are in unplanned moments? Peter calls us to readiness, but not to rehearsed scripts. He calls us to hearts that love the Lord so much that hope just spills out of us. When we respond to stress with peace, to injustice with grace, to loss with hope, people notice.
Don’t wait for a platform to share Jesus. Live in such a way that your everyday hope prompts the question—then be ready with the answer.
Prayer: Lord, fill me with such visible hope that others can’t help but notice. When life is hard, let me point to You through my peace, my grace, my trust. Prepare my heart to answer gently when someone asks what makes me different. Make my life an invitation to know You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Want more?
Read Matthew 5:14–16. Where could your light shine brighter? Is there a fear compelling you to dim your light? If so, how can you let your light shine more intentionally this week? Who needs to see Jesus through you?
