You know that verse in 1 Peter that talks about being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have? Well, I just want you to know that I totally agree with Peter (you can breathe easy now). You never know when you're going to get bamboozled!
I was sitting at my desk at work on Tuesday afternoon minding my own business. All the sudden my co-worker comes into the office, sits down and says, "Does your church follow the 10 commandments?" I nearly choked on my Diet Coke! I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Like do you follow them as rules? Does your church stand up for them?" I began to answer when he interrupted me, "And do you drink alcohol? How do you feel about baptism for the dead? Are black people cursed because of Cain?"
Oh snap, it was on!
I tried as best as I could to answer his questions, all while praying feverishly for wisdom! He shared with me all kinds of things the Mormon church believes and wanted to know my opinion about them. He drilled me for about 20 minutes then got up, walked out, and went back to work.
He's done this kind of thing a few times before. He'll ask questions, we'll talk, and then weeks will go by before he talks about it again.
I'm super open about my relationship with God, but not pushy at all. Everyone knows we're starting a church and most people have agreed to try it when we launch. People ask me questions about our church and God; it's super cool!
In fact, Vince got together with one of my co-workers last weekend to talk about evidence for the Bible. It went as well as it could have; the guy is all about aliens and conspiracy theories so it got a little weird at points.
I don't know about you, but I often don't feel prepared. There are so many questions that I don't know the answer to and some of their questions are just plain crazy! The more I think about it, the more I feel like the answers aren't always the "goal" of the conversation. It's about giving people our attention and respecting and loving them. I don't always have answers for my co-workers, but they always come back.
The second section of the verse in 1 Peter says, "But do this with gentleness and respect..."
Once again, I agree with Peter (Ha)! What a smart guy!!!!
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