Your Personal Story: A study in 1 Peter 3:15

19 year old William Swinimer was suspended from school for being a religious zealot of sorts regarding his Christian faith. He was overt about his faith to his classmates, but the straw the broke the camel's back if you will was a shirt he wore to school one day: A bright yellow t-shirt that said: "Life is wasted without Jesus."

In an interview with Cheryl Weber from 100 Huntley St. he alluded to his experience as a Christian at his high school. He explained that for his entire high-school career at Forest Heights Community School, Christianity was demonized. According to Swinimer one teacher openly proclaimed that it is Christianity that is “...the problem of the world”[i]. However despite the defacing of Swinimer's theological beliefs there were students who were were curious and asked him questions about them; however, apparently when he attempted to answer their inquires he was hauled into the principle’s office.

Swinimer, of course, claims that he was never in people’s faces about his Christianity and that he spoke with love. Not having been there I cannot validate or invalidate his claim; however there were some students who seem to disagree with Swinimer's perception of his behaviour. A CTV Atlantic article reported one student in saying: 

He's been preaching to students about his religion, whether they want to hear it or not…like, exchange students from all over the world,[ii]

In a separate but related CTV video another student chimed in regarding Swinimer views:

Its your religion, leave it at home and come to school; be friends with us, talk with us but don’t, like, shove it down our throats basically.[iii], [iv],

The audience that the Apostle Peter is writing to was the William Swinimers of his world; people who spoke out about their faith, were disliked or hated for them and then got mistreated because of them. He acknowledges this fact, (cf. 1 Peter 1:6) however the tone of this letter seems to suggest that not only is his audience suffering for Christ, they were getting discouraged and were in need of a bit of coaching and encouraging. Peter encourages his readers to prepare their minds (cf. 1 Peter 1:13 [NIV 1984]) for questions and objections that came their way; and thus he instructed them to always be ready to give answers to anyone who came along making inquiries (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). As discussed in a previous article, (here) 1 Peter 3:15 is a common Biblical reference in Christian apologetic circles; and it is the second part of that passage that all too often gets singled out:

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. - 1 Peter 3:15b

This passage all too often associated with academic disciplines such as history, the sciences, logic and philosophy in attempt to show how they relate to Christianity. Of course being prepared to show how Christianity fits with reality is important however merely preparing one’s mind with science or history or philosophy is only part of the job. For an example, even before one gets to preparing one’s mind, one has to prepare one’s heart with Christ as LORD (cf. 1 Peter 3:15a). So let us brake down this second aspect into its sections to see, besides academic disciplines, what else we are to prepare our minds for. 

“Always be prepared to give an answer...”: This is simple enough to understand however what answer is Peter referring to? For many people the idea of apologetics is scary as it is often deemed the scholar’s playground as it often deals with subjects like philosophy, theology, the sciences, history, etc. And it does seem that all those who are at the front lines of this issue all have one thing in common: a long list of letters after their name: Ph.D, Th.D, D.D, M.D and so forth. In sum it can be quite intimating. And this high education domain of apologetics is a significant part. However the irony is, even though 1 Peter 3:15 has been designated the apologetic Bible verse it is not the verse where we go to, to learn what apologetics means. Paul states in Acts 22:1: “[brothers] and fathers, listen now to my defense.” The Greek word ἀπολογίας : apologia, where we get our word ‘apologetic’ literally means defense. So how did Paul give his defense? Did he give some abstract philosophical explanation for God's existence? Did he go into the sciences of his day? No, he gave his testimony (cf. Acts 22:1-21). 

There is an apologetic approach that is used for this sort of defence called Reformed Epistemology; this asserts that proof is neither A) necessary as God’s word is self attesting nor B) useful as the sinful heart will not accept the truth of God irregardless of proof.’ This of course does not mean that one shouldn’t get into the academic side of things as God has given to us objective and knowable facts to learn about him (cf. Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 15:12-14). However sometimes objective facts is not what someone needs to hear - what they need to hear is about the work of God, not the evidence of his existence or his resurrection.

Peter continues: “...give an answer to everyone who asks you...” (my emphasis). Even though it is good to adhere to professionals for help, especially when dealing with academic side of things (cf. Proverbs 11:14); however the questioner wants to know why ‘you’ have the faith in Christ. If the wonders of creation have played a role in your journey to Christ, then indicate so, but don’t feel scared to overlook those kind of paradigms and hone in on your first hand experience of the love and power of God in our life. It is true that testimonial answers are open for reinterpretation as someone might try to put your experiences in a different light; so to suggest that what you experienced was not the work of an omniscient God, but say rather it is due to some biological reaction - a biological fact that you interpreted as a religious experience or an experience with the almighty creator[v]. Or another reinterpretation is that your experience can be scientifically explained therefore there is no need for a theological explanation[vi]. However, putting reinterpretation aside the one thing about your experience is that it exists - you have one and nobody can take that away from you. Only you can attest to the interactive work of Christ in your life[vii].

So did William Swinimer ever just tell his personal testimony? Perhaps. The super-intendant at Swinimer's school, Nancy Pynch-Worthylake offered her advice that students should “...express their views in a way that would not be interpreted as a criticism of..." of other people's beliefs. There is a lot to be desired about the immaturity that was displayed at this school including by Pynch-Worthylake, however would the outcome be different if Swinimer's shirt said:

"Here is how my life is wasted without Jesus."?

Perhaps. To conclude as Christians we are all called to represent Jesus, as our LORD, not just how reality exists in the way it does because of him. 

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[i] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLFhNMNuO50 - accessed February 10, 2014

[ii] http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-s-student-suspended-for-wearing-pro-jesus-shirt-1.805062 - accessed February 10, 2104

[iii] NOTE: The original video has been taken down; however it has been informal home-made video of this video was taken.

[iv] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICvdIofp0m0 - accessed January 6, 2014

[v] A materialistic interpretation of a 'religious experience' begs the question: "What stimuli caused the reaction?" Eventually, no matter how long the scenic tour is, it always ends back with God. 

[vi] A common belief is that if something can be explained 'scientifically' it does not need a divine explanation? This is flawed thinking as even though something can have a mechanical explanation it doesn't mean that it has no, or does not need a non metaphysical explanation.  

[vii] It is true that someone else could attest for God's work in your life; however that would technically be their experience - they are experiencing the work of God, through you.