Wandering through the Bible.

But in your heart 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,

1 Peter 3:15

I realize that some weeks of studying the Bible may not be as organized as other weeks. Sometimes there are questions that need to be asked and the answers searched out. Since we are all still new to meeting together and studying the Bible, all of the questions that we have about religion seem to come out at once. 

This can be overwhelming but and frustrating because in no way to I pretend to even think that I know all of the answers. In fact allot of the questions that are asked to me are responded with a question and before you know it what started out as, "Where do dinosaurs fit in the Bible?" somehow leads to "Is it all right to listen to System of a Down?" and then "Would Jesus play Halo?"  

Questions are a part of who we are, and for allot of the questions that are asked there always seems to be something in the Bible. The Bible brings things back into focus and becomes more than just words on a piece of paper but real live book. For a book that has been written some 2000 plus years ago it is very much relevant as it ever was. 

With all of the questions that beg for answers about the details of life there is one important thing to remember. Jesus. 

The New Testament is filled with lots of things about how to live life and what living for Christ is all about. But I find that what Peter writes in his first letter to be absolutely challenging but also absolutely simple. First off, how many of us really set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts? There is so much going on in our lives that those things compete for our hearts space. Whether marching band, relationships, sports, video games, money, friends, television, Facebook, cell phones, etc. Is Christ really our main focus? 

Another thing I ask is do people know that you are a Christian by your actions? Lets face it, everybody judges everybody. We look at someone and our minds start to formulate opinions and we decide whether we will like that person or not. Christians do this all the time but are great at questioning every action that we take. Why do you listen to that crazy band? or Why do you dress that way? Actions do speak louder than words, sometimes. But Peter says be prepared to give an answer to everyone about the hope that you have. Hope? For people to ask you questions about your Hope that have to know that you have Hope. How do you let people know that you have this thing called Hope? 

Then there's a little thing about gentleness and respect. Many people are hostile towards religion and a simple question like "Why do you act that way?" can become a heated argument. Peter goes on further in chapter 3 of his letter to talk about why gentleness and respect but I can't help but think about how important that really is. It is easy to forget gentleness and respect especially in a world that loves the argument and anger. Debate makes for good television and having enemy's seems to be completely accepted in today's world. Yeah, we are going to have enemy's but how many fewer ones could we have if only we showed gentleness and respect? Christ could have easily wiped out everyone that gave him a hard time but he didn't. His love was heavy for those who were against him and doing what was right was far better than what his enemy's wanted. 

Wandering through the Bible opens up a whole lot more questions but leads to discovery and a greater understanding of how awesome God is.