Ankerberg Show

Dr. John Ankerberg: Hi, we're back. And Sunder and Shamala, now it's your turn, okay? When we begin to share our faith with others, there are things that the Lord wants us to keep in mind. And one of them is 1 Peter 3:15. Give us the verse and then explain what God's talking about.

Sunder Krishnan: 1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts 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 is in you. But do this with gentleness and respect." I think the most important thing it says right from the very beginning: set apart Christ as Lord. You need to be convinced before anything else that there is no one like Jesus. The word "set apart" means to understand that He's in a class by Himself. Because when you have that conviction that Jesus is Lord, then you're going to be wanting to share that with other people and you'll have some confidence that the message is worthwhile sharing.

Also, it's important to understand why it says set Him apart as Lord, because He was writing to a church that was suffering. And many of you who are listening probably have already suffered for your faith or are in a situation where it's dangerous even to witness. And so to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord says He's Lord even of these difficult circumstances in my life. And I can trust in His absolute power and that enables us perhaps to have that faith that we are actually able to pull off something that would be difficult and even dangerous.

Dr. John Ankerberg: Yeah Sunder, that's great because I've had pastors that have actually sent me pictures of some of the people in their church that have gone into villages where they've been murdered. And so you're talking to people in different parts of the world that are experiencing that right now. So this is very good.

Sunder Krishnan: Paul says, "My sufferings right now are light and momentary compared to a future weight of glory that is coming." Well, you're only going to be convinced of that if you know that Jesus is Lord because He suffered, and today He's Lord, which means He's faithful that today's suffering does in fact result in glory. So that builds faith within our hearts as well.

Then it says, "Be ready." What does that mean to be ready? It means that you never know when the opportunity is going to come. And so at that moment, just like the story that you just showed, we don't have the opportunity to run to get ready; we need to be ready beforehand. I think first of all it means you need to have God's word within your heart so that you are able to actually take them to the scriptures to share.

It means, I think, sometimes rehearsing beforehand what you would do in various situations. I know one time I was flying back to Toronto from Dallas-Fort Worth after teaching at a conference, and the door opened on the other side and another guy jumped into the taxi and said, "Can I ride with you to the airport? I've been teaching on the same seminar." And I'd never seen this guy before. Later on, I found out that he was actually quite drunk. And he says to me, "What on earth am I here in this world for?" Talk about being ready to give an answer. And I said, "Vic, we've got 40 minutes to go to the airport. If you promise not to interrupt me, I might be able to do justice to that." And I was able to give an answer. But I shared with him my testimony and gave him the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. I couldn't have done that if I hadn't already been prepared. So that's one important dimension of preparation.

I think also another important dimension of preparation is if you know the kinds of people where you are—their religious background or their sociological background—it's good to identify with them so you know where they're coming from. If somebody calls you up and says, "How do I get to your place?" what's the first question you ask them? "Where are you now?" We need to know where people are and so using resources that are available to help us understand where the person is, that's another aspect of getting ready.

Dr. John Ankerberg: Yeah, and right there I want to put in the fact that folks, at our website at JAshow.org, we have put over 8,000 articles or 8,000 questions that people have asked us from different religions. And we've answered their questions. So all of that is right on your computer: JAshow.org. If you go to the John Ankerberg Show app, you can download it free any place in the world. And we have some of the leading scholars in the world that we have a Q&A session with them, where they answer all kinds of questions that people have asked us.

And so I'm saying there's a wealth of information there for you. So it's a starting point where I think you can find answers to a lot of the questions that people are going to ask you.

Sunder Krishnan: And then thirdly, he says do it with gentleness and respect. I think respect is important because you don't put down somebody else's faith. Maybe they come from a different religious background. It doesn't at all help to insult them. You need to show respect for where they're at and what they believe. And I think humility or gentleness is also important because you don't want to come across as an arrogant know-it-all, as if you're somehow better than them. In Titus chapter 3, verse 3, Paul says, "Remember you also were once foolish and disobedient just like they were." Before Jesus came into our lives, there was no difference between them and us. And so we need to be humble in the way in which we present it.

Dr. John Ankerberg: Yeah, when I first entered high school and I didn't have any Christian friends around me, and I carried a Bible and people would ask me questions, "Why do you carry a Bible?" and it would start a little conversation. And they'd always end up asking me a question and as a new Christian, I didn't know the answer. And my standard answer in my first two, three, four years of school was, "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer on that one. But I'll tell you what: I'm going to go home tonight and I'll look it up, and if you'll let me, we'll meet and talk tomorrow." That was my standard answer for just about every day people would ask me questions.

And that's how I learned. And people, they were glad to wait one night. They knew that I cared enough about them to do a little research to actually give them the answer. And it always led—then they had another one and I said, "I'm sorry, I don't know that one either. But I'll look it up and I'll tell you tomorrow." Most of us, we don't know the answers. And so you look them up and God teaches you, but if you do it with humility, people are wide open to listening to what you have to say.

Sunder Krishnan: And not only that, I think one of the real reasons why God asks us to do these kinds of things—He can reach the other person without your help at all. But He asks us to do it so that in the process of preparing, we grow and we learn ourselves. And I think that's at least as important a part of God's agenda for us.

Dr. John Ankerberg: Yeah, and Shamala, I mean you've got people that have surprised you with all of a sudden opening up and just asking you about the Lord. You weren't expecting it. Give me a couple examples.

Shamala Krishnan: The one thing I so appreciate about Jesus is that He doesn't operate on the principle "one size fits all." In recent years what I have found is through conversations with people, I begin to sense that we really live in a world where there is a lot of pain. And people are hurting on the inside and they don't really need another religion. They need to know a God who loves them, who understands their pain, and who is the one who can heal them from the inside.

The prime example in my life was my music teacher, who I met a number of years ago. And as I got to know her, I discovered she was going through a divorce. She was struggling with a lot of guilt over the breakup of her marriage. And even though in this case her husband left her, she felt that she had failed. So she kept wondering whether God forgave her. And then one day I found out that she was having a relationship with another man and was suspecting that he was having an affair. And that again devastated her because she grew up in a home where her father left her mom with these five children. And she had made a vow to herself, "No man will ever leave me."

So one day I had a chance to talk to her about the fact that God loves her. And you referred to that verse even in Romans 5:8, where this is how God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus. I also told her that Jesus is a forgiving God, that He does not condemn her, but that if she's willing to acknowledge her part in where the marriage broke up, He would forgive her. But most of all, I sensed she was looking for a love that would never leave her, never forsake her, never betray her. And John, it was such a joy for me to tell her about that: that's the love Jesus has for her. So I'm learning to first discern what the issue is, what the pain is, and then just simply bring Jesus into that pain. And one day she received His love, became a follower of Jesus, and she passed away last year and it was just a joy to know that she knew that love that she had never experienced from any human being.

Dr. John Ankerberg: The other day I was sitting with a salesperson and usually I don't even like to talk with them. But I was there and I was listening. And the lady was very, very nice. And so I just complimented her, I said, "You're very kind and you're very knowledgeable about your product." And she said this to me: she said, "I always try to do a little bit of good every day so that when I come to die, that God will see all the good that I've done and He'll let me into heaven." And it was just like, now I know why I'm here.

And I said to her, "You know, before I was talking to you, I thought I might have some good news for you. Now I know I've got some good news for you. Here's the thing: is that God's not asking you to work and do good things so you can please Him. That's not how you're going to get to heaven. God sent Jesus to pay for all of our sins." And again I went right back to the verse that we were talking about: "The gift of God is eternal life." God wants to give you eternal life, the very thing that you want. But it comes through Jesus Christ. And so we went right through the verses again with her, and then I prayed with her. But it just came right out of the blue.

Another thing, I was sitting with nurses when I was filling out something in the doctor's office, and I just offhandedly asked, "Well, how are you doing?" And the nurse said, "I'm just having a terrible time." And I could sense immediately that something was wrong. And I said, "You know, what's wrong?" And she said, "My husband left me, and I don't know what to do." And I said, "Let's start, I want to start by praying for you right now that God will encourage you and then God will help us figure out a path that we need to take." And Sunder, this is something that prayer is very important for a variety of reasons. Tell us about some of them.

Sunder Krishnan: Well, I think the most important one is in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, God says if our gospel is hid to those who are lost, in whom the god of this world has blinded their eyes, lest the light of the gospel of Christ should shine through. But God has commanded the light to shine in our heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Which means that Satan has blinded our eyes and unless the Holy Spirit illuminates their mind, we can go through and take them through that Roman road, we can even sense their pain and pray for them, but unless the Spirit opens their eyes to understand, they will never see the truth because it is spiritually discerned.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that the natural man cannot understand the things of God because they are spiritually discerned. And so prayer is absolutely foundational for the Holy Spirit to do that work of illumination. I think that's the foundational reason. There are many other reasons, but that is foundational.

Dr. John Ankerberg: Now folks, we're out of time and I'm going to carry this program over into our next session. Because I want to talk about this thing that even when you know the verses and you give a clear presentation, what do you do when it just bounces right off of them? And it's like, "That was very nice that you told me that, but it's not for me." Where do you go from there? And I want to talk about that in our next session. I hope you'll join us.