Hope

When's the last time someone asked you about the hope you have?

No one's ever asked me about my hope...

The Apostle Paul seemed to assume that as Christians, we will be asked about it - and it's crucial for us to be able to give a reason for that hope, in a gentle and respectful way. We spend a LOT of energy as Christians, it seems, studying apologetics and trying to plug up the holes that many people have when it comes to faith and religion and God. We are adamant about standing up for the Truth. And we've done a lot damage to the reputation of Jesus Christ by the way we defend Christianity.

I'm not saying it's bad to speak up about our faith. Not at all. Especially when it is done with gentleness and respect. But I never really stopped to consider what the Apostle Paul meant by his statement. He assumes I will be asked about the hope I have. Realistically, I need to go back and read that passage of scripture again, to gain some insight into the specifics of what he meant by "hope", but it still stands... Am I a hope-filled person? Would someone describe me as hopeful, with a pure, child-like excitement for all that God is doing in me and in the lives of the people around me? I'm afraid most people who know me probably wouldn't define me as hopeful. I have a tendency to be skeptical and cynical, usually motivated by fears and insecurities that show I don't really trust that God is good sometimes.

So, I think, instead of spending a lot of time studying the defenses of Christianity and learning how to debate religion and spirituality and the Bible better... Perhaps I should spend that time and energy focused on God and His Word and let that either develop a deep, real hope within me, that oozes out into my everyday life or in essence, prove God wrong and show that this whole thing is a joke. I don't think it is. I think we just get complacent and comfortable. We get really used to hanging out in our Christian circles and it's really normal to avoid the big sins that are frowned on. If people aren't asking us about the hope that they see in us, what does that say about our lives? A. We are hiding who we truly are and hoarding the good news of hope that we supposedly have in Jesus Christ or B. We don't really believe the Gospel of Jesus and don't actually experience any real hope in our own lives and we simply try to manufacture something close to resembling hope.

And most of this is purely introspective. I've never been asked about the hope that I have. Some people might try to pat me on the back and say don't be so hard on myself. I'm not being hard on myself and I'm not wallowing in guilt about this. I'm simply curious about a really cut-and-dried statement that Paul made. If the way I live my life expressed a hope, people would ask about it, because most of the time, we as humans don't really have much hope. We see so much pain and heartache and suffering around us, we get used to building up defenses and walls to protect and insulate ourselves from constant disappointment and pain. So I don't want to simply work really hard on preparing my reason for hope. I want to know God in a deeper way, so that I understand and experience, on a practical, daily level, true hope. THEN I will work on articulating the reason for my hope in a gentle and respectful way. But I think it's time we stopped putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. Because people aren't asking about our hope... and that doesn't seem like a good thing...