displaying the pearls -- part 1

The Word for today:
1 Peter 3:13-4:6

“Why do you believe in Jesus?”

Someday (if it hasn't been asked already) somebody is going to ask you that question. When they ask it, you will know whether they are sincerely wondering about your faith, or whether they are picking a fight.

If they are just looking for an argument, don’t waste your breath. Jesus said not to throw your pearls before swine (1). So, keep your pearls in your pocket.

But if the question is sincere, we should be ready to display our pearls, so to speak:

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)

For a brief period in my life, I sold real estate. The broker who owned the real estate company was, in his own field, a good teacher.

He gave us a list of the most common questions and objections we would hear from clients and customers. Then we practiced effective answers and counter-objections.

The broker would always play the role of the customer. He might play the customer at an open house who was more than ready to buy, then suddenly gets cold feet in the parking lot of the real estate office. In that case, we’d practice a specific routine called the “Parking Lot Bail Out Counter.” We were expected to memorize the script and be able to put it to use at a moment’s notice.

We had to memorize other routines as well, each of them tailored to counter another specific objection. The routines had colorful titles that made them memorable. Among them were the “Tip of the Iceberg” technique; the “Safe Island;” “No Way Jose;” “Reduce to the Ridiculous;” “The Seller Might Die;” “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lease (Just Drop Off the Key, Lee);” “Miss Apprehension;” and “The Terminal Turnaround.”

Funny thing was, they worked. Almost every sale I made was because the broker taught me when and how to deploy those counter-objections.

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What isn’t very funny is that believers are often less prepared to answer questions and objections about our faith in Jesus than real estate salespeople are prepared for the objections they face.

So we hope to see you tomorrow, when we’ll offer some specific ways that we can be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

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(1) Matthew 7:6