But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…
1 Peter 3:15

This verse is commonly used to instruct believers that we need to be prepared for evangelism—especially to answer difficult questions posed by non-believers. That is how I commonly think of and teach this verse. However, putting it back in the context… The verse begins with the word “but”, making it clear that it is a continuation of the thought in the previous verse—though in a contrasting way. What does the verse mean in context?

The section, indeed the whole letter, is filled with talk about suffering persecution for our faith in Christ. The previous verse tells us that it is a blessing to suffer persecution, and that we need to resist being afraid of persecutors’ threats—“BUT” instead, we are to pursue holiness (“sanctify the Lord God in our hearts”), and be ready at all times to explain the faith we are being persecuted for. We are to do it meekly and respectfully. And the sentence continues (v.16), “having a good conscience, that when we are defamed as evildoers, those who revile us… would be ashamed” because of our faith and integrity.

Yes, we do need to be ready to witness and explain our faith, but in context, this passage is actually about persecution. We haven’t experienced much of that, but indicators are, that may be changing. Let us be ready. Holy. Steadfast in the faith. Able to witness under threats and persecution.