1 Peter 3:1416 — But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye : and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

I wrote, a few days ago, about the importance of being willing to think about the great questions of God. I do think it’s important to dare to ask “what does it mean to say God is eternal, or un-changing, or all-knowing. An exchange today with some very clever people reminded me, though, that it’s important to retain a simple, believing faith and to be able to defend it.
What do you believe? Try doing this. Try expressing you core beliefs in a set of sentences, and make sure that each one has not more than 10 words. Think of it, if you like, as writing down your own personal creed. Here some examples. You don’t have to agree with all of these, or agree with the order I have put them in. They are examples:

— I believe in one God.
— God is all-powerful, all knowing, and all good.
— The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God together.
— Jesus Christ is perfect God and Perfect man.
— My purpose in life is to become like Jesus.
— Loving God is the most important thing I should do.
— Loving my neighbor is the second priority in my life.
— Jesus death paid for my sins.
— Jesus was raised from the dead after three days.
— Jesus is coming again.

Got the idea? Are the creative juices flowing? OK. Now comes the hard bit. How come you believe what you believe? How can you defend it? Peter’s instruction says a lot about the question.
We have to see, first, that Peter is writing to people who were struggling, under threat. In fact verses fourteen and fifteen are echoing something Isaiah said when he was under threat. Faith is built under pressure!
At its core, Peter says, our faith has to have the Lord God. That’s pretty much what Isaiah says too — but Isaiah is talking about Jehovah, while for Peter Jesus is closer.
Then Peter says “be ready”. Being ready might expand to being “ready, willing, and able”. It implies preparation and openness. The preparation, of course, demands work! That’s where it makes sense to be prepared to ask those big questions. What does it mean to say “God is all-knowing”? How did Jesus’s death pay for my sin, and why …
Lastly, defend your beliefs “with meekness and fear”. James Hastings provides a wonderful definition of meekness in his “Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels”:

True meekness, which is worthy of all honor, is seen only in those who, with an acute sense of wrong, control the natural impulse to show anger and to retaliate, not from fear, or pride, or policy, or scorn of others, but because in obedience to the will of God they accept the provocation or wrong as discipline, and as an opportunity for showing the Divine spirit of patience and love.

The “fear” Peter intends is the reverence that shows our worship and dependence on God. It is about love, not terror. It is the key motivator to the exercise of faith.
Assemble all these tools that Peter prescribes — motivation, preparation, willingness, and a sanctified view of Jesus and filter your “creed” through them. Then you will be ready to share our simple complicated faith with anyone who cares to listen.