 Are you a smart Christian? Can a smart Christian read this? Or what about this? What exactly is a smart Christian? First Peter 3.15 says, Sanctify the Lord Christ in your heart and always be ready to give a defense or an answer to anyone who asks of the hope that it's in you. But does that mean that a smart Christian has to know everything, all the answers to all the questions? Well no, because who knows all the answers to all the questions? But should a smart Christian know some of the answers to some of the questions, the answer to the more important questions, to core essential Christian doctrine? Well sure, but does that mean that a smart Christian should know a lot and then what is a lot? Does that mean that a smart Christian should know Greek or a smart Christian should know Hebrew? Well no, but it does help, doesn't it? What about all the different studies, all the differentologies you know, soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiologies, all the different doctoral statements that there are to know, all the different ways to formulate scriptures? What about knowing what some of the earlier church fathers wrote or some people a few centuries later wrote? Is that necessary? Well no, if you look around on social media or anywhere else you're going to find a lot of people with a lot of different interpretations of this scripture and if you're not careful you might find yourself thinking, well I don't know enough or I'm not as smart as them or in some case you might realize that you probably are because it doesn't take a lot to put your opinions out. All it takes is some time and a camera. When you watch some of these different videos have you seen some of the things that people have said? As a matter of fact have you even seen some of the comments in the videos? There are people who simply want to attack you or a particular doctrine just because they know nothing else. They don't understand how to formulate an opinion or they have no desire in formulating a godly or doctrinally strong opinion. When you engage certain people oftentimes you will be hit back with an insult. There are people who know nothing but how to throw an insult and when you ask them to give an actual response a doctrine response they can't. A smart christian needs to be able to intelligently navigate himself or herself through the Bibles. I don't mean just reading it and then giving it pain but I mean actually assessing what's being stated, why it's been stated and then how does it apply? The Bereans were called more noble of character because why they actually went back and took what Paul stated and compared it to the scriptures. That's what a smart christian would do. Now in saying that a smart christian needs to understand their limitations. A smart christian needs to understand that he or she is fallible. In other words we can and oftentimes do make mistakes. A smart christian also understands that others are the exact same way and so therefore a smart christian will not only know his limitations but also others and respect others as well. A smart christian has to keep all this in mind when disagreeing with others because a smart christian knows that you can disagree with others while at the same time being godly in your disagreement. To be a smart christian you absolutely have to be mature mature in your thinking as well as in your behavior in your thinking and behavior towards believers as well as your thinking and behavior towards non-believers including people who you disagree with and along those lines a smart christian looks for opportunities to see where he or she may be wrong as a matter of fact would even look to embrace those opportunities why because one you find out something new which is a good thing but two it keeps you humble it keeps you from the birding and thinking that you are the be all the end all or you are the one that knows it all. Now along those lines if you want me or someone else to know what you know or to believe what you believe or to see your point then you necessarily have to speak to me in a way that is not insulting not condemning not condescending because after all if you attack me or attack someone else the natural inclination is for that person to be defensive and a defensive person will not hear what you're trying to say. So a smart christian understands how he should speak to someone because a smart christian realizes that the goal is not just to say what I want to say but to have understood what I'm saying if it is indeed the truth. So a smart christian necessarily tries to effectively communicate communicate the gospel communicate an understanding of certain doctors a smart christian understands that he should do his very best one to communicate to others but also be able to be communicated or spoken to by other people who disagree. So how does a person become a smart christian anyway? Well obviously by looking at this channel no obviously I'm joking but consider this the difference between a christian and a non christian is both of them sin both of them make silly mistakes errors things they both know better and would even wish that they don't do those things the things they want to do they don't do the things they wish to stop doing they continue to do that's present in both the christian and the non christian and so the difference between the christian and the non christian is that the christian realizes that they're sick the christian realizes that he needs help and the christian realizes where to go to get the help and then on top of that the difference between the christian and the non christian is that the christian places faith in where help is actually offered that is in cracks and so the difference between the christian and the smart christian is the smart christian always remembers remembers that he is always in need of help the smart christian realizes that I might be making a mistake let me always go back and double check as a matter of fact even once I think that I know it I'll keep researching I'll keep studying to make sure because I might be wrong a smart christian will not rely on their feelings as a matter of fact oftentimes will even deny what they think makes sense if the scripture says something and it doesn't quite make sense it doesn't mean that I've got to change what it what it states in order to make sense for me no the scriptures are true my understanding might take a little time to get there and so whatever god says is true even or irrespective of what I think or if it makes sense having that sort of understanding that sort of disposition that sort of humility is at the root of what a smart christian is because at the root of being a smart christian is humility a smart christian must always be humble humble and how he looks at the scriptures and how humble he is in how he deals with other believers as well as non-believers being a smart christian is not about what you know or how much you know although that is important but being a smart christian first stems from who you know that's christ and then recognizing that there are a lot that we don't know but we navigate we work through the scriptures to try to learn as much as we can why not for head knowledge not for our own pride but so that we would get close to him and a smart christian will always want to bring someone else along someone else who doesn't know along this journey of becoming a better christian a more humble christian a more loving christian that is what a smart christian is