When I first started studying and defending the Faith, a thought arose in my mind "Is this for me? Am I supposed to be doing this? I'm no theologian. I'm no scholar. I'm a little air head from LA, who can't even walk without bumping into things". Those were my words. Verbatim.
You may be wondering how I am able to quote these exact words.
Maybe Vanessa has the amazing ability to retain information (ahhh... that explains why she is shaped like a bobble-head).
No silly goose, my memory is horrible. I have invested in many notebooks and flash cards to write down information for my studies. These things are useful when learning about stuff. Note taking is great! If only I could remember where I placed these tools... None the less, the reason I can remember these words verbatim is because I say the same thing to myself almost every day.
"I'm no theologian. Am I supposed to be doing this? And if I am, why me? Why did God choose me?"
You may be in the same place as I am. You may be asking yourself the same thing. "Is it me? Why me?"
I have been challenged time and time again by many different groups: Protestant Christians, non-Christians, non-Catholics, and even Catholics on my ability to teach and defend the Faith. Sometimes people will come up to me (or leave me comments on my social media posts) saying that I can NOT teach about the Faith. There are various reasons as to why. Sometimes it's because I am female. Sometimes it is because I am not well-versed enough. Sometimes it's because I don't have a degree in Theology (but hey, I do have a degree in Communication Studies, so that has to qualify for something right?).
But is it true? Am I not allowed or supposed to teach about Faith due to the reasons stated above? Should I just stop now?
No. It isn't true.
It's not true for me, and it is not true for you.
1 Peter 3:15 actually teaches that we are to be prepared to answer questions that some may ask about our Faith in the Lord. That we are suppose to present our explanations to these individuals. That to me sounds like Peter is calling for all Christians to be prepared to teach about the Faith. Now this doesn't mean that everyone who is Christian needs a degree in Theology or have a Catholic YouTube Channel. This simply means that as Christians we are called to express our Faith to others. And in expressing this Faith not only in passion, but in true knowledge.
St. Paul reaffirms this teaching in Colossians 4, when he calls them to conduct themselves well to outsiders, as well as take opportunity of conversation. That they are to conduct themselves with grace in proclaiming the Truth.
Now of course these verses, and any more that I could mention are not directed specifically to you or I. But we can see these teachings and understand that as Christians we are called to defend Christ and His proclamations. That we are to be ready to teach them, converse about them and defend them with grace.
So even though I may be a little air-head from Los Angeles, we are shown in the Scriptures that we are called to be ready to represent and teach our Faith. This being said does not automatically result in a necessity of creating and online ministry to teach the Truth, but for me it did.
God called me to instruct and defend the Faith. Every time I try and deny this call, the request gets louder. I am through pretending like I know better than God, and I am responding to Him. Whether people like my content (or me) or not, it does not matter to me. God called me to represent His Church, and like 1 Peter 3 instructs, I am ready.
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