“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” 1 Peter 3:15

To be provocative means to provoke a response. Christians are to be provocative. Not in the sense that we provoke people to ridicule or avoid us, they will do that with the Gospel. What should be provocative about a Christian is that we approach life differently. People should see a hope in us that they do not understand. They should see love and forgiveness and contentment and peace and humility and so much more that they can’t explain. And it should be evident in such a way as to compel them to want to know where we got it and how.

To live provocatively as a follower of Jesus means that people will ask you to tell them why you are different. They will want to know how they can have this hope and peace and contentment. When is the last time, if ever, someone walked up to you and said, what do I need to do to have that kind of peace in my life, or joy, or love for others. When was the last time if ever, someone asked you, what must I do to be saved? If you are really living a provocative life as a Christ follower you should be able to answer that. Because people would want to know.

If you have never been asked, then maybe the provocative life of a Christ follower is not what you are living. If so then the first step is one of committment. It takes a committment of your entire being to tell the Lord that you want to live in such a way that others will want to know. It takes a committment to get to the root of following Jesus. But be sure that is what you really want. The word root, is based in the word for radical. It is were we get the word, radish, which is just a root. Getting to the root of being a provocative Christian will mean some radical changes in your life. Are you ready?