Apologetic

18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
--1 Peter 2:18-21

"They'll know we are Christians by our love." The greatest apologetic of any age but particularly in our day is the apologetic of love. What will draw outsiders in is a love that cannot be explained in natural and human terms only. Perhaps the most radical kind of Christian love there is is the kind that turns the other cheek. Usually when we find ourselves in situations where we are being treated unfairly we will do anything to get out. An ugly marriage, an ugly job situation. But Peter seems to be implying that there is something that can be gained only through such unjust situations. We are given the opportunity to honor God by participating in His sufferings. And we find a joy that proves itself faithful even in the darkest of places. "Why in the world would you endure such things?"-- can be answered only with the acknowledgment that there is another world.