The Always Ready Conferences: An Interview with Stephen J. Nichols

What was the driving motivation for creating the Always Ready conferences?

Ligonier has always been a place where people could go to get answers to the difficult questions. We recognized that teenagers today are facing hard questions that many of us as parents or grandparents never faced. We wanted them to know that there is a place where they could go to get answers to these questions, and that place is God’s Word. We weren’t looking to entertain them. We wanted to take them seriously and come alongside them and their families and churches and offer help. “Always ready” comes from 1 Peter 3:15, where we have the command to be apologists. Peter commands us to be always ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. From the beginning, these conferences were intended to have an apologetics focus, equipping teens with the answers they need.

What happens at an Always Ready conference?

These are all-day events with sessions, interviews, and panels on these challenging questions. We engage such questions as “Who am I?” “Can I trust the Bible?” and “Is Jesus the only way?” We always do an interview among the speakers on discipleship in this digital age, helping teens think through social media and AI. We tackle hard topics, and we seek to offer practical teaching. We end with an open-mic Q&A session. We receive all kinds of questions, from theological issues to practical matters. Students ask questions on topics ranging from witnessing to friends to very serious, even heartbreaking, issues of sexuality and identity.

I wish everyone could attend one of these conferences. It is so easy to get discouraged and lose hope for this next generation. These events are visible signs not to despair. I’ve seen teens take notes. They attend these sessions all day long and take notes. Over the lunch break, I’ve seen groups of teens sitting together and talking about what they’re learning. The real highlight, though, is the singing. Throughout the day, we sing hymns. There’s really nothing like hearing a thousand teenagers singing a hymn together. Many of these students might be in small churches or in small schools or are homeschooled. They might feel rather alone and could be so easily discouraged. At Always Ready conferences, they realize that they are not alone. I know I’m encouraged every time we hold one of these conferences, and I trust that these teens are encouraged as well.

What does it mean to be “always ready”?

As we mentioned, the name for these conferences comes from 1 Peter 3:15. Here we have the Greek word apologia, which comes directly into English as apologetics. It does not mean “to apologize.” It means “to give an answer or a defense.” The word is used in the New Testament to refer to the trials that Jesus faced or Paul faced before Jewish or Roman officials. Plato’s record of Socrates’ speech on Mars Hill in Athens, his legal defense, is titled “The Apology.” Peter surrounds this command with a number of clauses. We are to give an answer “for the hope that is in [us].” We are to give an answer with “gentleness and respect,” or reverence. And we are to be “always ready” to give that answer. That speaks to preparation, to study. We call these conferences “Always Ready” because we want to emphasize apologetics. We want to help teens know, defend, and even contend for the faith.

One of the things we need to remember is that apologetics is not for the unregenerate or for the culture only. Apologetics is also for the Christian and for the church. It breaks our hearts when we see young people leave the church and walk away from the faith. One of the things that we hope teens hear at Always Ready is that we are Christians because Christianity is true. We trust the Bible not because there has always been one in the home. We trust the Bible because it is true. Jesus really lived and died and rose again in history, in space and time. We have reasons for our faith.

What are the biggest challenges that Christian young people face today?

Issues around sexuality, sex and gender, and identity are probably the most pressing issues on youth today. They are relentlessly bombarded with lies. The worldview of radical self- expression is everywhere in the world of our youth. They are being told that they are free to be whoever they want to be, even to the point of determining their gender. It is so important to direct them to God’s Word and walk them through what Scripture teaches on these issues. We help them understand that their identity is defined theologically. We walk through what it means to be created as male and female in the image of God, what it means to be in Adam and fallen, and ultimately what it means to be in Christ. We all remember the challenges of the teenage years of knowing and being secure in our identity. Again, teenagers these days face enormous pressure, mostly because of the ubiquitous presence of social media in their lives. We want them to know who they are in Christ, and we want them to be equipped to share that message, the good news of the gospel, with their friends.

I think another thing that we cannot overlook is that this social media pressure not only puts lies in front of them but also distracts them. It distracts them from time with real people, time with their family, and in-person time with real friends. We offer them practical advice and guidelines to consider as they navigate the world of social media. Finally, this upcoming generation is likely the least biblically knowledgeable of all previous generations since the invention of the printing press. We want them to know that they can trust God’s Word. It is unique among all other books and is incomparable to other texts claiming to be divine revelation. God’s Word withstands scrutiny.

We need to be paying attention to all these challenges that young people face today. We need to be praying for them and coming alongside them to help.

How have you seen the Lord at work in students’ lives through this event?

We have seen the Lord at work through Always Ready. We have been doing these Always Ready events for some years now, and we have students at Reformation Bible College who first heard about us through Always Ready as teenagers. It’s very exciting to see them continue to grow in their faith. Second, we have received encouraging words from parents and grandparents, telling us of how their children and grandchildren share all that they learned at an Always Ready conference. During the breaks or as the conference ends, we always have parents or youth leaders approach us to thank us. Every year in the fall, we hold an Always Ready conference here on our campus in Sanford. Finally, I have personally heard from students at these conferences about how something that one of the speakers said was exactly what they needed in their life at that moment. We know that God’s Word always accomplishes its purpose. We trust that as God’s Word is faithfully taught to these students, the Lord will use it in their discipleship.

What are Ligonier’s for the future of these conferences?

A very straightforward goal is for us to be able to do more of these events in more places. We have already held our first international Always Ready, going to Canada last year and returning again this year. We are planning to go, and Lord willing we will be able to go, to the Pacific Rim and hold Always Ready conferences there. As many Tabletalk readers are aware, there is a growing revival of the Reformed faith in the global church. It would be great for Always Ready to be a part of the way that Ligonier serves the global church. Beyond that, the goal for Always Ready is actually to be more than conferences and to be a resource for youth to find answers to hard questions. We have a growing stable of sessions on YouTube, but there is so much more that we can do in the coming years.

What would you say to a Christian who doesn’t feel “always ready”?

I would first say that that’s probably a good thing, since humility is better than overconfidence. We all know that we still have so much to learn. But I think what Peter is after in his command is that we have a posture of knowing the truth and being ready to share that truth. We don’t need graduate degrees in theology or philosophy to be apologists. The original audience of 1 Peter 3:15 did not. If we get stumped by a question, we can always tell somebody, “That’s a great question; let me go study on it and get back to you.” We can’t use a fear of failing or a sense of our inadequacy to keep us from following Peter’s command. Having said all that, this command does remind us that we are called to be students. We need to know the truth. We need to be students of God’s Word and be ready to share it, defend it, and contend for it. That’s why we have these conferences.

How can the local church help equip young people to defend their faith in our day?

I think one of the main things that we can do is try to have sympathy for the challenges that our youth face. Again, we were not dealing with choosing our pronouns when we were going through elementary or high school. Next, I think it is simply being a multigenerational church. We read in the New Testament that the older are to instruct the younger. The older have wisdom; they have the experience of seeing God at work in their lives and seeing the Word of God prove itself true. We need to come alongside our young people, take time to notice them, and encourage them. Finally, we must take seriously our task to train up the next generation. Luther, as well as the other Reformers, understood that their number one priority was to train the next generation. Otherwise, all the reforming efforts would be in vain. We cannot turn over our next generation to their peer group or to social media. We need to come alongside them. I think that too often we pander to youth and don’t take them seriously. If we don’t teach them, someone else will.