are all Christians supposed to be apologists?

I can say that my life was revitalized because of apologetics.  I became a Christian when I was 16 and studied the evidence for the resurrection and was very convinced by the weight of the evidence.  But I did hit a time in my life where I stopped going to church and wasn't very involved in the Christian community.  Then one day an atheist friend of mine invited me to watch a debate on the existence of God between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox.  As John Lennox built a case for the existence or God and handled Richard Dawkins objections I was encouraged and excited.  I had to hear more of this.  I must have watch that debate like 10 times.  Next I discovered William Lane Craig when I was searching youtube for God debates.  I was amazed seeing these debates at the top universities with top scholars.  I became so hungry for more information.  I downloaded hundreds of podcasts, and discovered iTunes U.  I went out to Regent College on a pretty regular basis to buy audio recordings of the classes because I cant afford to take the classes there.  I got deeply involved in a local church and the Christian community.  I read the Bible like never before.  I truly was revitalized.

The more I learned the more I found myself in conversations with Atheists, Agnostics and other Christians.  I still have not had a bad experience talking with Atheists and Agnostics because I always think of 1Peter 3:15 " But in your hearts revere 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. But do this with gentleness and respect"  we should never quarrel or fight with others over this issue, so even when I have been attacked verbally I remember "gentleness and respect"

But I have had a few interesting experiences with Christians.  I have met a few Christians who cant communicate what they believe and why they believe.  So I have tried to encourage them to start to study apologetics so they can give an answer for the reason they believe.  I hear quite regularly that they are not interested in apologetics or that they are not interested in apologetics.  I understand we are not all the same, and I am glad everyone is not just like me, one of me is quite enough haha.  But Christians need to take Peter's words seriously.  We all must be able to give a reason for the hope we have.  We don't need to all go out and become the next William Lane Craig, but we do all need to be able to answer a few questions.  What do you believe and why do you believe it?

I would say it really doesn't take too long to learn a couple answers to the most frequently asked questions.  Such as, "is the Bible reliable?" or "did Jesus really leave an empty tomb behind?" so I would like to encourage you to learn just a couple of these issues.  So I would suggest starting with the reliability of the Bible or the resurrection or maybe even the fine tuning of the universe.  I guarantee an exciting journey, and it will further equip you to share the gospel with a world in need of Jesus.