Tag 1 Peter

A Kingdom of Gentleness and Respect

Todd R Leave a comment

After the election in the United States, half of the country finds itself disappointed with the result.  However, as David wrote in Psalm 3 when he had been pushed out of power by his son Absalom, all American Christians should declare “salvation belongs to the LORD.”[1]  This is an inherently political statement, declaring that salvation does not come from any government.  But this is a message Christians need to deliver in a way that obeys God in approach and tone.  What does that mean?  1 Peter 4:15-16 says:  “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”  This means it is not as simple as just yelling the right story from the rooftops, or in my case, on a blog.  “Gentleness and respect” matter.

Jesus is never on the ballot, but flawed candidates of many types are.  Some are more like David, and some more like Absalom.  David, even as God’s appointed king of Israel, knew that not every problem was in his power to solve.  David was at peace with his limits in this imperfect world, knowing that his salvation (and everyone else’s) came from God alone.  But Absalom hated David’s inability, or unwillingness, to solve every problem.  Absalom harbored angry resentment against David for years before violently overthrowing him.  During this rebellion, David was calm and able to sleep because the kingdom of God was real to him, even when it didn’t look like it.  Then he wrote Psalm 3 to let us know about it.

This conflict between David and Absalom echoes in competing narratives told throughout history: 1) we can and should perfect ourselves, or 2) we are dependent on God to save us.[2]

In the 1 Peter quote above, he says that we defend our eternal hope in God to save us with “gentleness and respect.,” meaning that those who trust God should use not only their words, but also their attitudes and very lives.  The story must be real to us to be convincing to others, and those who hope in God’s kingdom should show obedience to that kingdom.  Easier said than done.

Fortunately, when we truly believe, experience, and stand for God’s salvation, our brokenness and failure is part of the testimony.  When we know God’s salvation is the only solution, we can approach people with different worldviews with our common need for salvation, in “gentleness and respect,” instead of fighting over solutions we know are imperfect.  David was able to sleep at night even when chased out of Jerusalem by his own son, because he had “a good conscience,” showing gentleness and respect toward Absalom.  The kingdom of God was real in his heart, and he believed God would prevail no matter what.  Circumstances could not shake his faith, and God ultimately delivered and restored him.

If, on the other hand, our brokenness and God’s solution for it is not part of our story, we may be left defending an imperfect political solution to those who demand perfection and will gladly poke holes in our story.  In David’s case, he may have insisted that God was unjust in allowing Absalom to succeed.  After all, he could argue, he was a humble king after God’s own heart, while Absalom was bitter and unreasonable.  If David had done this, it may have ironically helped Absalom’s case for tyranny.  In addition, David would not have been able to find peace and sleep at night until Absalom was overthrown.  However, if the starting point of discussion is that weakness is common to all of mankind, then the imperfection of the system is both part of the “reason for the hope” and a reason for even the unbeliever to resist tyranny.  In this case, imperfection is not hypocrisy, but a condition common to mankind.

Declaring “salvation belongs to the LORD” with actions, along with words, gives evidence that worldly utopia is not the answer.  But when words or actions fall short, we can still point to the One who is perfect since we aren’t trying to prove worldly utopia is possible.  The two lessons from Absalom’s rebellion are reconciled in a life lived with “gentleness and respect.”  Because God does not rely on political systems to work His salvation, tyranny is just a temporary and provincial authority subject to the greater authority of God.  We can have a clear conscience based on the sacrifice of Christ and not on worldly success.

A life lived in hope for the eternal kingdom of God is one lived in love for those left behind by all the imperfect systems of this world, but also one that testifies that all systems, including our own individual wills, are not perfectible by human effort.  Peter wrote that those who hope in God will be slandered, but also that those who live humble lives based on hope in God and not themselves will ultimately be proved right.  Until then, by their example as they follow Christ, they can show the futility of tyranny.  By God’s grace, His people will inherit a real utopia by learning to love those who hope in a false one with gentleness and respect.

Our failure is part of our testimony as we drive toward morning, and “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33

[1] Psalm 3:8
[2] There’s also a third common story: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” (1 Corinthians 15:32) Today, we focus on the first two.

Time to Build the Church

Todd R Leave a comment

What’s more important, your house or God’s?

Haggai was a prophet during the time shortly after the end of the Babylonian exile.  His main focus was encouraging the people to complete the rebuilding of the Temple, which had been destroyed at the beginning of the exile, in 586 B.C.  After returning to Israel, the people had become lazy and complacent about God’s house, the Temple, saying “the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD,”[1] and made excuses not to rebuild it.  But Haggai challenged them, in true prophetic fashion, asking “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”[2]  The problem was that the people took great care of their own houses with fancy paneling, yet weren’t concerned that the Temple was still a ruin.  “The time has not yet come,” they said.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

Haggai told the people: “Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.”[3]  This would involve a lot of hard work, God knows what it takes to build His Temple, and He also knows that it needs to be done and should be a priority.

Today, the equivalent of the Temple is the body of believers known as the church.  1 Peter 2:5 says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  God’s goal for the church is to perfect it in Jesus’ likeness, therefore no matter what condition the church is in here, it always needs to be built up.  We may be tempted to say “the time has not yet come” because we won’t be perfected until eternity, but He says ““Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.”

Building the church (God’s house) may feel as difficult as climbing hills, gathering and transporting wood from forests to build a literal, physical Temple.  It’s not easy and we shouldn’t expect it to be.  But God will build His church and He wants our help.

When writing of our diverse spiritual gifts, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:12 – “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” Has the time come to build His church?  Yes, it has.

“Strive to excel.”

[1] Haggai 1:2
[2] Haggai 1:4
[3] Haggai 1:8

Surprising Answers to Prayer

Todd R 2 Comments

Jesus told many parables, often in response to situations or people He came across.  These parables are full of great lessons, but sometimes there’s also a lesson in the prelude to the parable.  One such example happens in Luke 12:13-15, which says:

“Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”   But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”  And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””

Jesus goes on to tell the “parable of the rich fool,” who loses his soul because he only cares about worldly goods.  The parable is a lesson about coveting, greed and priorities, but I believe there’s also a broader lesson about prayer in the 3 verses above before the parable even starts.

We can put ourselves in the place of the “someone in the crowd,” who wants something, and brings it to Jesus.  Unlike him, we don’t meet Jesus physically on the street, but we come to Him in prayer all the time.  We want something and we pray about it.  When we pray, we often we want to get a particular answer, hopefully giving us what we want.

In the case of “someone” in the Luke 12 story, he wanted part of the family inheritance.  In our case, we could want any number of things like financial gain, an end to a societal problem, better governance from our leaders, success for our children or others, a safe business trip or vacation, etc.  God wants us to pray to Him about all things, and we do.  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  (1 Peter 5:6-7)

However, we often aren’t ready to listen to a different answer than the one we want.  In the story, Jesus didn’t respond to “someone” with a direct answer, but with an answer that challenged the attitude behind the question.  “You shall not covet”[1] is one of the Ten Commandments after all, and Jesus was letting “someone” know the condition of his heart was more important than the condition of his bank account.

God can respond to our prayers in the same way.  Instead of solving what we think is the problem, He may try to reveal to us a deeper problem we need to deal with.  But if we’re focused on the answer we want, we might miss the point He wants to make.  To God, our sanctification is more important than our gratification but we often get that backwards.

When we pray for financial gain, God may respond by challenging our priorities, our diligence, our spending habits, etc.  In the Luke story, Jesus confronted the man’s covetousness.

When we pray for an end to societal problems, God may respond by telling us to care for a single mother[2], or support a homeless ministry, or volunteer at a food bank.

When we pray for better governance from our leaders, God may respond by telling us to control what we can control, by reminding us of His sovereignty, or by giving us practical means to work on the problems we want the politicians to solve, but on a smaller scale.

And so on.  Sometimes we do get what we ask for in prayer, but sometimes God will use prayer to do what He promises to do: make us more like Jesus.  Again, our sanctification is more important than our gratification, but sometimes we miss the point because we’re focused on our needs.

It’s ok to bring all of our needs and concerns to God in prayer, and sometimes we get what we want. However, don’t be surprised if He responds in surprising ways, but how?  He can speak to us any way He chooses, but in my experience, He usually points things out in His word, through our circumstances, and through other believers.

Listen and be open to His answers.  No matter what they might be.

“The majority of us begin with the bigger problems outside and forget the one inside.  A man has to learn ‘the plague of his own heart’ before his own problems can be solved” – Oswald Chambers

“The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.” – Warren Wiersbe

[1] Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21
[2] James 1:27

Let Them See

Todd R Leave a comment

Dear fellow travelers,

If Jesus was such a good person – a perfect person – why was He killed?

Ultimately it was because He claimed to be God and King, which was blasphemy to the religious leaders and rebellion to the political leaders.  But the hate many people had for Him was also ironically driven by His good deeds.  I suspect that if Jesus had done less good, He might have been hated less.  Why is that?  He often loved the kinds of people that the religious leaders preferred to keep away from, people like tax collectors, prostitutes, and so on.  Jesus also did good deeds in what those who hated Him would consider the “wrong” way, for example by healing on the Sabbath.  Yet, centuries later some call Him a “good teacher” or something similar because they can’t deny His goodness completely.

This isn’t just how Jesus lived His life, but it is also a model for anyone who follows Him.  The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:12 that we should:

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

When Jesus began His public ministry, every person was a “Gentile” in the sense meant by Peter.  He was referring not to non-Jews but to non-Christians.  Jesus lived His life almost entirely among that type of person, yet He kept His conduct “honorable.”  Instead of acting the way everyone else does, or acting the way they expect Him to act, He loved as God loves and as we also should, and His many “good deeds” are the evidence of that.

Photo by Ismael Paramo on Unsplash

Yet many slandered Jesus, including saying that He had a demon or that He was doing the devil’s work.  Others hated Him because He was not the kind of Messiah they expected or wanted.  Jesus did not respond in kind, fighting fire with fire, but He kept doing what His Father told Him to do: live the perfect life so that He could be our role model, but more importantly so He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  He loved even those who hated Him, expecting nothing in return.

At the time Peter was writing, Christians faced a lot of opposition, and widespread, official persecution under Nero was coming very soon.  Christians were called disloyal citizens for refusing to participate in the cult of Caesar, cannibals[1], dangerous to the economy[2], and more.  As Jesus was treated, so are His people, for He said, “A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”[3]  Christians still face opposition today, and what should we do?

Following God’s commands and Jesus’ example results in “good deeds” that cannot be denied by outsiders, and the ability to love even our enemies is a powerful testimony to a world that doesn’t think that way.  When our faith benefits others, Jesus’ impact on our lives may become undeniable even to outsiders, but just as when Jesus was here, the world is happy to accept His benefits but reject His lordship.  The world will hate us for claiming another Lord and for not hating the enemies they want us to hate.  So, as Peter wrote:

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

[1] The Lord’s Supper was misunderstood by many, probably from hearsay and rumor rather than firsthand experience.
[2] See Acts 19:23-41
[3] John 15:20

Fighting Our Passions

Todd R Leave a comment

The Christian life is hard.  From a worldly point of view the Christian life is unnatural, and when given a choice, the right one is often the tough one.  As long as we live on this earth, we struggle to please God even when we have already been saved by Jesus through faith.  In 1 Peter 2:11, the apostle wrote about our difficulties:

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

There are several important truths in this one verse, but the first is that we can’t ignore “the passions of the flesh” or pretend they don’t exist.  The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”  In the surrounding verses, Paul separates the spiritual, redeemed part of us from the flesh, or the “sin that dwells within me.”[1]  The sinful flesh wants what it wants and isn’t concerned about what God thinks of it.  Our passions do not have our eternal soul’s destiny in mind, only the near-term reward.  Following the “passions of the flesh” is like saying this world is just fine rather than knowing it is fallen and needs redemption, yet even Christians do it anyway.

Photo by Антон Дмитриев on Unsplash

3 other parts of the verse are important, and I’ll take them in reverse order.  Peter wrote that these passions “wage war against your soul.”  This means that defeating them won’t be easy; and that the enemy must be taken seriously.  We are soldiers in this war against the flesh and defeat is harmful to our souls.  Once we are redeemed, sin can’t take away our salvation, but it can make our lives miserable, hobble our witness, and even affect our rewards in heaven.[2]  We are all susceptible to different sins, and none of us are immune from any of them.  We must “wage war” against what is at war against our souls.  This is no picnic.

However, Peter encourages us in the other 2 parts of the verse.

First, Peter reminds us that we are “sojourners and exiles.”  We live here, but don’t belong here.  Our time in this world is temporary, and we are just passing through.  People say about our worldly goods that “you can’t take it with you” but what we also won’t take with us are the harmful “passions of the flesh.”  While they are natural to our earthly bodies, they will not be natural to our glorified bodies.  If we grow weary of fighting this war, it helps us to know that the war is temporary.  God will see us through it in His time and help us each step along the way.[3]  We don’t need to give in.

Also, Peter says at the beginning of the verse that we are “Beloved.”  God loves us, and He doesn’t stop loving us because we regularly fail against “the passions of the flesh.”  We remain His “Beloved” even when we sin, because He has chosen to love us, knowing everything about us, past, present and future.  Even after repeated sin, He will not turn away from us.  As Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”  He will always call us back and in the end, He will raise us up.

So, in our battles with “the flesh,” we must remember who we are.  We are beloved by God, we are not of this world, and we are soldiers in a serious battle.  Here, we will fight hard and experience repeated failure, but in eternity we will not fail at all.  We will perfectly reflect the character of Christ.

But in the meantime:

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

[1] Romans 8:20
[2] 1 Corinthians 3:15, also the “Parable of the talents” in Matthew 25:14-30.
[3] 1 Corinthians 10:13