Honor and Good
Posted by Pastor on March 1, 2010
Bible Text: 1 Peter 2:11-25
After further identifying the true identity of the Elect Exiles as living stones in the honorable house of God, Peter enters a long series of passages describing how we should live in the world without being of the world.
One key to understanding these passages is to recognize that Peter is not simply saying, “Hey, I’m an apostle – so shut up and do what I tell you.” Rather, the apostle addresses his readers as beloved brothers, telling them, “Hey, remember who (and what) you really are – don’t act like someone you’re not.”
If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck...
Think about a duck. No one has to tell a duck to quack, or waddle, or swim. This is what a duck does because this is what a duck is. Have you ever heard the saying, “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then it must be a duck!” Peter is saying, “This is how an Elect Exile walks. This is how an Elect Exile quacks. This is what an Elect Exile looks like.”
Peter’s concern is a good witness in the community. He tells us that believers will live with honor (that is: in a worthy way) wherever they are, and that prevailing cultural standards have a lot to do with how that looks. There are a lot of things that are always true and always false about a Christian’s lifestyle. Everything else is determined by the leading of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, discernment, and what best promotes the truth of the gospel in your community. Peter tells his readers to do good things, visibly, in the community such that no one will listen to those who want to slander believers.
These good things include abstaining from immoral acts, submitting to governmental authorities (even the ones with which we disagree!), demonstrating love to other Christian believers, engaging in works of public charity, and even enduring harsh masters. The goal in each case is to show the practical power of the gospel so that others will be won to faith, or at least will not be able to deny it on the day of judgment.
Our example in all of this is Jesus Christ, whom Peter explicitly associates with the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. He is the example of unjust suffering for the purposes of fulfilling the plans of God. Is a servant above his master?
But Jesus is not only an example of the gospel. He is the gospel. Our wounds honor Jesus. His wounds save us. Turns out that we are not ducks, but sheep. Those who have returned to the Good Shepherd know his voice, and walk in his way. After all, that is what real sheep do.
I wonder if you want to expand upon the ‘government authorities’ line at all. Surely an unjust government (say Germany in the 40s, or the US with respect to slavery) is worth disobeying. Would you agree that European citizens who hid Jews or Americans who hid escaped slaves were well within their right to do so?
Steve – thanks for your comment.
I think we jump too quickly to the “what about [insert bad nation in history]?” in when considering passages like this one. Yes, we always balance the totality of Scriptures teachings for the “hard cases.” Bonhoeffer struggled mightily with the decision to join an assassination attempt. Even Peter, who wrote the present passage, stood before the authorities and told them he must obey God and not man (Acts 4). There are definitely times when obeying God requires at least a civil disobedience.
Yet, Peter’s example of this disobedience makes his instructions here all the stronger. He tells us that the default position of the true believer is that of a “good” citizen. Paul would agree (cf. Romans 13, 1 Timothy 2). The goal of good citizenry is not to increase the power of the state or to conflate the authority of the king with that of God. The goal is honor that trumps all slander against Christ and his church. The basic orientation of the Christian is the gospel, not politics.
Too many have forgotten this. In a democracy, we can say our piece and cast our vote. But Christians should not be the ones bad-mouthing the Mayor. They should not be flaunting the law over policy disagreements and claiming a superior spiritual authority to do so. They should not gripe, and boo, and throw tomatoes at the speeches given by an arbitrarily opposite political party. Christians are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven – therefore, worldly political parties must be completely secondary to their identities. Believers in Jesus are Exiles – in the world but not of the world – left here to do the job of salt and light. That is our purpose and all decisions regarding political involvement must be considered through this filter – the honor of the gospel.
That is a great explanation, thanks…many would do well to actually listen to it.