DEFENDING OUR FAITH

A LETTER FROM PETER

Chapter 3 – part 4

Suffering for Doing Good

13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (1 Peter 3:13-17 – NLT)

Eager to do good

Peter zeroes in on one of the primary targets of the kingdom lifestyle, the desire to do good. There are times when we do the right thing because it is the right thing; However, there are times when we pursue an action, perhaps at a cost, because doing good is a passion that burns within it. Acts of goodness for those on the kingdom lifestyle become a passion that is natural to them as is the air they breathe;  they are eager to do good.

Maybe it is not so hard to understand that there may well be those who want to harm you if you are eager to do good. If members of this Christian community are the light on the hill, then their actions are obvious and transparent and as such they stand as a glaring example to those with a more self-seeking agenda. The obvious response is what we call; the tall poppy syndrome; cut down those who might show us up.

Suffering

There are two classifications of suffering: that which is common to all humanity such as disease, and that which inflicted by humanity such as personal abuse etc. It is the latter that Peter is addressing here. As we have noted in the previous paragraph, Christians can be a target for suffering. In such situations we need to keep in mind the example of Jesus when brought before the high priest on trumped-up charges: Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus remained silent.(Matthew 26:62-63 - NLT)Rather than defend himself he chose to suffer a barbarous death for the sake of others knowing that the reward that God would grant would be the salvation of the world. When we are faced with unjust suffering we sometimes need to look at the long-term outcomes, for God may use the situation for his own end. However, human reality is to be offended and angry, and want to vigorously defend your innocence. It is only as we are entrenched in the kingdom lifestyle and guided by the Holy Spirit we can follow Peter’s advice.

Afraid of threats

When we are confronted with the threats of those who would discredit or hurt us, we need to see where our real security is. If our security is founded in material things and possessions we are truly vulnerable, for our security is anchored in the things of this world. If our security is anchored in the kingdom lifestyle and our eternal inheritance, then the threats are baseless and powerless and we can simply ignore them.

You must worship Christ

The best defence when we are suffering unjustly or under threat is to take the focus off ourselves and our issues and refocus: We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (Hebrews 12:2 - NLT). Nothing assists us more when under pressure than keeping focussed and concentrated on the main issues.

The essence of witness

It would seem that Peter is not a fan of buttonhole evangelism. Perhaps he sees it as an invasion of personal space and privacy, which it can easily be. He has maintained in his letter that those outside the Christian community are paying attention to the kingdom lifestyle of believers. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors …  they will see your honorable behavior (1 Peter 2:12 - NLT.) When they see something that they want and admire, they are going to come seeking and here is the ideal opportunity for authentic and effective evangelism.

Always be ready to explain

When such an opportunity arises, those living the kingdom lifestyle need to be able to articulate their beliefs with a logical and reasonable explanation. To do so they will need to have examined their own faith and comprehension, and firmly know and be able to intelligently state what they believe, and why they believe it. It is crucial that the believer makes the effort and invest the necessary mental and spiritual energy, to think through and formulate, in an understandable manner, the faith on which their life rests. Above all, it must be their own story, and not a piecemeal cut and paste from another source.

One thing needs to be kept clearly in mind and that is the manner of delivery. There is a tendency when we are trying to defend our faith or convince others about it, we may become too assertive and border on aggressive delivery.  Above and beyond anything else such a delivery needs to be, has to be, delivered with love and compassion, remembering that here is a genuine seeker after the truth and one for whom Jesus died. In the final analysis, the quality of a Christian life will be perhaps the greatest persuasion.

18 Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. 19 So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— 20 those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.22 Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority. (1 Peter 3:18-22 – NLT)

Peter Gives us a mini-synopsis in the mission of Jesus who through his death and resurrection became the world’s Redeemer before writing perhaps the most difficult and least understood passage in the scriptures.  For millenniums theologians have debated it and been unable to come to a reasonable explanation. Somehow it found its way into the Apostles Creed, a fact with which not all Christians are comfortable. Perhaps the best we can do is to apply a broad brush understanding and accept the fact that its meaning is probably beyond us. I am indebted to William Barclay for the following word picture.

It may well be that we ought to think of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine stated in terms of theology. But it contains these three great truths--that Jesus Christ not only tasted death but drained the cup of death, that the triumph of Christ is universal and that there is no corner of the universe into which the grace of God has not reached.