The Christian and Society II

"Do we have the same willingness today, neither clinging onto values that society used to hold but no longer does, nor separating from society over values that are part of our Christian subculture rather than truly a matter of allegiance to Christ? Would this make it clear to our society what being a Christian really means and thus assist the witness of the church?" -Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary

I Peter 3: 8-22

⁸ Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
⁹ Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
¹⁰ For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
¹¹ Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
¹³ And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
¹⁴ But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
¹⁶ Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
¹⁷ For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
¹⁸ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
^**19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
^**20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
²¹ The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
²² Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

(** Note- there is some uncertainty regarding the spirits in prison referenced to here so I decided to focus on what was being accomplished as part of the theme and not figuring out what these are- I consulted several commentaries with differing opinions)

Our greatest example is Christ and Peter concludes this in this chapter. He was mocked by Jewish leaders and family members for His beliefs and actions. He was thought to be a menace to society. He was completely defeated according to human standards- he was sentenced to the most degrading death possible in Roman society- the cross. By all accounts, He was a fraud. But it says that he was "quickened by the Spirit" and has resurrected, is in heaven and rules over all! He was supremely victorious in His sacrifice. He was tortured and suffered emotionally and spiritually beyond any trauma we could understand. The weight of the entire sin's world was on His shoulders! But He won the victory and is in Heaven now interceding in our lives personally!

This is our Lord and Savior. This is who we are to be like. Peter lays our 5 specific characteristics that should shine forth in the church-

1. "Be ye all of one mind"- Unity with brethren
     How many times have we seen church splits? How many times
     have we seen one church berate another because they have drums
     or they dress up too much? Paul mentions the important things that
     must be agreed upon to unify with another body of believers in
     Eph. 4: 4-6 (Please see previous post "Unity of the Body
     Explained")

2. "having compassion one of another"-sympathy and empathy for
     others; do you seek out the needs of others and work to meet
     those with what God has given you? Do you truly rejoice and mourn along with your brother or sister that is mourning or rejoicing?
     (Rom. 12:15)

3. "love as brethren"- Need we bring up I Corinthians 13? God is love.
     I Cor. 13:1-3 " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

Do you truly love like Jesus loves your brothers and sisters in Christ?

4. "pitiful" sensitive towards others
     Are you kind in general to others? Are your words constantly critical
     of your brothers and sisters? Are you perceptive to know when
     someone is hurting?

5. "courteous" Are you humble and do you uplift your brothers and
     sisters? Are you ready to encourage them and rejoice with them
     even when you feel jealous?

Peter goes on to state that you should give blessing to those who persecute and work against you (v. 9) He also speaks about ensuring your words are holy and uplifting and do not contain hate or contempt (v. 10). He then states to resist evil and do only good and then to seek and pursue peace- it is a state of action. You pursue to resolve conflict immediately and heal wounds (v.11). The Lord then promises that he hears the prayers of the righteous (v.12).

I would like to conclude with the reasoning behind all this. In v. 15-17 the Bible says, "but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation [behavior] in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing."

What is the purpose behind our conversation or behavior? It is to be ready to give an answer to those who are not saved why we have the hope we have, and why we act the way we do. Sadly, our lives do not always reflect these character qualities which the Lord commands- I know I don't. May we live in such a way that even government officials see our actions for the glory of God even in the face of direct persecution from that person. We are to respond in gentleness and respect for that person (v.15- "meekness" and "fear") which is an aspect we forget many times. Shouting at someone never made them want to listen.

 Have you not nailed the Lord to the cross with your sin? How can you not then, give your all to your Lord, and be ready to even suffer to proclaim His name and bring Him glory! God saved us from death and eternal separation from Him in a place of eternal torment. We don't deserve grace any more than our persecutors. Pray that the Lord would help you to see others from His perspective- but more importantly, pray that you would see yourself from God's perspective without His grace. Only then will you understand the significance of your testimony to others. You may be the only glimpse of the Lord others will ever see. An eternal soul hangs in the balance . . .
     

The Christian and Society I

There are many views of society in religion. Take the Amish- cut off completely from society and current events. They shun society because they see all of it as vain or sinful. They don't drive cars and don't take pictures of themselves. Then there's us Christians which  are split across the board to Amish-like to an extent to fully immersed in culture- even in the sanctuary. There are some basic principles in the Bible in regards to government and society, and unfortunately for some of us more politically minded, our like or dislike for the leaders of our society don't make a difference in our response.

In I Peter, Peter tackles many issues facing the church in their society. Remember, Nero, one of the most Christian-hating emperors ever, is reigning. Also, in Roman society, the man is the head of the household and what he says goes-wives just had to go along with it. Also, there were slaves. Keep in mind that these facts of society were just that- facts. Peter isn't speaking on whether these facts are right or wrong. Today, man is sinful, and most men are not saved so there is an overwhelming sin controlling a majority of our society- that's a fact. Abortion, homosexual marriage, and feel-good Christianity is rampant- this is a fact.

I Peter 2: 11-20

¹¹ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
¹² Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
¹³ Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
¹⁴ Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
¹⁵ For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
¹⁶ As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
¹⁷ Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
¹⁹ For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
²⁰ For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

 What does it say here? "Honour the king, submit yourselves to ordinance of man . . ." And then slaves are to be subject to masters, even the mean ones! The Lord says that this "is the will of God . . . and is acceptable . . ." He didn't mention anything about if your leader is a democrat, or a Muslim, or pro-choice. There's not an exclusion clause here. Now I know your thinking- you want me to be a Democrat Muslim Pro-choice Christian???!!! No, absolutely not! The Bible also says in Acts 5: 29 "We ought to obey God rather than men." We are never to obey an order or praise someone's actions that are black and white sin like abortion, murder, demoting Jesus to a prophet, etc.

But . . . there are some things here that don't make the list - patriotism for instance is sometimes elevated to a position of prominence over the Bible. We should support our troops and their sacrifice, and we should pray for our country and work to put Godly leaders in place. But how many times do we get more upset or emotional about "I'm Proud to Be an American" and gripe about all the sin in our society while doing nothing about it? Oh church, why do you think America is in the social decline it is in? Because the church hasn't been doing their job. Why does the government have medicaid which we gripe about constantly draining our economy? Because the church stopped meeting the needs of the orphans and the widows like we are commanded to do! We were founded as a Christian nation but satan is always at work- I found out just this week from a missionary that Christianity is on the rise in every country EXCEPT AMERICA! Just like the Israelites, the Lord's presence is present and uninhibited and yet we take it for granted and stamp it out of every aspect of our lives. We can go to church freely and learn and we can speak out against sin for the most part. No other country has these opportunities or luxuries. The people in Roman society sure didn't! 

Peter then turns to wives whose husbands are non-Christians. Remember, women are to be submissive entirely and obey their husband in this culture. Peter states in 3: 1: "Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversations [behavior] of the wives." Again, Peter states that subjection, so long as it does not violate a black and white area of holiness, is to be followed to the letter of the law.

The theme here is this: Regardless if the Christian was a slave or a wife of a non-Christian, they were the presence of the Lord to their leader. That might have been the only glimpse the non-Christian got of the gospel. Husbands, masters, and government officials could be changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in these Christians' lives. It's one of those moments where questions begin to be asked and souls begin to be saved. So church, what is your attitude toward your boss, your non-Christian family members, and your government officials? Our best example is that of Christ- Continued in Part 2.

Faith in the Dead

In 2 Kings the story of kings that come to power and do evil in the sight of the Lord become an expectation after a while. You come to realize that the children of Israel had no intention of ever fully getting rid of their idol worship. In 2 Kings 13, we meet Jehoash the king of Israel at the time and he is offered a priceless opportunity. Elisha, the prophet, is on his deathbed. When Jehoash finds out he says, " My father! My father! . . . the chariots and horsemen of Israel!" (V.14) This verse also states that he wept over Elijah. This was the same exact statement which Elisha uttered at the departure of Elijah (2 Kings 2). Elisha had much to learn as a new prophet just like this king had to learn now. A basic understanding of this statement is "What am I supposed to do? You are the defense of Israel!" Where is there sorrow rooted? It's definitely not centered around general grief for losing a friend to death. But what is it? It's sorrow at the thought of losing someone they idolized- someone who was full of God and was a lighthouse to the world! In short, they had faith in the prophet- not in the God of the prophet.

The difference is in the lesson learned. When Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha proceeded to take Elijah's cloak and state, "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" (2 Kings 2:14). The verse goes on to state that when he struck the water with Elijah's cloak, the waters parted to reveal dry land. Elisha knew that God was real, God alone was the source of power which Elijah had, and now he was to be the prophet that depended on God to minister and lead Israel.

The scene that unfolds with Jehoash is different. Elisha tells the king to pick up a bow and then places his hands on the king's hands symbolizing he is about to offer an opportunity to obey the Lord's words which were about to come. He was to take an arrow and shoot it out of the window facing east. This symbolized a victory against Arameans- one of Israel's many enemies. He then states to take the bow and arrow and shoot the arrows at the ground. Jehoash obeys but stops after shooting three arrows. I think his reasoning is that maybe poor old Elisha is losing his mind seeing how he's on his deathbed. Jehoash's lack of faith in the words of God and his half-hearted obedience cost him. Elisha states that had he shot all the arrows he had instead of just three, the Arameans would have been totally destroyed. Because of his disobedience, now they would only defeat them three times without total destruction (see 2 Kings 13:15-20)

One last scene occurs to remind Israel and the King their source of power. A scene occurred when a man is to be buried. All of the sudden, the men burying this man see a group of thieves come up and so they lower the man in the first available grave they have, which happens to be Elisha. The moment that this man touches Elisha's body, he is revived. Who revived this man? Elisha was dead in body, God is very much alive. It wasn't the spirit of Elisha from heaven that came down and raised this man. Jehoash's faith was in the man, Elisha. Elisha was now dead. It was God. God is alive and He is our source of power.

Faith in any man will fail you- faith in your pastor,  your mentor, your friend, your parents, a televangelist, and even yourself.  Humans have a sin nature and while Christians are saints who choose to sin since they have the power of the Holy Spirit to deny it, they still fall short. Your God is omniscient, omnipresent, perfect, just, and will not fail. He is your father, your brother, your friend, but equally your Lord. Can you honestly say that God is all these things in your life?

I know in my life recently, standing on the fact of the Words of God and not my emotions has been difficult. Faith in an inspirational quote or the hope of what may happen tomorrow is far easier. My logical reasoning can not make sense of circumstances because I don't see where they're headed. God asks for commitment and full obedience in the face of your fear and uncertainty and that's hard, I know! As Adrian Rogers says, "It's not great faith in God you need; it's faith in a great God!" Read and memorize about the character of God. Please see my earlier post "Biblical Names" about the LORD, the great I AM, and claim these facts in your life. Entrust Him with your circumstances and keep your eyes "on the old rugged cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain." Then, and only then, will you stop questioning the power and love of your LORD.