1 Peter: Odd Life, Good God Sýnishorn

God the Father completely loved His Son, Jesus Christ. Looking at how Jesus was treated, and what Jesus endured during His life on the earth, it certainly did not look like He was loved by God. What Jesus endured was for the glory of God and good of others, at His own expense. Not only did Jesus suffer, but the Father and Spirit suffered with Him while watching the Person they loved the most suffer the most. What is true of Christ is true of Christians. We are “beloved” by God as Jesus is. We also “share Christ’s sufferings” with “fiery trial” that feels like Hell has been unleashed in our life. If we trust that God loves us, remember what Jesus endured for us, and invite the Spirit to empower us as He did Jesus, we can “rejoice and be glad”, “not be ashamed”, and “glorify God”, as we “entrust...[our] souls to a faithful Creator” and persist in “doing good”.  

While it is easy to think that the Bible is old and outdated, the truth is that since God doesn’t change, and people don’t change, the Bible is timeless and therefore timely for everyone everywhere. The recipients of this letter were suffering greatly and didn’t know where to look for hope and healing much like Christians are today.

Additionally, the Christians were wavering in their devotion. Like so many college students who are weary of being mocked by their professors for being Bible-believing Christians and getting their grades reduced, husbands who are mocked by their buddies for not looking at porn or partying with their coworkers after work, wives who  forego a professional career to stay at home to be a wife and mother, virgin singles who are the punchline of jokes at the gym for waiting until marriage to have sex, and net surfers who can’t stomach one more nasty blog or negative news story about their faith and church, their resolve was tried. Various people were pulled in a variety of directions: 

1. Some were enticed by the liberal route of compromise to not eliminate their Bible as much as edit it. They wanted to cut out—or at least explain away—the parts of the Bible that they were being criticized for believing. In our day, this would be most typified by the mainline liberal Christian denominations with pastors who endorse all religions and spiritualities and officiate marriages between any genders, under the oversight of unsaved bishops who appreciate their tolerance, pluralism, and minds so open that their brains fall out. This is one of the central issues at the heart of 2 Peter.  

2. Some were compelled to privatize their faith. Sure, in private they would pray to and worship Jesus. But in public they would shut their mouths and keep their faith to themselves so as to not be considered the weirdo for Jesus. Some were closet Christians.  

3. Some were considering abandoning their faith altogether. They were tired of being the butt of jokes in the press and on the late-night talk shows and were tired of being the laughingstock Jesus Freaks. Why? Because most people simply do not like being the oddball, misfit, and outcast—especially those who are young and want to be cool and those who are old with privileged social positions to uphold and lifestyles to fund. Our day is like theirs. Carrying a Bible around is about as socially acceptable as walking around with your underwear outside your pants.  

4. Still others were attracted to the fighting posture of religious fundamentalism. They were preparing to separate from the culture, set up their own subculture, defend themselves, and talk trash about the non-  Christians who were criticizing them, all in the name of a culture war. In the fight or flight cycle, these are the fighters who declare Jihad for Jesus.  

If any of these four options were chosen by the churches Peter writes to, it would have simply died in one way or another. The work of Jesus would have stopped in that region and so Peter had to help them navigate living their faith in a hostile culture. So, Peter opens by calling Christians  “elect exiles”. Elect meant they were chosen by God. Exiles meant they were far away from their Heavenly Home. Sent as missionaries, although hated by the culture, they were to bring the culture. 

Reflection: 

1. Have you been pulled in any of these 4 directions?

2. How is it an act of deep faith for a suffering Christian to keep trusting God and doing good (verse 19)?  

3. How does it feel to hear God call you “beloved”?  

4. How can you “rejoice and be glad” in your current life circumstances (verse 13)?