1 PETER 3:8-12

March 15, 2020

What is a Christian?  The
word is used so loosely, it’s largely lost its meaning.  It is interesting to note it’s actually used only
three times in the NT – all in sort of a negative sense.  In Acts 11, the disciples were first called
Christians in Antioch.  It was said in
derision – these disciples, these are followers of Jesus of Nazareth as the
Christ.  Then, in Acts 26, as Paul was giving
his defense before King Agrippa, it was clear he did so with evangelistic
intent.  And Agrippa responded, hear it
dripping with sarcasm, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a
Christian?”  The third time is found in
our book – I Peter 4, “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be
ashamed.”  You see, then, you suffered if
you were a disciple, a believer in this Jesus as the Christ.  Peter says, don’t be ashamed of that shameful
term.

And so the term was used derisively – sarcastically –
negatively.  But disciples of Jesus bore
the name joyfully, even though it cost them. 
Fast forward to the present day, and claiming to be a Christian in our
country will cost you…nothing.  The word
has become almost meaningless.  Ask
someone if he or she is a Christian, and the response is often something like,
“Of course, I’m an American, aren’t I?” 
It is now devoid of its meaning of being a follower, a disciple of Jesus
– and it is certainly devoid of any suffering. 

Of course, that is changing. 
More and more, people are abandoning the term.  Fewer today in the US say they are Christian
than perhaps ever before.  It’s become
popular to say something like, “I’m spiritual, not religious,” and by that,
many mean – I’m spiritual, but I don’t have much to do with organized religion
like the Christian faith.  And so again,
the term has lost its meaning.  Not for
us, of course, as followers of Jesus – but the word has been so degraded as to
mean, nothing.  All that to ask two
questions.

First, are you a Christian? 
Oh, please don’t answer the question too quickly.  Don’t confuse being a Christians with:

Going to churchBeing an AmericanBeing goodBeing raised in Christian familyBeing spiritual(Or even) Reading your Bible and praying

So, I suppose we should define what a Christian is.  As I’ve already implied, a Christian is a
follower of Jesus – a disciple of Jesus. 
First, it is to believe the gospel, or the good news about Jesus.  That is, for starters, we are sinners, having
rebelled against our good Creator and God. 
As such, we need a savior, since there is nothing we can do about our
sinful condition.  The truth is, no
amount of good will compensate for our bad. 
And that’s the bad news – but the good news is, God loved us and did
something Himself to save us from our sin, and bring us into relationship with
Him.  Namely, He sent His own Son in the
flesh – that is, Jesus became a man so He could do what we could not – live a
perfect life.  And then, having done so,
He died in our place, taking our sin in His perfect body on the cross, and
dying for us.  And by simple faith in the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, for sinners, we can be
saved.  Forgiven, sins removed, and
brought back into relationship with God. 
It’s not just good news, it’s great news. 

But now, can I bring us back to that first time the word
Christian was used?  In Acts 11, we read
the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.  You see, it was disciples, followers of Jesus
who were called Christians.  Not just
those who tipped their hats to Jesus. 
Not just those who believed that Jesus was the Christ.  It was those who followed Jesus.  Which brings me to my second question – what
then does a Christian look like?  It is
true that the majority of people in the US – I’m not actually sure what the
current numbers are – but the majority of people in the US consider themselves
Christian.  Do they look like it?  How can you tell?  What does a Christian look like?  Peter tells us in our ongoing study of the
book of I Peter.  Read the text with me –
I Peter 3:8-12.

What then does a Christian look like?  In our study of I Peter, we are well into the
main body of the letter, extending from 2:11 to 4:11.  Let me briefly review for those who may be
joining us for the first time.  Peter is
writing to a group of believers in Asia Minor – modern-day Turkey – who are
suffering for the faith.  They are being
persecuted, so he writes to encourage them. 
He started by reminding them of this incredible salvation they
have.  He then encourages them, and us,
to live beautiful lives – with excellent behavior – so that in the very thing
in which they slander us, they will, because of our good deeds, glorify God on
the day He visits them with salvation.

What does this beautiful life look like – same question –
what does a Christian look like?  Well,
we live beautiful lives of submission. 
He went through three relationships which involve those under authority,
and encouraged them to submit.  They were
these:

Believers
and Unbelieving Governments – Peter called Christians to submit to their
governing authorities.  This, by the way,
is one reason you’re in your living rooms right now.  We’d love to be meeting together as we
normally do, but our government, in proper concern for the spread of the
coronavirus, strongly encouraged people not to gather in groups larger than
100.  We also want to shepherd you well,
and protect the most vulnerable among, our seniors – so we decided to not meet
here at the church until this thing passes. 
We’ve sought to joyfully submit to our governing authorities, who have
our best interest in mind in this case.Second
was Slaves and Unbelieving Masters. 
You’ll remember Peter encouraged believing slaves to submit to their
masters, even when those masters were cruel. 
Remember, we’re trying to make Christ and His gospel beautiful –
attractive, winsome.Third,
was Wives and Unbelieving Husbands. 
Peter made it clear that by living the Word before their husbands,
focusing on internal beauty, and emulating holy women that wives can influence
their unbelieving husbands – prayerfully to believe the gospel.

Then, very briefly last week, we saw Peter address husbands
– to live with their wives in an understanding way, a supportive way, and an
honoring way.  Bringing us to our text
today, where Peter sums up his thoughts to this point.  Christians should live beautiful lives before
each other in verse 8, before an unbelieving world that opposes them in verse
9, and then he quotes Psalm 34 for support. 
So that forms our outline, starting with a summation of what Christians
looks like in verse 8.  Look at it with
me.

To sum up, or finally, Peter says Christians should look
like the following five character traits. 
Notice first, Peter says all of you. 
This isn’t just for the spiritual elite – these are traits we should all
pursue if we want to be fully devoted followers of Christ.  Meaning also, this isn’t just for citizens
and slaves and wives – those under authority. 
All of you, who claim to be disciples of Christ, be like this.  We’ve seen what Christians believe, now we
see, this is what Christians look like. 

Now, you should know these were words widely used in the
Greco-Roman world at this time.  Many
pursued most of these qualities within their homes – their families.  Of course you want to be harmonious,
sympathetic, brotherly and kind-hearted in your families.  But when Peter applies these to believers –
to us – this would have been surprising. 
You didn’t act this way necessarily in the world.  But Peter says, Christians do.  Because you see, we are a family.  If we’re facing hostility in the world, we
don’t that in the Christian community. 
This needs to a place family can come and find not further insult and
injury, but care. 

So, he says, this is how we act within the family to
preserve our community.  If you stop to
think about it – to be the opposite would destroy community – to not be
like-minded, that is, to not believe the same things, to be unsympathetic, to
lack brotherly love, to not be compassionate, and to be proud – that would
destroy community.  Especially when the
world is opposing us – when we are facing pressures without, we need these
traits to preserve community within.  So
these are incredibly important.

First, be harmonious. 
The word is actually like-minded, or of the same mind.  It speaks of sharing a common heritage of
faith.  In other words, as it relates to
eternal truths, be like-minded.  That
doesn’t mean we have to all like the same things – we can’t all be Carolina
fans – someone has to like Duke.  We
don’t all do the same things, but when it comes to the eternal truths of God’s
Word, we are of one mind.  In other
words, while we don’t pursue uniformity, we do pursue unity by agreeing
together concerning eternal spiritual matters. 
That’s one reason we spend our time studying the Bible – to conform our
minds and actions to it.

One author pointed out this is the foundation value that
binds us together; that unifies people from various races and former religions
– now bound together by our faith in Jesus Christ – and committed to apostolic
teaching. 

Second, we should be sympathetic.  You know, God made us emotional beings who
have feelings.  Christians should be
people who enter into the feelings and emotions of other believers.  Now, while we should be sympathetic to all
people, most agree Peter is talking about being sympathetic toward one another.  Paul said it this way – as members of one
body, we should rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who
mourn.  We care about each so much that
we emotionally experience what others among us experience.  You are so important to me, that if you are
rejoicing, so am I.  If you are mourning,
so am I.

Third, we are to be brotherly is what my translation has –
but more literally, we are to express brotherly love.  This one is right in the middle of the list –
in this structure, Peter is making it central. 
We are to be people of brotherly or family love.  I’ve said it this way many times, but let me
say it again.  You cannot say you love
Jesus, but you don’t really like His church. 
That gets back to what I said at the beginning.  You can’t say, I’m spiritual, but I don’t
really have much to do with organized religion – like the church in
Christianity.  That’s not expressing
brotherly love.  We need each other – to
love each other.  To serve each other.  Now, we often emphasize the love part of
this, which is fine.  But it is brotherly
love.  A further emphasis is since we are
family – brothers and sisters in Christ, we love one another.

That’s also why I’ll remind us over and over not to get too
comfortable with this live-streaming. 
This is a need, but it’s not meant to be a convenience.  As soon as this health issue passes – that
is, the coronavirus – we’ll be gathering again physically – because we need
each other.  I need you, you need
me.  We are to express our love to each
other in practical and tangible ways.

Fourth, we are to be kindhearted.  Again, that’s my translation, but the word is
more literally, compassionate.  It’s the
word splankna, from which we get our
word, spleen.  Sometimes the word is
translated bowels.  You see, everyone
knows that sometimes deep feelings of compassion or concern hit you right in
the gut – in the pit of your stomach. 
Hence our word, spleen.  To be
clear, we’re not talking about pity. 
Pity is condescending and implies inferiority   Rather, to be compassionate is to have such
a caring concern for others in our community that you feel it right in your
gut.  You care so much that it is
unsettling to you, even upsetting to you. 

Which brings us to the last character trait.  Now, this one would have been shocking.  Christians are to be humble.  That was a characteristic not pursued in the
world at that time – in fact, it was despised. 
One says humility was a degraded social status – regarded as a sign of
weakness and shame – an inability to defend one’s honor.

This was an honor-shame culture, where self-honor was one of
the highest virtues.  So, you were
expected to be proud, and stand up for yourself.  Humility is not much pursued today
either.  We have so much emphasis on self
– on putting yourself first, of having a high self-worth and self-esteem.  In fact, we hear a lot about self-care, which
I suppose is fine.  But the emphasis in
community is humility and others.  Now, please
understand, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s not thinking of
yourself.  It’s putting the needs and
concerns of others first.  Do you see how
this would impact community?  Paul said
it this way in Philippians 2:

2
make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love,
united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

3
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard
one another as more important than yourselves;

4
do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the
interests of others.

So, in our community as a church family – this is what
Christians look like.  And can I say this
gently?  If you’re sitting there
thinking, well, that’s the problem with the church.  They aren’t very sympathetic, loving,
compassionate and humble.  I’ve been
deeply hurt.  I’m sorry if that is true.  But can we lift our eyes from ourselves, and
toward others.  Be other’s focused as
this text is calling us to be.  The NT
focus is not on rugged individualism, not on what I can receive – but it’s
focused on the community, and what I can give. 
Karen Jobes writes of our Western society, even the church, “An
individual whose needs are no longer met by a community terminates the
‘commitment’ and seeks a new and more obliging group.  Such thinking runs counter to the qualities
of I Peter 3:8.”

Now, that describes community within the church family –
what about out in the world, especially as the world is becoming more hostile
to our faith?  Peter transitions to how
to respond to the world, which by the way, will govern much of what he has to
say for the next couple of chapters. 
Verse 9 says, to a community receiving much opposition and persecution,
“not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing
instead.

When
we are mistreated, we want some payback. 
That’s what we want if our own honor is of highest value.  When we are insulted, we want to say
something back.  That’s part of our
fallen, human nature.  But we’re called
to something else.  Don’t return evil for
evil.  Don’t return insult for
insult.  This is not only what Jesus
modeled for us as we are seeking to follow in His steps, but it’s what He
taught.  In Luke 6, for example, we read,
“27 But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

You say, how can I love my enemies when I don’t
even like them?  Our problem is we think
of love as really, really like.  But love
here is expressed as acting rightly toward our enemies – toward those who even
oppose us.  Our hope, of course, is they
will see our good deeds, and believe. 
But the point, we love them in action whether we feel an emotional
attachment or not.

When everything in you wants revenge, the
Christian response is not payback, trading barbs and insults – it’s allowing
God to exact perfect justice.  But it’s
actually more than that.  Jesus, and
Peter following His teachings, go one very difficult step further.  Not only do we not return evil and insults –
instead, we give a blessing.  That is
very challenging.  When we are wronged,
especially for our faith, we are to return that wrong with good. 

The word blessing literally means good words.  When someone abuses you, mistreats you, we
look for good ways to return that evil with blessing.  While they slander us, gossip about us,
attack us verbally, we speak well of them. 
We speak good words.  We actually
ask for God’s favor on them.  That means
certainly, at least, we can pray for them. 
But more, we don’t just clench our teeth when reviled and say nothing,
we speak good words of them.  Further, we
return evil with good deeds.  Remember
how Peter began this main body of the letter? 
Keep your behavior excellent among unbelievers, so they see your good
deeds, even when they slander you.  We
actually return evil with good words and deeds. 
One of my commentaries reminded me of a story I once heard.

A Christian soldier was living in the barracks
with his unit.  Every evening before bed,
he would read his Bible and pray, to much derision from his fellow soldier
right across the aisle.  He would make
fun of him, revile him for his faith. 
One night, he took the persecution a bit far, throwing his muddy boots
at the Christian.  The next morning, the
boots were returned at his bedside, cleaned and shined, ready for
inspection.  The story says many of the
soldiers in that unit eventually became Christians.  I don’t know if it’s a true story, but it’s a
great example of returning evil with blessing. 
So how can you do that – when reviled for your faith.  You, Jesus, when He was mistreated and
reviled, died for the very ones who killed Him.

You see, to this we were called – this giving
blessing in return for evil – so that we might receive a blessing.  Blessing in this life?  Perhaps – but most agree Peter speaks more of
our future blessing – our inheritance to be received.  Which presents a bit of a challenge.  So, we act this way – we give blessing, so
that in the future, we will receive the blessing of eternal life and all it
holds?  That sounds like we do things to
earn salvation – to earn our inheritance. 
Not exactly.  But doing good
things – that is, acting like a Christian – looking like a Christian – is proof
that we are Christians, and will receive our guaranteed future
inheritance.  But if we say we just
believe in Jesus, but don’t follow Him – be His disciple – seek to act like Him
– we’re proving we don’t know Him, and we don’t have a future blessing
coming.  To be very clear – Christians
act like Christians not to earn salvation, but proving that we are already
saved.

Peter then quotes Psalm 34 to support his
point.  There is a difference here.  David wrote it, desiring to see life and
experience good days in this life. 
Peter, however points to the future. 
His readers were suffering greatly, and there is no promise things will
get better – in this life.  So he hold
the promise of life and good days in our future inheritance.  The one who desires life, to love and see good
days must do some things.  Again, these
are not things we do to earn salvation, but these are things Christians do,
because they have salvation.  Because
they have future inheritance, and our lives are not focused on the here and
now, but on what God promises for the future. 

He who desires the good days of future eternal
life must, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.  We don’t speak evil or deceit to those who do
the same to us.  Remember, Peter has just
encouraged us to not return evil with evil, insult with insult – but with
blessing.  So, the Psalmist says, keep
your tongue from evil, even in the midst of suffering.  Oh, and by the way, David wrote this Psalm
when he was fleeing for his life from persecution from Saul.  And David never insulted or did evil to
Saul.  He’s calling us to do the same to
those who oppose us.

Instead, we must turn away from evil – and do
good.  You see, it’s not enough to just
hold your peace – you must do good even to those who do you evil.  Remember what Jesus said?  He who slaps you on one cheek, turn to him
the other.  If someone compels you to go
one mile, go another.

You see, we are to seek peace with all people –
even those who oppose us.  And by doing
so, we prove to Christians.  After all,
we are reminded, the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and He hears
our prayers.  Remember what we said last
week, husbands – if you mistreat your wives, disobeying the command to live
with them in understanding, supportive and honoring ways, your prayers will be
hindered.  We cannot live in evil, and
expect God will hear us. 

You see, His eyes are on His children who live
like His children, and He hears and answers their prayers.  but His face – a way speaking of His judgment
– is against those who do evil.  In other
words, this is serious.  I started today
by asking, what is a Christian?  And I
suppose most of us would get the belief part right.  We believe in the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ for sinners. 
And by simple faith in Jesus, you can be saved.  And that’s true.

But to be a Christian is also to be a disciple of,
a follower of Jesus.  Yes, it is by
simple faith in Jesus and His work that we are born again.  But how then does a Christian act, proving we
are His disciples?  We passionately
pursue peace in our community – living in like-mindedness, sympathy,
brotherly-love, compassion and humility.

And toward those outside the community – who even
oppose us – we bless.  So that even when
they slander us, they will see our good deeds and glorify God on the day He
visits them with salvation.