1 Peter 2:11-12 Honorable Conduct Among the Gentiles

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Honorable Conduct Among the Gentiles

1 Peter 1:11-12

Introduction: “Walt Disney Company has repeatedly donated to an organization that infiltrates public and private schools with LGBT ideology, according to Disney’s Pride Collection webpage.

Disney announced that it donated a portion of its 2022 “Pride Collection” funds to the organization GLSEN — pronounced “glisten” — among other global LGBT organizations. In 2020, Disney announced that it would donate$100,000 to GLSEN. Disney’s 2022 funds will reportedly create new LGBT-oriented programming.

Disney’s PRIDE page dubbed GLSEN a leader in “educational equity” and stated that the organizations have collaborated “for more than 20 years.”

GLSEN is the touchpoint between political activism and LGBT activism in K-12 public and private schools. The LGBT organization crafts school policy guides, curricula and teacher training for schools nationwide, according to an analysis from Parents Defending Education.

Lesson plans developed by GLSEN are created for students as young as kindergarten. Programming encouraged young children to discuss their identity, gender and race.

GLSEN advocates for an array of left-wing issues including transgender issues, “gender-affirming” care for young people, the Equality Act, and rewriting Title IX to include gender identity. GLSEN’s Executive Director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers called schools a “breeding ground” for activism.

Latoya Ravenau, an executive producer at Disney, reportedly boasted about inserting “queer” content into children’s shows. She added that corporate leadership is welcoming of her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.”

Disney’s LGBT funding is not exclusive to the United States. The corporation donates to LGBT organizations worldwide, including in Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland and more. Notably absent from the list of countries is China, where gay rights are non-existent.” [from The Daily Caller, May 5, 2020]

Now do you feel like a sojourner and exile?

Most students of 1 Peter see 2:11 as a key turning point in the letter. Up to this point, Peter has described in detail what God has done to make them his own special possession. Even though they have been exiled, are suffering trials, and are outcasts among those around them, God has caused them to be born again to a living hope and has built them as living stones in a spiritual house in order to proclaim the excellencies of him who called them out of darkness.

Now, as verse 11 states, Peter will transition to urging them to the life they are to live as sojourners and exiles as they live among the Gentiles. Even though Peter is writing to Jewish Christians, he will use the word Gentiles to refer to those outside of Christ.

1. As Sojourners and Exiles, Abstain…
   1. We immediately see the simple connection between being sojourners and exiles and abstaining from the passions of the flesh. If you are not a citizen of this country, and if you are just a temporary resident, why would you join with the people around you in practicing the same things they practice. In other words, “just because you are in Rome, does not mean you should do what the Romans do.
      1. How easy it is to say “abstain,” but how difficult to not be influenced by what the majority practices that they find good and acceptable. The very culture we grew up in and live in has a dramatic effect on us. 
      2. We can illustrate this easily in the past 100 years in our country. Divorce was socially unacceptable and the vast majority of churches and Christian denominations boldly condemned divorce and remarriage as sinful and would not accept into fellowship those who who did. But by the 1980’s as divorce and remarriage became more acceptable socially, it also became more acceptable in churches.
      3. This was the primary fault of the Corinthians. Instead of “leavening” Corinth, Corinth was leavening the church.
   2. “Passions of the Flesh” That’s an interesting way to refer to sin, isn’t it? “Passions of the flesh!” The phrase explodes with the message of intensity. This fleshly life produces numerous passions. These aren’t mild “wants.” These are desires that flood our minds and demand that we satisfy them. How easily we read this admonition and pass on by. But this is at the root of discipleship. Mark it well! We aren’t anything like what Peter said we are in verses 9-10 if we do not abstain from the passions of the flesh. We are not a holy nation, not chosen, not a priesthood, and certainly not “a people for his own possession.” If we do not abstain, we have become no different that the failure of Israel.
   3. Look again at the word, “abstain.” Christians seem to always be looking for the magic pill that will keep them from caving in to the passions of the flesh. As we have mentioned before, the most important and effective defense against sin is to replace the passions of the flesh with passion for God. Pursuing God is far more satisfying, and it is permanent. When our love for God grows, our desire for that which is inferior gradually wanes. However, we must accept that the devil is opportunistic and can stir those passions in a moment’s notice. That’s where it becomes important to follow this simple command: abstain!
      1. James said it nearly the same way: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” While it is not easy when passions are inflamed, “abstain” and “resist” are incredibly effective. Paul offers a different word: “flee!” Our problem can be more complicated than it needs to be. It is like a person who desires a healthy diet, but keeps a tub of ice cream readily available in the freezer. The same is true if we want to avoid certain sins, keep it far away. Or as Jesus said, “If your eye offends you, pluck it out!” 
      2. This is where the phrase, “wage war against the soul” becomes important. This isn’t a “sin incident” or an incidental temptation. This is war! If we were in an actual military battle and bullets were flying over our heads, we would  not be careless about poking our head up. Great care is taken when we know that danger is real and eminent. It is a battle that we must not tire of fighting because the result is death.
2. Keep Your Conduct Honorable…
   1. Notice the connection between keeping our conduct honorable and “when they speak against you as evildoers.” This is a huge test for us! If we lose our cool or go to carnal responses, the result is that our accusers/attackers simply conclude that they were right about us all along. We must understand, we do more harm to ourselves and to the kingdom by not acting honorably.
   2. Remember! Many people “attack” and come across aggressively to see if what you are preaching is real and if you are real. If you cave to the pressure or return their attacks with your own aggressive behavior, they will conclude that they have no more reason to consider your argument because you are just like they are. 
   3. Further, when people are being confronted with something different than what they have always believed, many will respond with throwing every objection possible and sometimes even become angry. Why? Because they are feeling threatened. What does that indicate? Their life and their beliefs are not on a very firm foundation! Therefore, we must act with patience and gentleness (2 Timothy 2:23-26).
   4. Often, our problem is that we respond just like they do because we feel threatened. Why might we feel threatened? Because our beliefs are more rooted in what we have been taught than what we have actually proven by our own person study. That is unacceptable for two reasons:
      1. It indicates our faith is unstable and we are more easily moved to believe a false teaching if I have not done my own careful study of the scriptures.
      2. I might reject what a friend is telling me even when it is the truth because I’m wedded to my beliefs rather than wedded to the truth. 2 Thes. 2:10 states that those who fail the test are those who do not “love the truth so as to be saved.” The key is, we most love the truth regardless of where we hear it. Do we not think it possible that even people who aren’t Christians can point out truths that we have missed? Utter foolishness. That would indicate that we have arrived. “Truth is where you find it.”
   5. Consider, just suppose they are sharing with you a belief that proves you wrong. What have you lost? If you more accurately discover truth, that can only be good. Therefore, it is important to relax, listen, and carefully consider when you are having a discussion. By doing so, you evaluate what is being said more honestly, and if what is being said is wrong, you are better prepared to teach rather than attack. 
   6. Teresa always said that when we talk to people about the Lord, it needs to be with the same relaxed way we would talk about the weather. In other words, we do not want to preach to a person or have an intensity that is scary, as if we are angry that we are talking to a person who isn’t serving God or believes (in our minds) a silly false teaching. Remember, first century Christians were sharing good news!
3. “That They May Glorify God…”
   1. This is an important lesson! Who is it that “may glorify God” in this text? It is those who are “Gentiles,” who at one point in time were speaking against you as evildoers. In other words, at one time these people were not nice. They were contrary. They didn’t like you and thought you were a terrible person. Two lessons:
      1. Never think an evil person cannot change! Never! Ninety percent of the people I taught in California and who became Christians were people who were living fairly sinful lives. They were not morally good, religious people.
      2. The process by which these people change takes time. It is during that time that they are “seeing your good deeds.” What? How does that happen? It happens because you have not withdrawn from them. You are doing exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-48. That persistent goodness is absolutely outrageous from their point of view. It makes no sense to them. They would never treat someone who spoke evil of them with such kindness. After time, these people who maligned you will begin to believe that there could be only one reason you persistently treat them with kindness – there is actually a transformative reality to following Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is actually a power by which every person can be resurrected to truly live. (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
   2. “The day of visitation” What is this? It is such a unique truth that each of us has always wondered about but never could be sure. This is a special “day” for a person who has been for quite some time spoken evil of the Lord and his people. No, it certainly may not be a 24-hour period. It is a period of time in which there is a “turning point opportunity.” It could be that there are circumstances in their life that drastically change that gives them a jolt into considering their mortal reality. It could be that someone else besides you speaks about the Lord in a way that suddenly resonates with them. It isn’t that this “day of opportunity” will always cause change or obedience, but it is the opportunity that God is using to give them the best chance possible before they die.
   3. Governor Felix had the opportunity, and trembled the first time he heard Paul talk to him. Two years later, he left Paul in prison desiring to do the Jews a favor. That was your “day of visitation,” Felix. It will be something you will regret throughout eternity.
   4. What a warning for all of us.
      1. First, don’t ruin the day of visitation. You may have been given opportunities, or at least, connections with others around you that have been rejected. But that doesn’t mean that the day of visitation has come and gone.
      2. And even though we are Christians, there may be other days of visitation for even for us. Those aren’t a day of visitation like for those who have not yet come to Christ, but they are unique times of opportunities in which we see that we have been neglectful of what we should have been. They may be days in which we finally come to grips with our own selfishness or the recognition that our desires for this world have never been put to death and that our desires for God have been at best, mediocre. That is one of the best days of visitation. Do not miss the opportunity. We are never too old to need change! 

Conclusion: Peter’s letter so far should deeply impress us on a number of accounts:

• God is in the business of completely changing us. He has infused in us his imperishable seed that transforms into his image to follow his ways and his thoughts.
• He has given us a new identity and a new purpose. There was never an intention to simply “save us.” He created us for his glory. Notice how many times Peter has already stated our purpose in saving the world (2:5, 9, 12).
• He has made his people, who once were not a people. And he has given us mercy, when there was not mercy. And just as his imperishable seed lives and abides forever, so we will live and abide forever with him.

Berry Kercheville