1 Peter 3:14-16

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

“Always being prepared to make a defense”.

If you think about the nature of a “defense”, it requires objective reasoning. You would never hear a lawyer in a court argue that his client is innocent because of a good hunch he’s got. A defense would require objective evidence. The Greek word is “apologia”, which roughly defined means “a reasoned argument”.

We don’t have hope for no reason. If we have no reason for our hope, maybe we don’t really have the hope at all.

So, when Peter exhorts us to be prepared with a “defense” it can’t mean the ooey-gooey feeling inside. It must mean that we should seek to understand what we can of the scriptures to the best of our ability. Which, if you follow it to it’s logical conclusion, would mean: Get your theology straight.

Recent weeks have had me trying to put myself into uncomfortable church situations–such as serving in a formal capacity. I say uncomfortable because past experiences in church service have left me jaded. That’s not an excuse. But it is a reality, and one that I have to deal with.

So, I thought this week for scripture mediation I would focus on a verse dealing with the church’s church-hood. 1 Peter 2:9-10:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

As I’ve considered this passage over the week, the first thing that struck me was the obviously elaborate language describing Jesus’ gospel call in the lives of believers. Then, the fantastic outflow from that, that we are now God’s people, that we have now received mercy. Then, it was striking the offices we now occupy–a priesthood, a chosen race, a holy nation, one of God’s (prized) possessions.

But as the week went on, what emerged as the really profound thought, (or at least profound at this time in my life) is capping off verse 9. It’s not what we are, or what we have because of what we are, but why we are that is so striking to me so.

Yes, we are a chosen race. Yes, we are a royal priesthood. Yes, a holy nation and a people for God’s possession. But why? So that we can proclaim the excellencies of Jesus.

Talk about a lofty purpose. A rag-tag group of sinners has been privileged, through the Gospel of Jesus, to proclaim to the whole world, all that is wonderful, amazing, and worthy–namely, Jesus Christ himself. If there is a better explanation for why a person is, I’ve never heard it. The point boils down to bringing Jesus glory, revealing to the world his excellencies.

And while this calling is irrefutably true of every single individual believer, this verse is dealing specifically with the corporate body of Christians. How does the Church do that? It’s a good question and a sensitive subject for me. But I think it starts in John 14:15:

"If you love me you will keep my commandments"

So we will shower Jesus with praise in keeping his commandments. But what does he command of us? Matthew 22:39:

" ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ "

Okay, so we love Jesus by keeping his commandments to love him and to love others. If we do not do this, we cannot confidently claim to love Jesus, nor could we confidently claim to enjoy his grace. So if ultimately we declare the excellencies of Jesus by loving him, then how does the corporate church do that? John 13:35 is (at least part of) the answer:

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

It is absolutely crucial to our purpose as believers in Jesus to love each other. That means love the people in the church. Encourage them. Pray for them. Lift them up when they’ve fallen and be patient  when they’re struggling. Forgive. Give. Weep with the broken and rejoice with the joyful–in the church.

It’s by these things that the world will know that we love Jesus and it’s by these things that his excellencies are declaired to the whole world!

A friend of mine and I were just getting ready to call it a night when we decided that we were in the mood for a movie. We decided a thriller of sorts was in line for the evening, so we made our way to the Redbox and rented P2. You may never have heard of it. It certainly didn’t win any awards or anything.

The gist is basically a young woman is working late on Christmas eve and while trying to leave is captured by a parking lot security guard who has a sick obsession with her. You can imagine where the movie goes.

Through the course of the movie the security guard attempts to win the woman’s affection in some less than conventional manners. For example, killing one of her coworkers who she had an altercation with. He’s obviously deranged and a murderer, among other things.

By the end of the movie, the woman has managed to turn the tables through a series of pretty clever decisions. She’s been through quite a lot. Been drugged, handcuffed, locked in the trunk of a car, crashed a car, tazered, and bitten by a dog. Finally, she has her assailant handcuffed to a car which is leaking gasoline. He’s now unarmed, blind and nearly unable to walk. But he’s still crazy, and can’t understand why the woman won’t have anything to do with him.

As she walks to safety, he gets upset and calls her an unsavory name. In her anger, she turns and lights the car on fire which burns her attacker alive, and she walks out into the street.

For the record, if I had the choice again, I would likely choose not to watch the movie. It was simply too much gore and not enough suspense.

But, my emotional response to the movie’s ending reminded me of some scripture.

Romans 12:19 says:

“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, " VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.”

The movie painted the picture of one individual as being pure, good and righteous. 100% victim. Obviously, in real life that doesn’t exist. But in a movie the ideal can. Then, opposite her, we have one who embodies, selfishness and evil. He was a murderer and the entire movie the viewer wishes he would come to justice.

But, in the end of the movie when she burns the man alive, I got a glimpse into the meaning of that verse. Her opponent was incapacitated and completely subdued and defenseless. When she killed him, she liquidated her righteous standing as established in the beginning of the movie. She no longer fulfilled the ideal that was painted for her. She too was a murderer and was equally deserving of a fiery death as he was.

When we intentionally execute revenge when we have been wronged, we join our injurer in his camp of unrighteousness. We become guilty of the same sins as him. Although it feels good to press revenge, the truth is, we are descending into unrighteousness and it will always produce adverse and often painful results.

That also reminds me of a tidbit of scripture which I read this afternoon and although the context isn’t a perfect match, I still think it applies:

1 Peter 2:20:

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”