Lesson 9

Somebody's Watching You

I Peter 2:11-12

In our study of I Peter, we have come to a new section of the letter. Let's open our Bibles to I Peter 2:11.

It is important to remember that Peter's letter is addressed to those who are "scattered throughout (Asia)". These Christians were scattered because of persecution. The original readers of this letter were facing extremely difficult circumstances, persecution in its many forms - verbal (criticism, harassment, mockery) even physical - to the point that they were forced from home and country. The Christian life was not easy for them.

In the previous section, there were very few commandments. Primarily, Peter was reminding his readers of their privileges in Christ. His intention is to give them a different view of life - to enable them to see their lives, not from the perspective of pain but from the perspective of eternity.

But in this next section, where we begin today, there are several commandments and some clear instructions given to help Christians live for Christ in the midst of scrutiny and criticism. There are two specific and main commands. Each of these two commands has an appeal attached to it and a reason(s) for keeping this command connected with it. Each command can be summed up in one word. (Only one today).

"Abstain!" - 2:11-12

Don't overlook the first two words of this section - "Dearly beloved". It is an express of intense emotion and affection. Peter wants his readers to know and understand his love for them. In his two epistles, he uses the word "beloved" eight times. Knowing that he loves them and has their best interest in mind, will help them to be more responsive to his commands.

The Appeal. With the first command, Peter appeals to them as "strangers and pilgrims". Verse 11 says "I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims." The word "strangers" identifies Christians as foreigners. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). The word "pilgrim" sheds more light on our relationship with this world. Strong's defines it as "a resident foreigner". Larry and Janice Schmaltz or Greg and Linda Smith could understand this term better. They are all U.S. citizens, yet they live on foreign soil and alongside Canadians and Mexicans respectively - people who have different backgrounds than their own. If ever you have lived in a foreign country or if ever a foreigner has lived close by you, you are, no doubt, aware that the foreigner is watched closely, misunderstood easily and criticized quickly. That's the way that the world looks at Christians - watched closely, misunderstood easily, criticized quickly. A recent poll, reported by Chuck Colson in his daily radio commentary "Breakpoint", found that one-third of all Americans would not want a fundamentalist living next door. Peter's reminder is that Christians can expect more scrutiny and criticism than others simply because we are regarded as strangers and pilgrims.

The Command. There are several words and phrases in verses 11-12 that need to be considered. Let's dissect these words and phrases to find out exactly what the Bible is commanding us to do or not to do.

"Abstain" - the Greek word used here means literally "to hold away from." In contrast to embracing, we are commanded to hold things forcibly away from us. (Remember the skit "Will you be the one"? At first, the girl embraces certain sins until she becomes trapped by them. Finally, she is released from those sins by the power of God's word and thereafter when those same sins come toward her, she holds them away. That's the idea of this word "abstain").

"fleshly lusts" - refers to those strong cravings of our sinful nature. Although we have a transformed life in Christ, we still remain in a spiritual battle, fighting against desires that would lead to sin. These fleshly lusts manifest themselves according to the list given in Galatians 5:19-21, in immorality, impurity, sensuality, sorcery, idolatry, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, arguments, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness and carousing.

The believer is commanded to hold away from himself /herself and to stay away from the strong cravings of his sinful nature which wage war against the soul. This verse expresses a valuable truth that we can all attest to - that within us there is an ongoing battle between the flesh and spirit. James says that wars and fightings on the outside come from "lusts that war" on the inside (James 4:1). If you are a Christian, there is an ongoing battle taking place inside of you, read Galatians 5:17, then 16. The key is walking in the Spirit and the way to walk in the Spirit is to abstain from the strong cravings of the flesh.

The Motive. Verse 12 tells us why. It speaks of motive. In this verse, Peter moves from the inside struggle to the outside testimony. He says that our "conversation", the word means our conduct or our behavior, should be honest (honorable) among the Gentiles (not a race, but another word for the unbelievers, pagans).

There are people who are watching your life. I say that you should go public about being a Christian. It isn't right to be "closet Christian" at work or at school or when you travel. By declaring your Christianity, you will protect yourself from doing or saying some things that you shouldn't. But once you have publicly identified with Jesus Christ, you can be sure that people will be watching you.

In fact, Peter says that we can just expect them to "speak against you as an evildoer." You can expect criticism. Being a Christian means that you are subject to greater scrutiny and more criticism. But Peter says here that by "beholding" our "good works" their slanderous accusations are refuted and it may lead to their salvation!

So what do you do when someone slanders you and your reputation? There is a strong temptation to protest loudly their slander and defend yourself. But sometimes the more we protest and defend, the more we are criticized. "Methinks thou doth protest too much" wrote Shakespeare implying that the more you protest the more guilty you look. Peter tells us that we should just expect to be spoken against as evildoer and rather than defending ourselves with our lips, we should defend ourselves with our lives. The ones who criticize us should just constantly see good works from us. Jesus said, "Let your life so shine before me that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Peter speaks about these Gentiles "glorify(ing) God in the day of visitation" and we wonder exactly what that means. Throughout the New Testament, visits from God specifically refer to redemption or salvation. Luke 1:68 -69 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us ..." After the raising of the widow's son from the dead by Jesus, the people responded by saying in Luke 7:16, "God hath visited his people."

Certainly "the day of visitation" in I Peter 2:12 refers to salvation. When the Lord visits the unbeliever and opens his heart, that person will remember the godly behavior of faithful Christians and respond in saving faith. That kind of response glorifies God.

During WWII, an American missionary couple and their young son spent three years in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines. The missionary kept a journal of that time in his life, recording that their captors murdered, tortured and starved to death many of their fellow prisoners. The camp commandant was especially cruel. On one occasion, he increased the food ration but in the form of un-husked rice which if eaten as is has a razor sharp outer shell that causes intestinal bleeding and death within a matter of hours. The prisoners had no tools with which to remove the husks and doing the job manually consumed more calories than the rice supplied.

But somehow this family survived long enough to be liberated by the arrival of General Douglas MacArthur. In time, the commandant, working as a grounds keeper at a golf course in Manila, was arrested, tried for war crimes and hanged. But before his execution he professed faith in Jesus Christ saying that he had been deeply affected by the conduct of the Christian missionaries he had persecuted" (from "Song of Deliverance" Masterpiece Magazine, Spring 1989, pp. 12-13).

When God graciously visited the commandant with salvation, the one-time torturer remembered the godly behavior of missionaries he had once persecuted. Their example became the unspoken means of his salvation.