1 Peter: Confidence in a Complex WorldSample

10: Enriching Society

You simply can’t ignore the huge 4K advertising screen on Piccadilly Circus, with its ultra-bright colours and crisp moving images. The two verses before 2:13-17 act like that screen within Peter’s letter: ‘Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us’ (2:12). As they lived out their new identity as God’s people within God’s big story, their lives could point others to God. But what would this look like as they lived under ungodly rulers, unfair masters, and unbelieving husbands? Between 2:13 and 3:7, Peter begins to explore what living as ‘foreigners and exiles’ in these spheres could look like.

The culture of their day declared, ‘Caesar is Lord’. The gospel declares ‘Jesus is Lord’. As Christians recognise who is truly in charge, should this lead them to rebellion and anarchy? What does Peter say? ‘Submit … to every human authority’ (2:13) and submit to and ‘honour the emperor’ (2:13, 17). These rulers have been sent by God to play a key role in human flourishing, as they reward good and punish evil (2:14). For this reason, so far as rulers are not forcing people to live contrary to the gospel, Christians should obey them. 

There’s another reason to obey them too. ‘For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people’ (2:15). Christians found themselves at the sharp end of malicious gossip in marketplaces and local baths, and more seriously, false accusations in court. So long as Christians lived good lives, all such gossip would ring hollow and any legal charge against them be found wanting. The goodness of their lives would testify to the goodness of their Lord, the one for whose sake they lived this way (2:13).

As God’s people today, he calls us to enrich society for the good of human flourishing. As ‘gathered’ church, we do a great job of this through food banks, debt advice, lunch clubs, youth programmes, and the like. The church plays this role too in its ‘scattered’ form. As we engage in community groups, run sports teams, contribute to local Facebook pages, engage constructively in politics, and serve those who live on our road, we bless our communities and glorify God. And when we feel the call of God to challenge those in authority, we do so with respect, and with the aim of enriching society, not destroying the ‘other side’. 

Reflect:

How does your church community enrich society through initiatives you do together?

Now think about whatever you will do today or tomorrow. In the things you’ll do, and by being the person you are, how will you be enriching society? 

Pray:

Thank God for his good desires for our societies, and that he calls those who govern to do so for the good of all. Pray that he will work through you to enrich society, and that Christians in your nation will give God a good name.