MONDAY
This week we are continuing on with our Resilient Christianity campaign. We are going to finish the book in two weeks, so that will require me to cover a large portion of the text this week. It works well because 3:8-4:19 contains a consistent theme of suffering for doing good. So we are going to break it up into smaller sections day by day and walk through almost two chapters this week.
1 Peter 3:8-12 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
The virtues in verse 8 define the character that Christians need in order to live in a hostile culture. Most of these are all commonly prescribed virtues in the Greco-Roman society, again emphasizing Peter’s desire to contextualize the faith into their culture. Whereas Peter has an eye to their reputation in the culture around them, these virtues are to be lived and modeled within the community of faith.
- Unity of mind
- Sympathy
- Brotherly love
- Tender heart
- Humble mind
This term means “sharing a common heritage of faith and ethical tradition.” For the church this like-mindedness is centered on the gospel of Jesus. The essential beliefs and practices of the gospel unify the church. I once heard Russel Moore say in a podcast that if the gospel is what really unites us, we won’t be divided over these secondary and tertiary beliefs and practices.
Whereas we are to by “united in mind” on the essentials, we will also differ on other things. In those we need to have sympathy. Sympathy requires an understanding of the other’s opinion or situation and understand where they are coming from.
This term as well as the next one were often used in kinship obligations. Peter applies them to the church, reinforcing the idea of the church as a family. Given the importance of the household in the Greco-Roman world, this is no small connection. We are to love one another in the family of God as we would our brothers and sisters.
“Compassion” is a good translation of this word as well. It implies sorrow for another’s suffering or misfortune. As with brotherly love, this term was usually reserved for the family. Peter is calling the church to view themselves as a family and show one another compassion. When one in the church is suffering, we should have compassion for them.
This virtue was not commonly prescribed in the Greco-Roman culture. In fact, it was despised. In his commentary on this passage, J.H. Elliot writes, "In the highly competitive and stratified world of Greco-Roman antiquity, only those of degraded social status were `humble,' and humility was regarded as a sign of weakness and shame, an inability to defend one's honor. Thus the high value placed on humility by the Israelites and Christians is remarkable." Whereas the previous virtues aligned with the culture, this one stood against it. It is precisely because Jesus so effectively modeled this virtue that the Christians were to live with humility.
Verse 9 cements the example of Christ pertaining to all Christians. He previously (2:21-25) referenced Christ’s example of not repaying evil for evil in his guidance for the household servants. Here he applies the same to “all of you.” Similarly, he will launch into another explanation of how Christ lived this way.
Remember, this is the guy who cut off the servant’s ear in the garden when Jesus was being arrested. Jesus has changed Peter. Instead of retaliating with violence, now he seeks to follow the paradigm of Christ even in the midst of suffering.
Peter doesn’t just challenge them to be silent in the face of evil and reviling. He goes a step further and calls them to bless those who are verbally assaulting them. To “bless” means to invoke God’s favor into someone’s life. This cuts against both our human nature and what would have been expected in this culture to defend one’s honor. But this is the life Christians have been called to. How different our Christian communities would look if we lived like this. How different social media would be if Christians practiced this principle.
Following the example of Christ and not retaliating leads to a blessing. He cites Psalm 34:12-16 to support his point. This Psalm is a Psalm of David when he was a sojourner, so it would have direct application to his audience. The blessing they will receive is nothing less than the attention of the Lord. The Lord’s eyes are on the righteous and his ears are open to hear their prayers.
Reflection
Reflect on each of the five virtues above—unity, sympathy, love, compassion and humility. How have you seen those displayed in your inner life in the last week?
If there is anyone who is currently “getting under your skin”? Pray a prayer of blessing over them. Invoke God’s favor into their life.