Growing in Grace and Hope
"YOUR INTEGRITY AND YOUR INFLUENCE" - 1 Peter 2:11-25
1 Peter 2:11-25 "11 Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to
keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be
careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they
accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will
give honor to God when he judges the world. 13 For the Lord's sake, respect all
human authority,whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has
appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor
those who do right. 15 It is God's will that your honorable lives should
silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For
you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse
to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters.
Fear God, and respect the king. 18 You who are slaves must accept the authority
of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you - not only if they are
kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased with you
when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. 20 Of
course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong.
But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with
you. 21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just
as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his
steps. 22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. 23 He did not
retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he
suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we
can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are
healed. 25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now
you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls."
Peter
says that people are watching your every move to see what kind of person you
are. Notice 2 Peter 2:12 - "Be
careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they
accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will
give honor to God when he judges the world." The word "see" there in
Greek means not a passing glance but a concentrated effort. People are making
mental notes on you. People are watching you whether you like it or not,
particularly if you claim to be a believer.
What do they
watch? They watch to see if what you say you believe matches what you do. They
watch to see if you have integrity. Peter says that a hallmark of the Christian
life is integrity. In this passage He says that there are three things that
test your integrity and people are going to watch how you respond to these
things: Temptation, Authority, Suffering How you respond to these three things
will determine whether you have influence or not, whether you have integrity or
not.
HOW TO LIVE
WITH INTEGRITY
In this
passage he's talked about what God's done for us. Last week we looked at what
God's said about us. Today he says, Here is how you should live in light of all
those things and he says, to live with integrity you need to do three things:
1. Stay
away from temptation.
Vs.
11 "Dear friends, I warn you
as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that
wage war against your very souls."
If something
tempts you, get away from it. A person of integrity, if they're watching
something on TV or a movie and they know it is something that tempts them, they
don't say, "Nobody knows I'm watching this." A person of integrity will change
the channel. A person of integrity will lock the refrigerator or whatever it is
that tempts you. If you don't want to get burned, stay away from the fire.
Stay
away from temptation. Why? He says, "I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners." The Greek
words here literally mean "people who don't have citizenship - who have citizenship
elsewhere and those who are just making a brief stay." They may have a green
card or temporary visa or they are people just passing through. What he's
saying is this - Your real home, if you're a believer, isn't here on earth.
It's in heaven. You're just passing through. You'll be here maybe 80 years so
don't get hung up, don't get attached, and don't get too cozy with this world
because you're not going to stay here very long.
It's easy to
get caught up in our culture. It's easy to make things in this world your goal
and aim. It's easy to get comfortable around sin too. If you live around sin
long enough, pretty soon you start becoming comfortable with it. When you hear
somebody cuss and take the Lord's name in vain, pretty soon you start saying,
"That doesn't bother me." It ought to bother you, when Jesus' name is taken in
vain. Or if you watch enough sex on television and the movies and say "It just
doesn't bother me." Peter says, Then you are being seduced. You're in big
trouble. You're slowly caving in. So he says, just stay away from temptation.
People with integrity swim upstream. "Friends, this world is not your home
Don't make yourself cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your
soul "
V.
16 "For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your
freedom as an excuse to do evil." As a Christian you're free. Your
salvation is not a result of your good behavior. You are saved by God's good
grace - an undeserved gift. The fact is you're free from the law but don't use
that as an excuse to sin.
I can get
drunk all I want. I can cheat on my taxes all I want. I can take all the drugs
I want to take. I can mess around with all the women I want to mess around
with, But Jesus changed my want to. I don't want to do those things when I
think of what God did for me.
People
wonder, can you cheat on your taxes and still be a Christian? Can you leave
your spouse and still be a Christian? Can you have an affair and still be a Christian?
Can you do this or that and still be a Christian? Well, God's grace says he
loves you and forgives you even if you have done these and others sins, but
integrity demands that you don't. It's not a matter of salvation. It's a matter
of integrity. Integrity says, "My life backs up what I say." And if you claim
to be a Christian, don't drag the name of Christ through the gutter. He says, You're free, you don't relate to God
through good works, but God called you out of sin by His grace so you would
stay out of it.
People often
ask, "What's God's will for my life? How can I know God's will." This verse
tells you what God's will is. V. 15 "It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those
ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you." God's will
for your life is that you live with integrity, that your life matches what you
say you believe. It is God's will that you be an advertisement of Jesus Christ,
at work, at play, at school, at home, and that you live above reproach. You are
the only Bible some will ever read. We need show and tell Christians.
I think you
will agree with me that the world, especially the media, is looking for things
to find fault with Christians, They almost never have any positive to say. They seem to focus these goof-ball evangelists
on television. Obviously you don't want to defend that.
You cannot
control the lies that people say about you. But you can control the truth. You
do have control over that. I want to live my life and I want you to live your
life in such a way that people have to make up stuff about you in order
to accuse you. That's what it means to stay away from temptation, that they
have to make up stuff, just to accuse you.
2. Yield to authority for the Lord's sake.
The
second way your integrity is tested is how you respond to authority - people in
government, people in law enforcement, parents, your boss, spiritual
authorities like elders, any authority figures in your life. How you handle
that reveals your maturity. Vs. 13-14 "For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority,whether the king as
head of state, or the officials he has
appointed For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor
those who do right." So respect the government and those who carry out or enforce the
laws. It is a mark of a Christian to
submit to authority. Notice the word
"submit." He says that you're to yield. It's a mark of a believer of how you
yield to authority.
What does
that mean? When you get to a yield sign while you're driving what do you do?
(or what should you do?) Yield means you let the other guy have his way first.
That is a mark of a true, mature believer. You don't have to have your way all
the time. You're able to yield, you're able to give in, able to not be selfish,
to submit. Submission, yielding, is not a sign of weakness. Yielding is a sign
of self control. It means I don't have to have my way all the time. It says "I
feel good enough about myself, I don't have to have my way all the time."
Insecure people have to have their way all the time. An insecure person says,
"I have my rights!" Whenever anybody says that, they're saying "I'm scared to
death, inside" Mature people are secure people and they don't always have to
have their way, they're able to let things slide, let things go. They don't
always demand that it be their way.
(This
attitude is linked to the idea of being aliens and strangers in this world.)
Peter says,
this is the way you ought to be People are going to watch you to see how you as
a believer respond to authority -- your boss, the government, law enforcement,
police officer, teacher, parents, whatever.
Notice
is says, authority figures are sent by God.
God allows government in order to establish order, to set up laws. Even bad government, even the worst government
is preferable to chaos, to anarchy. We are to respect them. Why? It says, "For
the Lord's sake." Remember that phrase. You don't respect them because they
deserve it. You respect them because the Lord has allowed them to serve you in
that way. He's saying again, "If you call yourself a Christian, you represent
Christ."
Vs.
17 - "Respect everyone, and love your
Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king."
1)
Show respect for everybody. Prejudice is unacceptable in the life of a
believer. There's absolutely no place for racism. It's inexcusable for a
believer. The ground is level at the foot of the cross and He loves every
person - size, shape, color, background, whatever.
2) Love
Christians everywhere. You may not like everybody in this church but you've got
to love them. Why? Because He says we are to love each other. We're brothers
and sisters in Christ in God's family.
3) Fear God
and honor the government. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar's." I have a hard time with that verse when I think about who Peter was
writing it to. Remember, when Peter was writing this book the Christians were
the outcasts of society. They wouldn't be able to meet freely like this. The
last thing they thought about was having their own building. They were just
elated when they could meet without being arrested They were being hounded and
hunted and persecuted and thrown to the lions or kicked out of town. Peter
says, "honor the government." Nero was the emperor of
"Honor the
government." How? You honor the position not the personality. And you pray for
the position and the personality. It's like honoring your parents. The Bible
says "Honor your parents." What if my parents were bad to me? A woman says, "How
can I honor my dad. He molested me as a child?" or "How can I honor my parents,
they were both alcoholics and they abused me?" You honor the position, not
everything that they did. They may have been terrible in parenting but at least
God used them to bring you into the world. You wouldn't be here if it weren't
for them. So you honor the position. Honor authority.
What if the
government tells me to disobey God? Obviously your first allegiance is to God.
He's not talking bout mindless compliance here. Submission sometimes means
being willing to suffer the penalty for doing the right thing. If there's a law
that says "Do this" and you know it's wrong, God says it's wrong. Submission
means at that point being willing to suffer for doing the right thing. There is
a place to disobey government just not for selfish reasons but for godly
reasons.
Do
you have an employer? If you do, that employer is in a place of authority over
you. The Bible says that you are to yield and you're to respect your employer.
"But you don't know my boss!" Doesn't matter. V. 18-19 "You who are slaves must accept the authority
of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you - not only if they are
kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased with you
when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment." What counts
is that you put up with it for God's sake when you're treated badly for no good
reason - when you are passed over for a raise or promotion that you deserved -
when you are given extra work and not rewarded for it. What's your attitude at
work say about you? Does it show your integrity? Do you quietly and gently just
accept things that happen or do you complain like everybody else?
Your
integrity will be tested. Of that you can be absolutely sure of in this world.
Your integrity will be tested by how you respond to temptation. Your integrity
will be tested by how you respond to authority. And it will be tested by how we
respond to unjust suffering.
3. Seek God in Suffering.
The greatest
test of all will be how you respond to suffering. Nothing reveals character quicker than
problems and pain. That's one of the reasons why God allows it. When you go
through suffering it really reveals what you're like, what God is making of
you, what you are allowing God to make of you. Christians are like tea bags;
you don't know what they're like inside until you put them in hot water.
As long as
you live on this earth, you will experience suffering. You will have problems.
You will have pain. Fortunately, God gave us a model of how to handle that
suffering with integrity.
V.
21 "For God called you to do
good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your
example, and you must follow in his steps." Jesus is our model of how to
handle unjust treatment with integrity.
How did
Jesus handle it? "(He) committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He
uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously."
He didn't fight back. Isn't that the opposite of our culture? Yes, it is. We
live in a fight-back generation. We want to get even. The moment we think our
rights are being violated we jump to defend ourselves. Instead it says, Jesus
Christ let God the Father defend Him. We love to jump at giving defense. We
fight back, we retaliate, we get even or make the threat of getting even. We're
quick to sue. We may not know any Bible verses but we know our lawyers phone
number.
There was a
doctor and a lawyer at a party together. While they were talking a lady came up
and asked the doctor for a diagnosis. She explained her problem and he
explained what to do about it and she walked away. The doctor turned to the
attorney and said, "I know this is a party but do you think it would be appropriate
for me to send her a bill?" The attorney said, "Of course it is." So he sent
her a bill. The next day he got a bill from the attorney.
What was
Jesus' secret of defending Himself? "He suffered in silence, content to let God
set things right." Jesus didn't defend Himself, He let God the Father defend
Him. He said, I'm just passing through, this isn't My permanent home. My Father
will eventually settle the score. God says, "Vengence is Mine, I will repay."
Who can do a better job at getting even, you or God? Let God defend you.
It
says in Vs. 23 "He did not retaliate when
he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his
case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly." It's an act of integrity. Instead of defending
yourself you just say, "I'm going to let God handle this. I'm going to let Him
settle the score."
We get upset
over the smallest inconveniences. If your food gets delayed or isn't
brought out just as you requested, you get hot under the collar. If someone
cuts you off on the road or you're short changed at a store, you're quick to
let everybody know how irritated you are. When was the last time you took an
injustice and just kept your mouth shut and accepted it with grace? God says
that shows integrity. I need to work on that, and I think most of us do.
I know that
there are unhealthy people that can take this verse to the extreme. "I'll just
be a doormat in life." Peter isn't
talking about mindless compliance. The
fact is that for most of us that's not our problem. We go to the other extreme and we never let
God have a chance to defend us because we're too quick to defend
ourselves. He says, "Be like Jesus in
this."
For 20 years
Dr. Helen Rosenver was a medical missionary to the
The best
test of your faith is how you react when you're mistreated. I'm not talking
about those stupid things we bring on ourselves; we cause a lot of our own
problems. I'm talking about when you're mistreated unjustly. The Bible says
that people are watching you to see how you respond to temptation, how you
respond to authority, and how you respond to suffering. Jesus says it like
this: "You are the salt of the earth...you are the light of the world.. .Let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your
Father who is in heaven." He says, be a light.
What would
the people you work with say about your life? If I were to go and talk to the
people you work with on a daily basis and ask "Is this person a real genuine
Christian or not?" What would they say? What would your reputation be? What's
going to be on your obituary when you die?
Do you know
the story of Alfred Nobel (Nobel Peace Prize)? Alfred Nobel woke up one morning
and read his own obituary in the newspaper. They had made a mistake, a
journalistic error. His brother had died and they thought it was him and put in
an obituary for him. The obituary for Alfred Nobel said this, "Alfred Nobel was
the inventor of dynamite. He was a manufacturer of weapons. He was a merchant
of death." He said it so shocked him of how people saw him. He said he, at that
point, committed the rest of his life to working toward world peace and donated
his vast wealth to establish the Nobel Peace Prizes for people who themselves
worked for peace.
The timeless
story - A Christmas Carol - tells about a similar situation. Ebenezer Scrooge
is visited by three spirits warning Him of his future if he continues his evil
ways. One Spirit takes him into his future - his funeral. There Ebenezer is
shaken when he sees how other people really thought of him. If you had the same
chance, what would you see at your own funeral?
People are
watching you. But not only are people watching you, God is watching you. Which
of these three areas do you have the most trouble with? Which of these three
areas do you have the most problems with integrity? Is it in the area of
temptation? That when nobody is looking you let things slide and you get away
with things that you wouldn't do if everyone was watching? God's watching,
looking at your integrity. Do you do what you say you believe? How about
authority? Do you want to be like the devil? Then be rebellious, That's how
Satan got kicked out of heaven. You're most like the devil when you're
rebelling, you're most like Jesus Christ when you're yielding. In any situation.
In a marriage - you take 2 insecure people, put them in a marriage together,
they're both going to demand their rights and have problem after problem.
Marriage should be a submission contest, a yielding contest. Who can do the
most for the other person? Do you have a problem with suffering? Do you gripe
and complain and secretly try to get even with people? Or do you by grace say,
"God I'm going to let you handle this."
Live with
integrity. But know this, a life of integrity begins when you yield your life
to Jesus at the cross. Integrity isn't achieved when you trust in your own
ability. It begins when you surrender to God - accepting God's gracious gift of
forgiveness and eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.