Freedom For Today

“In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives.”

Since we just finished wading through verses on slavery, let’s dive into complicated gender roles! I know, it’s tough stuff. Ladies, don’t start getting defensive (as I am prone to do), and gentlemen don’t start elbowing your wives… Your turn’s coming. What we need to ask ourselves is this: why would God include these verses in the Bible? What might we need to take away from these words? How can we recognize our own cultural biases?

First, we have to remember that God is all for the empowerment of women. (Spoiler alert: read ahead to verse 7… I can’t wait to write that post!) God stands on the side of the oppressed, so he cannot be talking about the oppression of women. The point of today’s verses centers on how to win unbelieving husbands over to Christ. A spouse has a unique opportunity to have another person witness both their public and private lives. You are your most honest, ugly self in front of your spouse. So if, women, as Christians we are pure and reverent to Jesus 24/7, those who are closest to us will want to know Jesus too.

Here’s your freedom for today: you are most free when you follow Jesus behind closed doors. Sure, we can all seem like “good Christians” at church or at the weekly ladies’ Bible study. We can appear full of grace, poise, and piety. But how are we living at home? Are we bitter, resentful, or downright mean to our spouses or families? If your entire life were recorded, what parts might you want to delete? Those deletes can point you to the places you are not free. Sit in the presence of God in those spaces. Wherever you are farthest from Jesus, draw near to him at those moments by stopping everything else. Stop your words, stop your actions, stop thinking. Just go be with Jesus for a minute to re-center and re-group. No one you were about to yell at will ever mind.

Take a moment to read 1 Peter 2:21-25 and Isaiah 53 before reading the devotional below. 

Have you ever wondered about your calling in life? Perhaps you’ve prayed for God to reveal his will for your life. Today’s verses give us one example of clear calling that we should not dismiss merely because it is not written in the sky with our name attached. Peter tells us that God has called us to two key spiritual acts: do good and follow Jesus’ example no matter what.

In our culture, suffering is something we tend to avoid at all costs. Most commercials and products are about ways to end any kind of even minor suffering. The Bible is the opposite. Suffering is something that brings us closer to the example of Jesus as we give up comfort to enable others to gain freedom. We patiently endure while clinging to our faith and hope. And in case we have forgotten just exactly what Christ’s example was, Peter references Isaiah 53 to explain: Jesus willingly gave his life for your sins.

Here’s your freedom for today: Jesus considers you worth dying for.  He left his own life in God’s hands and personally carried our sins all the way to the cross. This act of suffering and sacrifice is what makes your freedom possible today. You get to live a life in the right direction. If we were each to follow Christ’s example today, who might experience freedom too? How could we make a difference if we followed our calling to do good and to be like Jesus?

“You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 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.”

Read within the lens of American history, this passage is especially difficult to swallow. The Bible was misused by slaveholders to defend slavery in the American Civil War era, just as the Bible has been misused to oppress women or condemn inter-racial marriage. As we read the Bible, we need to travel back in time to understand the cultural and historical context in which it was written.

Being a slave in the Roman Empire was still slavery. We don’t need to dress it up or pretend it was something different. In the midst of that, it was not mass enslavement of an entire ethnic group by capture and torture. Some slaves in the days of the early church may have been captured as prisoners of war. Others sold themselves into slavery to pay a debt (perhaps the earliest form of slavery to the “credit card”). If slaves became Christians, then their demonstration of their faith was submission. We recall the words of Jesus, “Love your enemies.”

Here’s your freedom for today: God notices when you are oppressed. If you are doing the right thing and get treated badly anyway, God sees. He doesn’t overlook or forget a faithful servant. Patient endurance in the midst of being treated badly for doing what is right is an honorable position in the kingdom of God. (Keeping in mind that in the case of slavery ending the abusive relationship is not physically possible, while other types of relationships do enable us to leave an abuser.) All of us become slaves to Jesus when we sign our lives over to him. Our earthly position matters far less than this eternal one.

“For the Lord’s sake, submit to 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. It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.”

To put this passage in perspective, it is important to remember that Peter is believed to have died by upside-down crucifixion under the rule of the emperor Nero. Context matters, and to Peter’s readers submitting to human authority was an extremely dangerous and spiritual act. Submission to martyrdom was considered the highest honor and calling. In doing so, early Christians were following the example of Jesus who was silent during his trial.

There are all kinds of examples in the Bible of people doing the right thing by not following human authorities. Rahab lied to messengers of the king; Daniel did not stop praying even when the law changed; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow to the king. In more modern times, those who opposed the Nazis or participated in the Underground Railroad were not submitting to human authorities. Even today, it is right to non-violently oppose racism and other forms of oppression. But for Peter’s audience, there was only one choice in facing an emperor who was bent on killing any Christian he could: submit. Be willing to face death. In doing so, Christians would become known as those who never gave up on their faith but also were obviously persecuted for no human fault of their own.

Here’s your freedom for today: you are free to live a life of higher purpose. This highest of callings requires humility and selflessness. The moment you use your freedom to be obnoxious or downright evil, you’ve lost the whole mission. Fear God. Know that he is working it out when you faithfully and humbly do the right thing. Surrender, to God and to those who persecute you for your faith. Too often in our American society, Christians play the victim card and complain about people “persecuting” them (because they won’t say “Merry Christmas” or some other ridiculous scenario). Let’s be willing, like Peter, to never say a bad word about anyone no matter what they do to us. Let’s stop making excuses and never give anyone a reason to say a bad word about us as the church again.

“Dear friends, I warn you as ‘temporary residents and foreigners’ to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 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.”

Have you ever met a person that you just couldn’t say anything bad about? Even if you wanted to accuse them of something, it would be so obviously a lie that no one would ever believe you. A person’s character goes a long way, and here Peter is talking about what it means to carry the character of Christ with you for all to see. And he’s reminding us just how life-or-death this spiritual war is.

We are foreigners in the kingdom of Satan here on earth. He is called the “god of this world,” and he is an authority to whom we will not bow. Our citizenship is in heaven, with Jesus as the true King. Those kingdoms will divide sharply when Satan’s kingdom is destroyed. Your spiritual passport will matter at the end of the war.

Here’s your freedom for today: you can rise above this world. You don’t have to get pulled into the mud, dragged down by the things that surround you and make your life complicated. You don’t have to give in to the lies Satan has told you throughout your life. You, as a citizen of heaven, can appeal to a higher authority and say “no” to whatever appetizer or entree the enemy is trying to feed you today. You can rise above because you can run to the presence of God at any time. He’s the safe place, the shelter in the storm. Hide in him today to stay protected from the tricks and schemes of the enemy.