Have you ever heard the saying that “Christians are too heavenly minded to be any earthly good”? We learned in 1 Peter 1 that our allegiance to Jesus puts us at odds with the culture around us. What gives us hope is that this life and its trials are brief compared to what God has for us in eternity. As a result, many Christians live only for the future. That’s an overreaction. Chapter 2 explores how we should actually be while we’re still living here in this secular world. So when you’re caught up in a culture war, Peter reminds us to“be” four things:
Be defined by God’s kingdom.
The foundation for everything we do in life is our identity in Christ. If you understand who you are, how we engage the culture will reflect God’s priorities and purpose. This is what Peter reminds us about in the first half of chapter 2.
First, we are living stones in Christ’s temple (4-5). Everything God plans to accomplish in the world is compared to a new temple. With Jesus as the chief cornerstone (4), everything God does is built on him. But Christians are stones in that temple (5). We are integrally connected to Jesus. We are part of God’s plan. Peter points out that Jesus was rejected by his people, but chosen by God (4). This defines the relationship we have with the culture around us. We may be rejected, but we’re also chosen by God to represent him.
Second, we are a chosen people who belong to God, the recipients of his mercy (9-10). We don’t belong to any power or institution of the culture around us. We are royal priests of God. Like the Old Testament kings and priests, we are set apart to serve God and his people. Thus we aren’t defined by political affiliations, ethnic identities, nationality, social standing, vocation, or any other factor by which the world tries to define people – but by our relationship with God.
Third, Peter reminds us again (as in chapter 1) that we are “temporary residents and foreigners” in this world (11). Like exiles in a faraway land, we don’t conform to the local culture. We can never be fully at home here. The desires of the world (11) that mean so much to people around us should not drive us.
Be a light to your neighbors.
The first set of relationships Peter wants us to consider is the people who live around us. When we live as royal priests belonging to God (9), the result is that we “can show others the goodness of God” (10). More specifically, Peter says, “Live properly among your unbelieving neighbors” (12). He warns that people might accuse you of doing wrong, just because you don’t follow their beliefs and values (see 4:4). But the quality of our lives should refute any slanderous claims against us (see 15-16). When we feel like the surrounding culture is at war with us, we can make our neighbors the enemy. We can escalate the tension by how we respond to them. But chapter 3 calls us to explain our hope in Christ to them “in a gentle and respectful way” (3:16).
Be respectful to human authority.
Next, verses 13-14 address our relationship with government authority. Human governments are often the source of opposition against Christians. This was true of the Roman empire in Peter’s time. Yet Peter expects us to “submit to all human authority” (13) – from the head of state on down. We don’t do this because we trust any government to be righteous. We do it “for the Lord’s sake” (13). God gave the government its authority in order to curtail evil and encourage right (14). It doesn’t always succeed, but because we ultimately trust the rule of God as King, we can respect the earthly king (17).
This command is surprising! Being foreigners and exiles in this world, you might expect the Bible to be more antagonistic toward earthly rulers. Or you might expect it to ignore human authority as irrelevant. Instead, we’re called to submit to it – even when we might suffer at its hands. The only exception is when government officials explicitly demand that we disobey God. Years before Peter wrote this letter, the ruling council of Jerusalem commanded him to stop talking publicly about Jesus. He refused, telling them, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29).
Peter’s call to submission reflects a principle at work throughout the whole book. In verse 21, he says, “God called you to do good, even if it means suffering.” We could suffer because of the slanders of our neighbors. We might suffer at the hands of the government. But Peter warns us that if we do suffer, it should be because of our faith in Jesus, not because of any bad behavior on our part (4:15). He says, “If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you” (4:19).
To summarize, people who belong to God will be opposed by human culture. But we should continue to be a light to our neighbors and to respect human authority. That leads to the third sphere of human relationships affected by the culture wars:
Be connected to God’s people.
Verse 17 gives a quick tease of a larger theme: “Love the family of believers.” Chapters 3 and 4 cover this in more detail. Simply put, in hard times, we need other Christians, and they need us! Many Christians today aren’t navigating the clash of cultures very well because they have isolated themselves from the community of faith.
This way of relating to others when the culture moves against us goes against the grain. We find ourselves lashing out against the people or forces that threaten us. It’s important to know that when God calls us to do good, even in suffering, our example is Jesus (21). When he was unjustly attacked on the cross, he didn’t retaliate, but left his case in the hands of God (22-23). As a result of his response, we have been forgiven and healed (24-25).
