Dealing with "Others": I Peter 2 (10 Years!)

Originally published on Sunday, November 22, 2009

In one breath, Peter speaks about taming our passions, and acting nice toward others.

This is it. When we behave monogamously, are virgins until marriage, practice heterosexuality, refrain from gambling, avoid drunkenness, use clean language only, act with highest ethics in the workplace, act friendly to the unpopular, attend church regularly, read our Bibles and pray, stay in good physical condition, and generally stay away from any cultural influence that may distract us from the Risen Christ - people will hate us.

Their hate for us will soon turn into defining us as evil, ("Hate is not a family value," anyone?). Nobody wants to be thought of as "bad" or "evil." Even Hitler thought he was "good." But since we are holding up a standard that does not seem fun, or like "really living" to them, they must make it so that they are the "good" ones. If they can only make us out as the evil ones, then all they have to do is get further and further from Christ, to become the good ones in the equation. And all that takes is being natural. If it feels good, do it. Easy.

Your behavior towards other peoples should be good, so that just as they're denouncing you as evildoers they may take a look at what good you do and end up praising God on the judgment day.

Please do not be judgmental. When you do, you're messing things up! That person whose dress code you do not like, the young man with pierced ears and tattoos, the girls dressed in goth, whatever a person's particular brand of defiance or style; when you offend them, you drive them away from the Church, you deflect them from Christ.

You do not have to do those things. But you also do not have to look down on those that do.

The world is going to extremes these days, to get us all worked up. They love when we judge them. It only proves their point, that we are not as nice as we claim to be. But we have to put up with all their excesses, let it not derail us! We must prove that, however far over the edge they go, God's love can still go further.

And like it or not - we are the instruments that demonstrate God's love to them.