Here’s a the second part of a chapter in Saving the Saved: An Exposition of 1 Peter entitled “War of the Worlds.”  Saving the Saved is written by Dr. Dave Anderson and is already available on Amazon.

II.  ADHERE TO GOOD CONDUCT   2:12

  . . . having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

This first word, “having,” is from echō, which is the same as the word “abstain” in the Greek except “abstain” has a little preposition on the front: apo + echō. It is like the difference between disassemble and assemble. So, if “abstain” means to “keep your distance,” then this word means the opposite: “get close.” Other pictures are of holding something in your hand, wearing clothing, or to possess something as your own.

Peter describes the kind of conduct he wants us to have as “honorable.” The word is kalēn, which usually means “good” in the observable sense: attractive (BDAG). This is what we are to wear, to hold, to possess: good (attractive, becoming) conduct. I saw an example of this word some years ago. A friend invited me to play in a fund-raising golf tournament for a good cause. Said he would pick me up and showed up in a beautiful Corvette. I had never ridden in a Corvette. When we got out on the road, he felt obliged to put this fine-tuned machine through some of its paces, weaving in and out of traffic as we cruised down the freeway.

So, when our round was over, and we approached his road machine, I calmly asked, “Mind if I drive? You owe me a couple of favors.” “Are you kidding me?” he moaned. “With your track record?” (I had had a number of dirt bike and motorcycle wrecks with the broken bones to prove it, but never a car wreck). “Oh, OK, but be careful, and now we are even.” I fired it up and went out on the road. Now, what I didn’t realize was the power of the Corvette as a babe magnet. Although I was over sixty and driving about sixty in the right-hand lane of the freeway, these two young chicks pull up next to us in a truck. We are in a convertible. The young thing in the passenger’s seat kisses me through the window. Of course, I play it cool, acknowledge her gesture with a nod, and speed off down the road.

Now that was an example of kalēn, in case you didn’t get it. You see, in that car, I looked good. The word means externally attractive. (Don’t worry; I knew it was the car that looked good, not me.) But God is saying this of our outwardly, observable conduct. It is supposed to be attractive, something that will draw bugs to the light. What about you? Does your conduct attract or repel?

Some of these Gentiles may have been detractors. Christianity was something new, and people are skeptical and love to criticize things that are new. But Peter says with good behavior it will be hard for would-be detractors to be critical. In fact, he is suggesting that the right kind of behavior may turn detractors into believers. Then they would become defenders of the faith and would bring glory to God when He comes back for judgment. In other words, he claims that our lives may have as big an impact as our lips.

My worship leader for almost twenty years was an unusual man whose pastoral heart was as big or bigger than his command of music and instruments and vocal arrangements. His musical team was his flock, and he was their pastor. He loved the Lord, as it should be, and he also loved people. Tray always had a winsome smile and a positive word of encouragement. One day a man that had been visiting our church for a while called me to invite me to play golf with him. He’d never done that before, so I assumed there was something on his mind. Both his teenage sons had recently trusted in Christ on our youth ski trip. They came back and told their parents about it, but it’s not easy for parents to receive enlightenment from their own teenage boys. But they did start visiting our church.

After about six months of this I got the phone call from the father with the golf invitation. We got on about the third tee when Will began talking about our worship leader, Tray. Said he’d never met anyone quite like Tray. After a few more complimentary observations he said, “I want some of that.” “Some of what?” I asked. He said, “Whatever he has. I want it.” Will trusted Christ as his Savior right there on the golf course. That was over twenty years ago. He and his wife have served faithfully all these years, and one of his two sons went on to seminary and joined our church staff for a time.

What was it that moved Will and Linda to trust Christ? Was it one of my scintillating sermons? Was it A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel or Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell? None of the above. It was what they saw in Tray Morgan, a man who loved his Lord and genuinely cared about other people. That’s what attracted Will to Christ.

I shared not long ago about Carmen Pate who suffers from Leukemia in the medical center here in Houston. She is another one who acts like a light in a dark place. She shares her journey with us daily via text. Here is one of her text daily texts, after being warned that she was wearing herself out with her daily exercise routine of walking the floors:

“Stay in your room and they will come!” Because of my high fever last night, and being in a neutropenic state, I was isolated to my room today. But what a glorious day it was! Starting with the morning PCA, who asked if I would pray for her regarding her continuing education. She wants to be an RN, because her dad was one. He had been her cheerleader to pursue her dream, and then he passed. She said she lost her drive and motivation after that, yet deep inside she knows that is her calling. We had a wonderful talk about purpose and calling and how your greatest joy comes when your passions and gifts fall in line with what you do! We prayed for her to have the courage to move forward, the wisdom to learn and retain, the motivation to study hard and let God deliver the results! Pray for “Jeanne.”

My day nurse is the one that cared for me well during 2016. She became one of my “adopted spiritual daughters,” and we have stayed in touch. It was such a blessing to pour into her life today and to hear of her own journey this past year. I believe God is working in her life and in her boyfriend’s life, and I pray they will be sensitive to his leading. Pray for “Cathy.”

I was pleasantly surprised to have a visit from a male nurse on the bone marrow transplant side of the wing, who took such good care of me there during my months in that unit. I called him my “silent angel” as he was not only quiet spoken, but a man of very few words. I would ask, “How can I pray for you today?” He would grin and say, “That my daughter would marry.” He came into the room today and said, “My daughter is married.” So now we are praying for grandchildren.

As evening approaches my fever is beginning to spike, and I am lying here packed in ice. I’m also dealing with infection today, so I am connected to IV antibiotics. But I’m peacefully resting in the fruit that God allowed me to bear today. I know I will rest well. Bless you for your continued prayers.

Does it surprise you to know that people find all sorts of reasons to drop by Carmen’s room? And what great work is she doing for God? Just loving people and giving them a reason for hope—that’s all.

This is talking about our lives matching our lips, walking the walk, no divorce between what we believe and how we behave. We can only be the light to the world if we shine brightly in contrast to the darkness around us. When our morality is just one step above the world’s standard, they don’t see much difference. We ponder about Lot and his daughters in Sodom and Gomorrah. They were virgins. They’re his daughters. But rather than turn over his angelic visitors to the homosexuals, Lot offered them his daughters. We cry out, “Lot, say it isn’t so. How could you possibly do that?” Answer? He pitched his tent near Sodom, so it says in Genesis 13:12. Every day when he walked out of the front of his tent, he looked down at the city of Sodom. As he kept his gaze on Sodom, it was only a matter of time until he gave up his nomadic life and moved into Sodom. He knew it was a wicked city, but he was attracted to its comforts and amenities. In time he illustrated a moral principle: the bar of self-righteousness is usually just one rung above our neighbors.

As the decades go by, most conservative Christians would agree that the standard of morality in western culture has declined in general. But so has that of the Christian culture. It seems to be like Lot, just one rung above the world. As the morality of the unbelieving world declines, so does the morality of the believing world. We justify our behavior through comparison: “At least we don’t do what they do.” With almost half of young people today living together or co-habiting outside of marriage, church people would seem legalistic, stuffy, and self-righteous if they were to suggest that the old-fashioned way might be better. One churchgoing mother, whose father was a preacher, after equipping her daughter with birth control while she was high school said to me, “Isn’t it great that kids have so many more options today than we did when we were teenagers?” Would parents even think that way forty years ago?

So, if we are going to be lights to the world, there must be some way to distinguish our behavior from that of the world. But here is a word of caution. It is better to be a soft bulb than a searchlight. If someone is coming out of darkness, a light that is too bright will only turn them away. A soft answer turns away wrath, and advice is like snow: the softer it falls, the longer it stays. That’s how it is with a soft bulb as well.

We can only be the salt of the earth when our lives and lips make people thirsty for Christ. There is a subtle hint in the “Beatitudes” as to what might make people thirsty for Christ. It’s locked into the word makarios, which is translated “blessed” in Matthew 5:3-11, but just as easily could have been translated “happy.” In fact, one preacher called the “Beatitudes” the Be-happy-tudes. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is as attractive to unbelievers today as it was in His day. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi said this sermon alone was nearly enough to convert him to Christianity. It wasn’t until he got to know Christians that he rejected Christianity. But he never rejected the Sermon on the Mount. It became the basis for his peaceful, nonaggression approach to fighting the Pakistanis. In the movie Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley, I thought the climax of his Academy Award winning performance was when the Hindu man came to him and said that a Pakistani had killed his son. The Hindu man was seething with vengeance oozing from his mouth. He wanted Gandhi’s advice. Gandhi said, “Go find a Pakistani boy whose father has been killed and adopt him. Raise him as your own son and raise him to be a Muslim.” The man walked away in shock. Well, where did Gandhi get that kind teaching? It was from Jesus (aside from the religious part), of course, who, as far as I know, the first religious leader or philosopher to teach people to love their enemies and to do good to those who persecute them. In fact, in persecution Jesus said you can find your greatest joy (Matthew 5:12). Talk about a lightbulb. When the world looks at that, believe me, they are attracted.

When the world sees kindness for hurt, love in place of hatred, goodness for evil, they’re looking at the supernatural. They will come, and they will follow. Martin Luther King, Jr. did the same thing. Others wanted violence. Who wouldn’t? If White Supremacists had blown up my little girl while she was at church, I’d want violence too. But he insisted on peaceful protests. Now practically every city in America of any size has a street named after Martin Luther King. Why? Because King did the supernatural. He was a light in a dark place and his light was attractive. Everyone wants to be happy. If you told people you didn’t want to be happy, they might suggest you check into the local nut house. So, when we can find happiness in the midst of poverty, joy in the midst of persecution and injustice, and contentment when surrounded by depravation—watch out; here they come.

CONCLUSION

 Yes, we are caught in a war between two worlds, a war between the god of this world (the devil) and the God of the universe. Much of the conflict revolves around control for the lives of men. If the devil can wedge his way into our minds, emotions, and will (our psyche), then he can control our lives and keep them from counting for God’s kingdom. They lose their significance. Don’t let him win.

Now I want to say a word to those of you who have “messed up.” Somewhere along the way you have done something you think disqualifies you from running the race. There are many passages that portray the Christian life as a race. Perhaps none is better than Hebrews 12:1—“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Philippians 3:12-16 also uses racetrack imagery: a goal line, a lane marker (kanos), and a prize.

Anyone who has run track knows if you fall in the middle of race, the race is over, at least for you. Some of us can remember the famous incident in 1984 between Zola Budd and Mary Decker. Each of them was a favorite to win a medal, but because Zola inadvertently tripped Mary in the middle race neither one won a medal. All the more inspiring, then, to watch Chariots of Fire a film featuring a rivalry between Harold Abrahams, a Jew, and Eric Liddell, a Christian who died for his faith in a Japanese POW camp in 1945. Both won medals in the 1924 Olympics. When Abrahams first saw Eric Liddell run in person, it was a 400 m race, once around the track. But at the quarter turn Liddell fell. Anyone else would’ve walked off the track, but Liddell got up and began running after the pack. He ran so fast he caught them. Then he lifted his eyes to the sky on the homestretch, and with his famous finishing arm pump he won the race. Reflecting on this with his trainer at a later date, Abrahams said of Liddell, “I’ve never seen such heart.”

So, let me ask you, my friend. Which is harder: to run a race without falling, or to finish the race after you fallen? It’s almost a rhetorical question isn’t it? Obviously, it’s harder to run after you fallen. But if you don’t get up and get back in the race, guess who wins? Guess who tripped you? If you just lie there feeling sorry for yourself or withdraw completely from running, the only person who wins is our enemy, the devil.

Hebrews 12 is drawing an inference from what has preceded, and what has preceded is a long list of spiritual heroes, some of whom became martyrs for their faith. They all faced hardship of one sort or another, but none of them quit. So, the writer to the Hebrews calls upon them as our witnesses to urge us to run with endurance the race set before us. Yes, if we quit the race after we fallen, the only one who wins is the devil himself. Don’t let him win.

Serving Him with you until He comes for us,
Fred Chay, PhD
Managing Editor, Grace Theology Press