“For it is God’s will
that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live
as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as
God’s slaves.” 1 Peter 2:15-16
Servant - a devoted and
helpful follower or supporter.
Slave - a person who is the
legal property of another and is forced to obey them.
Peter
tells his readers that by doing the will of God in your life you should silence
the mouths of your naysayers and critics.
We all know that when a Christian, especially one of some renown in the
public arena, falters or has a misstep the media broadcasts it to the far
corners of the earth. When they do good
deeds in the name of Christ it goes largely unnoticed by the world. That’s fine, because we should never do
anything in the name of Christ for our own notoriety, but what of the world’s
chastisement? It’s as if we are
expected to be picture perfect at all times.
It’s as if the world and not God is the judge of men’s actions. Fortunately, that is not the case. God expects our obedience; however, does not
hold our feet to the fire with every mistake we make.
While
the New International Version (NIV), which is regularly used by me to express
the days given verse(s) uses the word ‘slaves’, most other translations,
including Young’s Literal Translation, use the word ‘servant’. Based on the definitions (listed above), I
believe ‘servant’ is far more appropriate.
We are not required or forced to obey God. We obey and serve Him out of willing
devotion; a compulsion, a deep conviction.
We serve God because we desire to do so and not because we must. That is our free will in action.
As
Christians we should aspire to be the sort of people of whom it is said “I can
find no fault in this man (woman or child)”, just as Pilate said of Jesus. Nonbelievers can always spot our mistakes,
but that is only because they are comparing themselves to you and not to
God. It makes them feel better about
themselves knowing that Christians, whom they seem to think are supposed to be
perfect in every way, have flaws just like them. Believers can take solace in the fact that
the naysayers are not our judge.
God has the final say and is understanding during our spiritual development. Continually strive to be like Christ in all
you think, say and do and God will use you to help change the world. Until next time, walk with the King and be a
blessing!
