Injustice of any kind is hard to bear. When I’m on the receiving end of hate, my natural inclination is to defend myself. To fight back. I have little strength to shoulder the weight of false accusations, unfair treatment, or slights on my character. And yet, that’s exactly what the passage in 1 Peter 2 is asking me to do: put down my rights and “submit to every human institution” (v.13).
Before we continue, it’s important to address the part of this passage that tells slaves to submit to their masters. The Greek word used here refers to household or domestic servants who would’ve also been slaves. Slavery in the first century was different than the American version of race-based slavery of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Peter is not advocating for slavery as a system. He is instead dealing with it as a reality that some of the recipients of his letter lived under. For our purposes, it’s best to read this passage with the phrase “lowly workers” in mind. Peter was instructing Christians to endure their pain with grace.
Peter would know. On more than one occasion, an oppressive government imprisoned him for his beliefs and preaching. He would eventually be crucified. In that place of oppression, he continued preaching the gospel, trusting that God would use every ounce of his suffering for the good of the world. He submitted to the path that God had paved for him, even though that path included hardship.
If you cringe at the word “submission,” you’re in good company. Submission is extremely counter-cultural in our “YOLO” society. An acronym short for you only live once, YOLO is a rallying cry that places happiness as the ultimate aim of life. If we only have this one life to live, we might as well make it a great, fun, exciting one, right? I have to admit, it’s a pretty attractive philosophy. But it stands at complete odds with Christianity.
We also live in a society that rails against injustice with ever-increasing outrage. Police brutality, racial bias in our judicial system, gender wage gaps, sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace—these are serious problems, constantly dominating my news feeds. But the problem with focusing all of my attention and outrage on the world’s ills is that I can so easily lose sight of my own sin. I begin to want change out there far more than I desire change in my own heart.
Rather than focus his eyes on the injustice leveraged against him, Peter chose to focus on the injustices he’d perpetrated against God, forgiven by Jesus’s blood. He knew the truth: Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection replaces our temporary perspective with an eternal one.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree;
so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).
As a Christ-follower, you’re not only going to live once—you’re going to live forever. Discomfort, pain, and injustice are real, but they are fleeting when compared to the glory and love of our Savior. I’d rather serve Jesus than my own happiness. And I can trust Jesus to use the injustices I see around me for the good of His kingdom.
How do I know this? Because He suffered a sham trial, a wrongful conviction, and bloody death—on my behalf. And thank God He did. Jesus transformed the ultimate injustice into the world’s greatest good.
I think that by starting each day in the word, by focusing on scripture as well as prayer, we allow space for God to show us the areas we need to work on ourselves. Our sin must absolutely be dealt with. Not one of us is perfect. That said, I think it is very important to focus on the injustices happening all the time around us. We are to be creatures of social justice as well. I don’t think it’s an either/or type of situation. We can strive to do better and be close to Christ, *as well as* look out for those around us. There’s a difference between a righteous anger and self righteousness. Let’s not let ourselves off the hook and look the other way when bad things are happening to other people… like the old saying don’t be so heavenly minded that we’re of no earthly good. We can do all of it at the same time. I’d humbly recommend everyone read Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
In love,
I have to admit I struggled with these readings this morning. Some mornings reading each message shared helps me with struggling understandings. Thank you ladies!
Submitting to the law…to be obedient to some specific requirement–the speed limit, filing taxes…loving my neighbor as myself. It doesn’t mean condoning evil, it means walking in Jesus’ footsteps and loving the sinner NOT the sin. How easy it is to point out the stick in someone else’s eye when I have a log in my own. “Jesus transformed the ultimate injustice into the worlds greatest…” for me (us).
Holy Spirit dwell in me that I might shine with the goodness of my Savior in a world that is so often filled with darkness. “May they see YOU (Lord) in me today.” Amen
We are to be responsible citizens and act responsibly towards government if it is not governing in the people’s best interest as well as being responsible and loving Christians. We know man won’t ever get it fully right thus…. THANK YOU JESUS.
Wow…..a great reading today.
What struck me all over again in reading today’s passage is the completeness of what Christ did. Our sins are forgiven. Period. But more than that we have victory over sin that we fight daily if we will claim it. The part of this passage I have always struggled with is the admonition to submit to government authority no matter what. I just don’t think that as Christians we should tolerate injustice or wrong perpetrated by government. I’ve always struggled with reconciling this passage with any number of historic rebellions would consider quite justified by Christian standards.
This is a hard passage to wrap my brain around as well. Why would I submit to what I know is wrong or unjust? What Peter tells us in these verses that tweak the perspective for me is that we are doing it because of the Lord. We know the Lord is working everything for our good (Romans 8:28) and we also know that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). We also know that Jesus, who was himself both God and man and could have destroyed his oppressors with a single word, submitted to the government’s authority to the point of death (as Paul says in Philippians 2:8 even death on a cross). I believe Peter is asking us to look to Christ as our example of submission in all aspects of our lives, though specifically referencing government and authority here, and know that the Lord will deliver us in his was and in his timing. As is often with the Lord it may not be the way we would have hoped or thought of, but our eyes should be eternally fixed on the Lord. As for corruption and the brokenness of this world, we can have hope that God will be our avenger. It is not for us to seek out our own vengeance, but rather seek out the Lord. Even Hannah after being tirelessly mocked by her sister wife submitted to God’s will and prays a faithful prayer acknowledging the Lord’s justice in all situations (1 Samuel 2:1-10). All this to say we are not to sit idly by while people are oppressed. We are the church and we are to care for people. Jesus certainly didn’t sit by and just trust God in a passive way. His faith was active with works! Let us love one another so that the worst the world can say about us is that we are Christians. The Lord delights in that.
Yes! Very well said!
So good!!!
Before I read this message this morning, I received a meeting invitation about a restructure at work. I’m pretty sure I will soon be reporting to a peer of mine. It feels like a demotion even though it really is not. And it will change the dymanics of my workplace. Whether or not it is a good change largely depends on how I respond to it. These words help prepare me to respond in a way that honors God and is a testimony of Him in my life, which is important for those non believers on my team. Thank you for being a willing vessel for God to speak to me this morning. I am grateful.