Should Christians live in a way that wins the favour of our community? Or should you follow Jesus in a way that shows your distinctiveness and causes people to accuse you of doing wrong?
Peter says: Why choose? Both are true! “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2v12).
We have reached an important moment in Peter’s first letter. To this point, he has spoken much about our new identity and new hope we have in Christ, and this reached a climax with his description of the church as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (2v9). Now he calls us to “live such good lives." He will give detail to this command by addressing citizens, slaves, wives, husbands, and “finally, all of you” (3v8). My own view is that this section on doing good is then followed by a section on suffering when doing good, which goes from 3v13 to 4v19.
Why a new year shouldn't mean a new church
January is widely recognised as the peak month for job changes, driven by post-holiday career reflection and the "new year, …