Day 79: 1st Peter 3:8 - 5. Faith Under Fire, Part 2

The next section of this letter begins by exhorting Christians in community to live in peace with one another.  It is not just about mutual submission of husbands and wives, but also brothers and sisters in Christ.  "Don't pay back evil for evil or insult for insult.  Instead, give blessing in return."  Imagine if Christians were known for just this kind of attitude.   The letter admonishes us to be patient in suffering and to consider Christ as our example as well as our savior.

In this section the author also compares Baptism to the journey on Noah's ark, which was salvation and safe refuge for eight people.   He will keep us safe, somehow, even in the midst of terrible times.

I have to admit that, as I continue reading the first letter of Peter, I have some discomfort with some of the author's advice, especially his advice to slaves to obey their masters and just keep taking the abuse.  Although this was certainly written at a different time than ours, when the Roman empire did not take kindly to civil disobedience, these verses and others been used to justify oppression and slavery.  And do we want to counsel women to put up with being beaten by abusive husbands, because suffering can be good for you?

We need to be careful how we read scripture.

Certainly there is truth here.  We can't avoid suffering in life.  And it's true that many have suffered for good cause, and that good hard come out of it.  (I think of those who peacefully protested the Jim Crow laws in the south, and won civil rights for themselves by their faithful witness.)

The author writes to people who are experiencing suffering for their faith, and we can hold on to this.  Suffering is not good, but when we encounter suffering in this life, it also does not mean that we have done wrong.  Sometimes it is a price we pay for doing the right thing.