Difficult Christians - 1 Peter 4:14-19

"If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a 'Christian,' he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator."

Let me begin this post with a disclaimer: You might find something I say in this post offensive to you as a Christian (and/or sports fan). But please don't get mad at me because I want you to like me and read my blog.

Get mad at the Apostle Peter, because he's the one that originally said it! I'm only explaining what Peter said in the context of our post-modern lives.

If you don't agree with what I have to say, then write a comment and identify my errors. But please do it with love because I'm a sensitive guy!

So please forgive me if this particular post seems more like "preaching" than like "meditating."

For some time I've been disturbed by people, institutions, and ministries that bear the name of Christ and then live and operate the same way that everyone else in the world does (and sometimes worse). Recently, a well-known Christian university with a very successful sports program was sanctioned for recruiting violations. They broke the rules of good conduct and fair play in recruiting students to play sports at their university, and they did it repeatedly over a long period of time. But they won some championships!

Well, it's not really that big of a deal, you may think. Everybody does it. And besides, they apologized for it when they got caught.

You know what? I'm tired of Christians who compromise their ethics. (I'm not saying I don't love them, I'm just tired of hearing their excuses and apologies.) Sure, we all make mistakes. We all sin. But we shouldn't be living in our sin!

The question I want to shout as loud as I can for everyone to hear is this: WHAT DISTINGUISHES CHRISTIANS FROM THE WORLD? Isn't there supposed to be a distinction? In this post-modern world maybe we're just supposed to blend in, just embrace the culture.

Well, this old Baby-Boomer is having a hard time accepting that line (and neither would the Apostle Peter)!

In these verses and the preceding ones Peter says that if you bear the name of Christ in this world then you are going to encounter suffering and persecution. You will encounter suffering because you are living a way of life that runs counter to the way of this world--a way of life defined by the name of the One whose name is stamped on your life.

Christ... Christian!

Therefore, Peter points out, if you suffer, it shouldn't be as a result of your evil-doing but as a result of bearing Christ's name--Christian--upon your life.

Now Peter had already set a high standard for Christian behavior and ethics in the first chapter of this letter: "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:14-16). And  Peter didn't just make that up, he quoted it from the Old Testament law (Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7).

Be holy because God is holy!

Now, I'm not going to list the ways I think Christians should be different or distinct from the world. You can go back and read almost any of my previous (and future) posts to find that information.

But I am going to repeat the warning that Peter gave in these verses, believing it is still as relevant today as it was for first century Christians suffering persecution.

No matter how completely saved you are or think you are; and no matter how capable God's grace and mercy is to save you completely and keep you for eternity, you are "barely saved" as the NLT phrases it. God goes to great difficulties to save us and we are difficult to keep saved.

The great Revivalist Charles Finney said that God is always ready to forgive sinners if they will repent. The difficulty He encounters is to persuade them to do so!

Finney said that God has so constituted human beings as to limit Himself. God has made people capable of controlling their own moral conduct by the free action of their own wills, and so He expects them to either swear allegiance to Him or rebel against Him. If sinners are to be prepared for eternal life, a transformation from rebellion to allegiance must take place. But the change needed is on a spiritual and moral level and so the means that God deploys must must be spiritual and moral.

People form habits, mindsets, and patterns of behavior that make it incredibly difficult for them to break away from or remain broken away from once they become a Christian. And since their salvation must be effected by spiritual and moral means, the difficulty comes when there is a lack of total commitment to Christ to the extent that they don't leave behind their sinful habits, mindsets, and patterns of behavior.

So we need to get some good old-fashioned fear and trembling back in our religion! Maybe some Christians need to be "scared straight." If judgment begins with God's household, we don't want to be found living as orphans.

So we must bear the name of Christ with passion, loyalty, respect, and humility. We must hold on to our salvation steadfastly and live it out resolutely and with conviction (and without compromise).

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, equip yourselves also with the same resolve--because the one who suffered in the flesh has finished with sin--in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God's will" (vs. 4:1-2).