Duty of Man |
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Elder
Phillip N. Conley |
Morning
Thoughts July 1, 2014
I Peter
2:17, "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.
Honour the king."
This
morning, people spend tremendous sums of money for
professional help to answer basic questions like "Who am I?"
and "Why am I here?" There are doubtless cases when people
are truly confused about the meaning of basic things in life
as psychiatric depression is as real an illness to the mind
as diabetes or cancer is to the body. However, many today
look for an "out" for not doing something they know they
should do, and some want to smooth over and cover their
laziness. Society today almost fetes laziness sometimes
hiding behind the curtains of "I just didn't know." Sadly,
God's children can fall victim to this mindset as well. True
story: a minister visited a couple on an occasion to talk to
them about some behavior in their decorum that could bring a
reproach upon the church. After laying out the problem, the
minister was accosted verbally by the wife with, "Preacher,
if you would just preach on this, we wouldn't do it." While
softly trying to express that these concepts were declared
and expounded regularly from the pulpit, the woman got
madder and madder as her "cover" for their slackness was
falling to pieces. Our duty is not a hard concept to
understand, but regrettably, we fail to accept and follow it
a lot of the time.
Our
study verse is structured as 4 simple sentences, and when
collectively considered, the whole of our decorum can be
vividly seen. While each sentence is a subject unto itself,
the collection defines our duty easily and succinctly.
Before we consider these individual parts, we first need to
understand that Peter's main course through this portion of
his epistle is to show that our example - Jesus Christ - is
supreme in all aspects of decorum. Verses 21-24 declare our
Example's conduct as clearly as our study verse shows the
duties of our conduct. Therefore, we will frame these
individual parts against the backdrop of Him in all things.
"Honour all men." Peter's first declaration is to give
all men the respect befitting of our graciousness in the
Lord. The word "honour" here literally means to give value
or estimation to something or someone. Now, it is plain from
Scripture that there are people in the world that are not
part of God's family that will spend an eternity in shame
and contempt through punishment. Matthew 25 describes these
people as goats that the King will tell to depart from Him.
These people have no goodness in them, and faith is an alien
concept, action, or thing to them. (II Thessalonians 3:2)
So, if there are people in this world that are not good at
all, how could we fix any estimation or value to someone (honour
them) as is our duty to do? Excellent question! Consider the
steps and conduct of the Master. Though He will one day
judge them in righteousness and banish them from His glory
and blessings to utter ruin, He still gives them "types" of
honour here.
One
example would be found in Matthew 5:45. In the Sermon on the
Mount, Christ encourages His disciples to do good to others,
particularly emphasizing those that are evil. Why? Even our
Father sends natural blessings and honours unto the unjust
as well as the just. They get sunlight every day, rain in
due season, and can live in nations that are blessed by the
providence of Almighty God. No doubt there have been goats a
plenty living in America since her founding a couple hundred
years ago. Yet, they have enjoyed the liberties and
privileges that we as God's faithful believe come to us by
God's blessing. If God can so give natural honour and
goodness to these men, so can we. If in need or having lack,
we should be ready and willing to provide the blessings we
can should the opportunity arise.
"Love
the brotherhood." Though we should be faithful and
honourable to all people and live in peace as much as
possible with them (Romans 12:18), there should be something
special about certain people in this world. Peter here calls
it the brotherhood, and the term is synonymous with
Scripture's reference of "brethren" or "brother." These are
considered our kin, and in respect to Christ, the kinship
goes beyond and further than natural ties and bonds. The
brotherhood should be the most special people on earth. Paul
showed this contrast in Galatians 6:10 when he exhorted the
brethren to do good to all men but especially the household
of faith. While we should be willing to distribute and help
our fellowman when he is in need, how much moreso should we
do with the brethren?
To put
it in the form of a natural illustration, I love children,
and though people probably think I have lost my marbles from
time to time, I like talking to the babies, toddlers, and
young children particularly at church. Sometimes they laugh
at me, sometimes they draw up at my ugly countenance, but I
still enjoy it. However, with other people's children, I am
more reactive in my approach to them. If they want to ignore
me, that is fine. If they want to interact, that is fine
too. I try not to press it. However, with my own children, I
take a very proactive approach. If I call them, I expect
them to answer. If I talk to them or ask them something, I
expect a response. Why? They are my children while the
others are not. When we honour all men, the approach may be
a reactive one (if we see something or a need that we can
help), but with our own brethren of the kindred in Christ,
we should be proactive to them and with them. Love does not
wait to be asked to do something, but rather, it seeks
objects of that love. When I met the woman that would become
my wife, I did not wait to talk to her or see if anything
came up. I went after her! When it comes to Christ's kindred
in this world, our love should go after them to sacrifice
ourselves for them as we can.
"Fear
God." Many times we can get in trouble when we read a
word as the same thing every time. People confuse themselves
terribly when they read "saved" or "salvation" the same way
in Scripture every time. While saving is a deliverance,
there are many types and situations, which must be drawn
from the context. The word "fear" in Scripture is that way.
Oftentimes, Scripture declares fear as something good that
we should do (like this verse, Psalm 111:10, Ecclesiastes
12:13, and others) while it is a bad thing at other times (I
John 4:18, II Timothy 1:7). How do we reconcile this? Bad
fear is literally a mortal dread and anxiety that can grip
and paralyze us. Such a fear we should seek to avoid,
knowing that we have a merciful God in heaven that takes
care of us. The good fear in the Bible literally means
respect, reverence, and obedience.
The fear
of God that we should exhibit as our duty on earth does not
mean cowering in the corner hoping He does not kick us on
His way by. That is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of
Eden after the fall. The fear of Him that gives wisdom,
knowledge, understanding, and instruction indicates that we
have such respect for Him and His ways that we desire to
please Him in all things. If He commands it, so be it. If He
forbids it, so be it. This is the same kind of fear that
children should learn and show for their parents since the
parents are charged with their care and upbringing. That
kind of responsibility deserves and demands respect, and how
much more for our Father in heaven for all the care and
responsibility that He has taken for us! Surely one that has
done so much and held us so dear deserves all the respect
and reverence that our being can display!
"Honour
the king." One might wonder why this commandment is
included as it would seem to be understood in the first
command in the verse of "Honour all men." Though honouring
the king is a subset but included in honouring all men, the
Bible will from time to time emphasize something for our
benefit. As fallen, broken creatures, we need reminding
about different things and some things more than others. We
could be told to honour all men, but by emphasizing the
king, Scripture gives us reason to think that honouring the
king might be more difficult from time to time than the
general command. Hence, the emphasis. Consider that bad
rulers have plagued human history, and will likely continue
to do in the future. It would be far easier to help someone
in need that you had never seen act poorly than it would be
to honour an earthly ruler or magistrate whose sins had been
evident for all to see. We have a tendency to hold and
harbor ill feelings to those that we feel personally wronged
by. Ruling over people is difficult in this way even for
those that try to rule well. Your shortcomings are more
manifest than others, making you the repeated target of
grudges, abuse, etc.
When
considering Paul's openings to his epistles, there is a
slight variation between "church epistles" and "minister
epistles." In all the church epistles, Paul includes "grace
and peace be unto you" within the opening greeting. In the
minister epistles, he says, "grace, mercy, and peace be
unto you" as Paul well understood that the minister
needed a dose of mercy as he tried to lead and guide the
sheep of God's heritage. In that sense by watching over
their souls (Hebrews 13:17), Paul knew that they would come
under fire and criticism. Hence, he begged mercy for them as
well as grace and peace. Whether someone is under the rule
of a wicked or righteous magistrate, honour is still the
command. In the last few years, I have heard upset but
misguided people say comments like "he is not my president"
and "I'll pray for the office but not the man." Whether
someone likes their rulers or not, they are still the
rulers, and here we are commanded to honour the king not the
kingship (man not just the office). Scripture may emphasize
this command for the office's sake, but the man is to be
prayed for.
Friends,
much more could be said about each of these commands, as we
have mentioned them being whole subjects to themselves.
However, we have tried to skim the high points to line out
the fullness of the bounds that Peter here considers.
Against the backdrop of Christ, we see where He honours all
men, even those that rose up against Him. He was willing to
heal the ear of Malchus in the Garden of Gethsemane after
Peter struck it off even though Malchus was part of the mob
coming to arrest Him. He chose Judas as one of the 12 though
He knew that Judas was a devil that would betray Him. Christ
showed the highest order of love to His brethren by laying
down His life for them and also by displaying it in every
step while He walked this low ground. Christ showed His
Father respect at every turn always doing those things that
please Him, and praying to His Father often while doing His
Father's business. Finally, Christ abode as a good citizen
even to the point of avoiding a revolt that would have made
Him an earthly king. He also paid taxes to avoid offending
others, while also not assailing the high priest even when
the high priest was wrong for trying Him in the kangaroo
court brought against Him. His conduct was pristine, even
when those around Him were handling Him wrongfully. Friends,
why should we seek for less? Let us be up and about in the
Master's good way.
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