1 Peter 3:8-11 says, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 10 For the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. 11 Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”
The church really needs to “be of one mind” right now while the world is eating their own. Unfortunately, I see the church falling into the same trap as the world. I read an article this week about how a famous evangelical leader denounced Christian churches for not doing enough in this climate of bigotry. In the article he said, “When you say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to get involved, let’s just preach the Gospel to that’ — which by the way I find so hypocritical. You don’t just preach the Gospel on sex trafficking, you don’t just preach the Gospel on the issue of life and abortion. No, you act!” I get what he’s saying, but I don’t think we ever want to downplay the gospel. Every other social justice action is at best a Band-Aid for the ills of society. We need Ban-Aids when we’re hurt, but even more, we need the cure. My church marched with protestors last week, not because we agree with everything they stand for, but because we want to offer Band-Aids to earn the right to present the cure. For the same reason we went into the heart of Philly during the protests to clean up trash in the aftermath of looting. But these are simply tiny Band-Aids on a hemorrhaging society. The gospel is the cure.
In verse 11 Peter said it takes hard work to maintain peace. Hard work which results in peace is only possible where the truth of the gospel is applied. The world has been trying to bring about peace without the gospel for centuries and yet they’ve really accomplished nothing. The greatest advancements have been made by Christians who have successfully applied the gospel to the ills of society. There’s a lot of pretend unity in our world – people march together and then many turn around and loot the stores of those they were marching with. The world has union without unity all the time. You can tie two cats together by the tail and throw them over a clothesline – there will be plenty of union, but no unity. That’s what the world does – they pretend to work side by side and then destroy each other. It’s only love that can truly bind us together and love is only possible when we know Jesus and accept His offer of salvation. So again I say, “yes, the gospel is the answer.” You can tune 50 guitars with one tuning fork. And guess what – if you do, they will all be tuned to one another. They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to an ultimate standard that they each submit to. That’s what it takes for Christians to be in tune – hundreds of Christians all looking to Christ and submitting to Him. Don’t try to be in tune with each other – that doesn’t work. That’s the world’s plan. They listen to people trying to be more “woke” than the next - but that standard is always changing so you can never live up to it. But Jesus and His standards are the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we tune ourselves to that ultimate standard, we will always be in tune with one another. This is the example the church needs to show the world. So let’s fix our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.
Jason Heim serves as a directional elder with Sozo Communities