The purpose of this lesson: To stress that hardship endured because one is a Christian can powerfully verify Jesus as the resurrected Lord.
To receive the full impact of Peters words in our text, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of late first-century (and later) conditions. Christianity was declared to be an illegal religion in the Roman Empire. In the places that took this edict seriously, it was physically dangerous to be known as a Christian or to associate with those who were Christians. A person could be killed or placed in prison for recognizing Jesus as Lord. Some were ostracized from the community, and some lost their jobs and were banned from pursing their work. The end result was extreme physical hardship.
Stress that the everyday life context of the scriptural text concerns hardships inflicted on Christians as a result of their faith in Christ. As we, they would ask the question, If we belong to the Creator God who sent Jesus, why can evil forces cause us so much harm when we are doing godly things? That is a difficult question for any Christian to answer as he or she is suffering. Speculating is easy; enduring is hard.
In our society, the worst a Christian might anticipate is inconvenience. When todays consequences of faith in Jesus are compared to their consequences for believing in the resurrected Jesus, there is little comparison. How are Christians to react to physical hardship and danger caused by their faith in Jesus? How are hardship and danger to be factored into faith in Jesus as Lord?
Reacting to the realities caused by hardship in a godly manner is a major challenge. It is hard to react well when you lose your job, or lose your savings, or lose your retirement, or lose your health, etc. While enduring hardship in life is demanding, suffering an injustice because of faith in Jesus always is difficult.
In a desire to bring people to Christ, Christians today tend to downplay any difficulty to be found in declaring Jesus to be Lord of our lives. Today, Christians seem to downplay any difficulty in being a Christian. The result: converts often are caught unaware by difficult physical choices. Too often hardship in following Christ becomes in itself a faith crisis.
If Christians are not careful, they can innocently or knowingly create the impression that faith in Jesus Christ eliminates hardship. There is a vast difference between faith in Jesus being worthy of hardships and there being no hardships because of faith. If Christians create the expectation that faith in Jesus destroys hardship, then experiencing hardship attacks having faith in Jesus.
Question: Does hardship or difficulty in Jesus Christ become in itself an opportunity for Christian leadership?
The key to enduring hardship as a Christian is found in seeing hardship as an opportunity for godliness.
Opportunity # 1: People out of Jesus Christ often define what is good differently than those in Christ. The non-Christian definition of good and evil may not be the Christian definition of good and evil. Hardship often provides the Christian an opportunity to get the non-Christian to re-examine his (her) definition of good and evil. Yes, there have been those who harmed Christians for doing good (by Christian definition). This occurred when the person who harmed disagreed with a Christian on what was good.
It is essential to understand that ungodly people (people who do not believe in God or Jesus) do NOT define good and evil as do Christians. People who are not in Christ often see what a Christian considers as good to be evil and see what a Christian calls evil as good. Do not assume that a person not in Jesus Christ looks at the world and experiences as does a person in Jesus Christ.
Opportunity # 2: The Christian sanctified in his (her) heart Christ as Lord. The word sanctify basically means to set apart. The Christian had one Lordand only onein his (her) life. Jesus Christ alone occupied that role in a Christians life then! People then were accustomed to having many Lords! To them, having one Lord was strangeespecially if that only one was Jesus! Just as having Jesus alone as our supreme authority is strange to many today! If, then, there was a conflict, there was no question as to who directed the Christians life no matter what the harm or the danger.
The Christian puts all of his (her) life under one supreme authorityJesus Christ the Lord (see Matthew 28:18 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-26). People not in Jesus Christ tend to divide life into sections, and they have a different lord as the ultimate authority in each section.
Opportunity # 3: The chance to explain why was to be seen as an opportunity. It was opportunity for the Christian to give wanted input.
To share (not debate) the why of what one believes is a special opportunity. First-century Christians could use persecution to generate such opportunities. To Christians who seek justice, that seems a strange concept. The focus has to be that Gods purposes go far beyond us as individuals. We are not the be all and end all of Gods purposes. Selfishness is never to be confused with divine purpose.
Try to place this occurrence in the context of their circumstances. Use words and concepts we understand. This writing said the official persecutors asked, How do you suffer as you do? We are accustomed to being cursed, being threatened, or seeing people die in fear as they lost their lives. However, you people do not do that. Your attitude is different! You do not curse or threaten. You do not fear death. You endure in your conviction that faith in Jesus is worthy of suffering. You face the loss of life as a benefit. How do you do that?
The opportunity to share why was generated by the Christians reaction to hardship. Christians did not react to hardship as did people who did not separate physical existence from eternal destiny. Commonly, in this matter Christians were distinctly different from people who worshipped idols. The difference was observed in an another reality focus compared to a this world focus.
The opportunity to explain arose from the attitudes that controlled Christians as they confronted hardship and danger. Christians were not like people who were not Christians as they suffered. Notice two things: (1) they were ready to explain their attitude as they suffered. (2) They explained respectfully. Their answer was not based on a sense of getting even or the threat of You will pay for thisthey were gentle and reverent.
The difference was obvious even to non-spiritual people because of a distinct difference in attitude. The difference began with an internal difference.
Opportunity #4: Their explanation was in keeping with a good conscience. Even when they endured injustice and pain, they behaved like Christians. As Jesus could pray for those responsible for his death as he died, they could look upon those who caused their anguish with sympathy and compassion. Their persecutors might slander them before the suffering and pain, but they could not deny that their faith made them unusual people after they endured suffering and pain. The injustice might begin with slander, but it would not end with slanderbecause of who they were in Jesus Christ. Unjust hardship proved the genuineness of Jesus Christ!
These Christians were concerned with who they were, not with merely what they did. Because what they were was different, that which was slander at first became shame later. (The Yeah, yeahyou are like everybody else became He (she) did not deserve this.)
Often Christians of today think only in terms of benefits leading people to Jesus. We commonly think of leadership occurring only when good is done or good results from a situation. However, some of the most powerful leading in righteousness occurs when hardship or pain is involved. Suffering often demonstrates genuineness. Hardship often demonstrates the power of endurance. Though we often prefer to lead because blessings and benefits occur, we urgently need to remember that leading is powerful among Christians when they endure injustice.
Christians may exert more leadership by example through the manner in which they endure hardship than in the manner they experience success. However, to the Christian, enduring hardship does not feel like experiencing success.
May you reveal who you are in Christ through the good that occurs in your life, and through the hardship and injustice that occur in your life. May the good you encounter declare Gods goodness, and may the pain you encounter declare Gods goodness. Never forget that God often produces good from injustice long after the injustice has happened.
Use both the good and the hardship that occurs in your life as a Christian to focus peoples attention on Gods goodness.
For Thought and Discussion
1. What were the conditions Christians faced when 1 Peter 3:13-17 was written?
These people endured distress because they focused their lives through faith on Jesus Christ the Lord.
2. What critical question did many early Christians have to answer?
How are Christians to react to physical hardship and danger caused by their faith in Jesus?
3. Why do many Christians of today downplay any difficulty in being a Christian?
Christians of today fear people will not be converted to Jesus Christ if they understand that faith might produce hardships in this physical world.
4. What was opportunity # 1 presented by the existence of hardship?
The opportunity to get non-Christian people to reexamine their definitions/concepts of good and evil was opportunity # 1.
5. What was opportunity # 2 that hardship presented?
It was the challenge to get the Christian to set apart the resurrected Jesus as the only Lord of all areas of life.
6. What was opportunity # 3? Discuss the probable reaction of official persecutors.
The opportunity to explain why was # 3. The discussion should include the question How can you be what you are and do what you do?
7. How did opportunity # 3 arise? You were asked to notice what two things?
It arose from the attitudes of Christians as they suffered. You were asked to notice (1) Christian were to be ready to explain their attitudes when they suffered, and (2) they were to be respectful to those who inflicted their suffering.
8. Discuss opportunity # 4.
Christians maintained a good (godly) conscience as they suffered. Their reactions to hardships did not deny their faith in Jesus.
9. Often todays Christian thinks only in terms of what providing leadership opportunities?
Christians often think only benefits can provide leadership through example.
10. Discuss how pain or injustice can provide powerful leading opportunities.
Hardship declares genuineness of faith in unique ways.
11. What should declare Gods goodness in a Christians life?
Both good and hardship should declare Gods goodness in a Christians physical existence.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 9