December 21
December 21
Are you willing to be misunderstood, mocked, and rejected because you follow the will and ways of the Lord?
I remember my daughter’s tearful words: “I don’t want to be the only one.” We had just told her that she couldn’t do what all of her friends were doing. She was afraid of being misunderstood and mocked. She was afraid of looking weird. That night she wished she were part of another family and had other parents. I was not mad at her, because I understood. It’s hard to stand quietly for what is right. It’s hard not to go with the crowd. God has created us for relationships, so we long to be loved, understood, and accepted. But, as the children of God, we have been called to root our identity and security in something vastly greater than human acceptance. By grace we have been accepted by God. This acceptance into his family should reshape and redefine who we are and how we approach everything in our lives. As God’s children, we have been chosen to find joy in pleasing him, no matter how the watching world responds to us.
The recipients of the apostle Peter’s first letter were probably not enduring state-sponsored persecution, but they were suffering misunderstanding, mockery, rejection, and mistreatment because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why suffering is a theme in this letter. Although Peter doesn’t begin by talking about suffering specifically, he does talk about who believers are in the context of this present fallen world. And this speaks to what their experience will be because of their faith. Peter addresses his readers as “elect exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1). An exile is someone who is from another place. An exile is someone who doesn’t belong. An exile is someone who is misunderstood. Exiles are often not welcome. Why are believers misunderstood? Because we are citizens of another kingdom and we serve a greater King. Therefore, what Peter writes later in his letter should not surprise us:
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (1 Pet. 4:12–16)
Are you surprised when doors close or relationships end because of your faith? Is the glory of being connected to Jesus so important and satisfying that you feel blessed even in the face of suffering? Are you prepared for the fiery trials that will come? May God give us the grace to believe that there is nothing better than to be “in Christ” and that there is no higher honor than to suffer for his name.