Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Week 26 Day 6

Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

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1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

            In order to silence the “ignorant talk of foolish people” we need to understand what their investment in their positions are, and that then will inform us of their motives. Very often in this modern context the goal is to marginalize all expressions of faith, Christian or otherwise from the public forum. As such, by doing good, rather than climbing on a hobby horse they have already rejected they are left with nothing to say.

            The caveat in these verses is not to “go along to get along”. To be sure there are times to speak out and times to remain silent. The idea of living as slaves seems repugnant to those who have been brought up in a social liberty, with some glaring exceptions, as we have generally enjoyed in the United States. There are two Greek expressions which speak to this issue. The first, oi polloi, hoi polloi, simply means the people, or everybody, but has taken on the negative connotation of a class-based society where some are better than others. The second is o doulos, ha doulos which means a slave. To be a slave to God is no simple task. It speaks to a complete consecration of our selves to living out God’s will in our lives regardless of the consequences. To be sure, that is the ultimate freedom.