Defining A Christian, pt. 1

Intro.

Over the last several weeks, we have talked a lot about submission, endurance through struggles, and just doing the right thing.

Submit to governing officials and do the right thing according to God and the law of the land.

Submit to employers and do the right thing even when you get in trouble for doing so — endurance in this was brings favor from God

Wives submitting to even unbelieving husbands and living reverently among them — that is to live among them how Christ calls us all to live!

Husbands, treat your wives rightly and do the right things as her leader and protector so that your prayers will not be hindered.

This week, we look at 1 Peter. 3.8-12 where Peter seems to sum all this talk up, by telling the Christian the sort of mind and heart he is to take toward everyone.

1 Peter 3:8–12 CSB

8 Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 and let him turn away from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it, 12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

Bearing the Character of Christ

You’ll notice that most of this passage is a listing of adjectives — descriptive words. Every one of these adjectives should describe every one of us.

Do they?

Paul told the saints in Philippi they were to “Do nothing of selfish ambition … but in humility consider others as more significant than yourself … looking not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others,” and immediately following this statement Paul shows us how Christ has done this very thing in the incarnation. Thus, we are to adopt the mind of Christ to ourselves.

This morning, we are going to look at these adjectives, and see how the are applicable to each of us.

Like-minded

A clearer translation of this word is relatively unnecessary, as this is really as accurate as we need in modern English.

However there is something worth discussing about it:

To be of “one mind” together as the Church is not to carbon copies of each other. Rather, it is to be one in purpose and goal as disciples. We should desire as one to be like the Lord, to see souls coming to know God, to teach the Gospel, to grow spiritually, and things like these. Yet, if I put in front of us certain ideas, we may not all agree! Are we then sinning by being divided in mind? No! Rather, when this occurs, in love some of us are going to need to concede to not get our way for the sake of the purpose we all desire to attain.

Sympathetic

The Greek word seems to be where we get this English word from. Yet, in the Western Church it is an idea — as far as I have seen — which is often confused.

Firstly, sympathy and empathy are not the same, and we need to define our words. Sympathy is the emotional reaction (sorrow, pity, excitement, etc.) felt in response to what happens to someone else. Empathy is feeling in an intimate way what other people feel. They are similar, yet different.

Now how it is confused by many believers is seen in the debate over what place the heart has in our walk with Christ. I grew up hearing very cerebral centric ideas, thus as a youth I believed that most emotions were nearly useless. Then, there is the other extreme where some can believe that all emotions need to be pursued after and some, in an attempt to sympathize, will enable rather than redirect unhealthy emotional reactions. So, what is proper Christian sympathy?

We need to let people feel things — God gave us emotions, they are part of being made in His image, and they are not sinful! As we see people expressing their emotions, the Christian, in imitating Christ, is to love them by trying to understand where they are coming from even if we don’t feel their experience ourselves. I’ll be the first to say I’m not very good at this, but as my heart opens to people, and primarily to God, I am taught how to.

It is the easy road to disregard someone else’s feelings for our own comfort or to avoid feeling ourselves — but know that the easy road is often full of traps set by Satan to trip us into sins. To be unsympathetic seems to me from Peter to be a sinful way to treat people.

Love one another

This, as also in his second epistle, is Peter using the phase “philadelphia” — brotherly love, or affectionate love!

Remember, agape is the love which exists in actions regardless of present feelings. Philadelphia is itself emotional, in that is to feel affection for someone. Peter says Christians must feel and grow in affection for one another. If we hearing this and realizing that we are emotionally uninvested in God’s people, we need to get over ourselves, get out of ourselves, and start investing in the saints! Spend time with, and get to know one another. And if you are feeling hostile to a brother, forgive him as God in Christ forgave you as Paul commands! We are family, and our behavior toward and among one another matters! If our behavior is so important, then the heart, the soil from which behavior sprouts, is all the more important!

Compassionate

For this, recall to mind the definitions of Sympathy and Empathy — they both are by definition to feel in some way for another person. Compassion is to take it a step further.

Mark 6:32–34 CSB

32 So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, 33 but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

Jesus had compassion on the plight of the people — that they were in a state of suffering being without anyone to guide them to God, and He taught them.

You see, compassion is not just to feel for someone. But it is to recognize someone’s suffering or need and do something about it. To sum this up nicely, as well as give a perfect example, we need only to read 1 John 3.17-18

1 John 3:17–18 CSB

17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

Humble

CS Lewis famously says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”

I would refer us back to Paul’s statement of Christ and having the mind of Christ in Phil. 2. If you’re puffed up, you’re not following Christ. If you want everyone to see what you have done and pat you on the back, your’re not following Christ, if you place yourself in the important places and seek the glory for yourself, you aren’t following Christ. To do the right thing here, to be humble as Christ is humble, is to lift others up rather than yourself. Humble people can accept real compliments for their good works, that’s not wrong, but if you do good things for the point of being seen it is evil.

Perfect example of doing this wrong is to feed a homeless man while filming it, so others see you doing it.

Rather, humility says, “You are more important than I am, and I want to do what I can sincerely to help you and bring you up.”

Conclusion

This is where we will stop for this morning for lack of time. I want each of us to genuinely and sincerely self reflect.

At the beginning we stated that these adjectives are things that should define us as Christian people, disciples of the Lord Jesus.

Now, the hard question is: Do they?

Ask: Am I pursuing to be like-minded; am I sympathetic to people; am I affectionate to my spiritual family; am I compassionate to people; am I humble?

As I readily admit, I am not very good at some of these things, and I need to repent and pursue them. And if our hearts and ears are opened to Christ, we must be willing to accept that about ourselves — that maybe we aren’t good at some of these. Take time this week to read and re-read this passage, and ask yourself: Is Peter describing me?