Think for a
moment about the person with whom you spend the most time interacting on any
given day. If perhaps that person is your spouse, that’s wonderful – you should
consider yourself lucky. For most people, the person with whom they interact
the most is either a coworker or their boss. I’m sorry if I just ruined your
morning by reminding you about how much time you spend at work!
For the
average person, working takes up approximately half of his waking hours. That
means your relationships with your coworkers and your boss are very important
if for no other reason than simply the sheer amount of time that you spend with
them. It’s important, then, for us to consider how God wants us to conduct
ourselves in these relationships. In particular for today, we’re going to read
some teaching from the Apostle Peter that you can apply to your relationship
with your boss.
As we
continue in 1 Peter 2, Peter is going to continue with his quest to make me
very unpopular! Last time we looked at his letter, I had to tell you to submit
to the government, which is not always a pleasant or happy thought. Today, I
have to tell you to submit to your boss, and if you haven’t thrown all the
hymnals at me by the time we’re done, we’ll see that:
Submitting to your boss – especially one who
does not treat you well – is a very Christlike thing to do.
1. Submit to your boss with respect, regardless of his character
(vv. 18-20)
Before we
dive into these verses, let’s get an accurate idea of the setting in which
these people found themselves. In verse 18, Peter refers to masters and
servants. The NIV even translates that word “slaves,” which is not altogether inaccurate.
We need to discuss this a bit however, because whenever we hear a word like
slave or master, our thoughts immediately turn toward slavery in the United
States during the early days of our nation. That setting is not a highly
accurate backdrop for Peter’s audience however, so we need to take a moment to
understand this.
The
servants whom Peter addresses certainly were slaves in the sense that they did
not have freedom. They were owned by their masters, but for a great many of
them, their life was quite different than that of a slave on a plantation in
the United States. Many of them were given training in various trades including
medicine and teaching. After all, why pay someone else to be your doctor when
you could have a trained doctor of your own as a servant right there in your
own household. These servants did typically receive a very modest wage for
their work, and through that small income they did have the opportunity to
eventually purchase their freedom if they desired to do so.
That’s why
the ESV and other translations call these people servants – so that we won’t
automatically associate them with the slaves in the history of our own nation.
Again, they were slaves in the sense that they were not free people, so that
does put them in a different setting from us as well. If you work for a boss
who really treats you poorly, you do have the freedom to look for another job.
You don’t have to stay in that situation. Nevertheless, Peter’s instruction in
this passage is highly applicable for us in the way that we respond to our
bosses.
Let’s see
what Peter has to say in the first two verses of this passage [READ vv. 18-19].
Now when Peter says “mindful of God,” he means that we remember our personal
responsibility to obey God regardless of how someone else treats us. If someone
treats us unjustly, we are still responsible to obey all of God’s commands that
would apply in that situation. So for example, we are not to take revenge
against our bosses if they treat us unjustly. We should also continue to treat
them the way that we want them to treat us. We should also choose not to gossip
about them or slander them or to allow hatred of them to fester in our hearts.
And as Peter specifically states here, we should still treat them with respect
and do what they ask us to do as long as they are not asking us to sin.
Peter goes
on to describe how such holy and godly behavior in that circumstance is
praiseworthy and commendable [READ v. 20]. When Peter says that such behavior
is “a gracious thing in the sight of God,” he is saying that this is the kind
of behavior that God approves of – the kind of behavior that God delights to
bless.
And why is responding to unjust treatment in this way the
kind of behavior that God approves of? Because it is the same way that God the
Son responded when he endured unjust treatment during his life on Earth.
2. Your calling to stay holy despite unjust treatment has
been exemplified by Christ (vv. 21-25)
In verse
21, Peter writes, “For to this you have been called (and by “this” Peter means
that we’ve been called to this kind of behavior, this kind of response to
unjust suffering) because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example,
so that you might follow in his steps.”
Now, I need
to camp out on this verse for a few minutes because there’s a truth here that
makes such a profound difference for what we should expect life to be like for
us as Christian people in a fallen world. The fact that God views Jesus as an
example for us means that he knows and expects that we too will face unjust
treatment from others during this life. The whole purpose of Christ serving as
an example for us in this way is that we will know how to respond when we face
the same kind of treatment – because God knows that we inevitably will!
It is so
vital for us to understand this because we hear a very different message today
from an increasing number of teachers under the banner of Christianity. For
example, you may be familiar with Joel Osteen. He is the pastor of Lakewood
Church in Houston, which is the largest church in the United States. Several of
his books have hit the New York Times bestseller list.
In his book
Your Best Life Now, he writes that because we are children of God, we
should expect that people will give us preferential treatment in life – not
poor treatment, but actually better treatment because God will be working in
our behalf. And so he goes on to write about times when he was given an
unexpected upgrade to a first-class seat on an airplane and a time when a
cashier gave him an unexpected discount on an item of clothing.
According
to him, that is how life can be for us all the time if we simply declare by
faith that that’s how our life will be. He writes, “when you are living
favor-minded, the Bible says, “God’s blessings are going to chase you down and
overtake you.” (I’m not sure what verse he’s quoting there, and he doesn’t tell
us) In other words, you won’t be able to out run the good things of God.
Everywhere you go, things are going to change in your favor. Every time you
turn around, somebody’s going to want to do something good for you, to assist
you in some manner. They may not even know why. But it’s the favor of God that
causes you to stand out in the crowd.”1
Apparently,
it just never dawned on Peter to tell these servants that they simply weren’t
living with a favor-minded attitude! According to Joel Osteen, they apparently
could’ve put an end to their unjust treatment if they simply would have
declared it to be so by faith.
My friends,
on the night before Jesus was crucified, he said to his disciples, “A servant
is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute
you (John 15:20).” Jesus never said, “If they persecuted me, don’t worry about
it, because they’ll give you upgrades from coach to first-class.” Let me just
ask you to consider this simple question – if God intends to make other people
give us preferential treatment, why would he give us an example of how to
faithfully obey despite unjust treatment? If Joel Osteen is correct, then we
should be able to see less and less unjust treatment against us all the time as
we grow in faith, but are we to think that the example of Christ becomes less
relevant for us as we grow more like him?
My friends,
the reality is that God gave us an example in Jesus Christ because he knows
full well that we will face unjust treatment throughout this phase of life. On
the night before he was crucified, Jesus also said, “In this world you will
have trouble and suffering. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John
16:33).” Please notice that even though we know we will have trouble in this
world, we don’t have to live with a defeatist attitude or pessimistic outlook.
Our Savior has overcome the world!
One way in
which he overcame the world was by rising above the world’s sinful way of
living and following a godly lifestyle instead. Peter describes this in verses
22 and 23. He could certainly be speaking of Christ’s entire life here, but it
seems that he might be focusing specifically on how Jesus responded during his
trials after he was arrested. Let’s read what Peter has to say [READ vv.
22-23].
That last
phrase provides us with a key commitment for enduring unjust treatment in a
godly way. When we face injustice, we don’t have to feel the need to sort it
all out ourselves. We don’t have to feel a need to settle the score or turn the
tables on those who might be unjust toward us. We can simply place ourselves in
the hands of God and rest in his promises that he is going to make all things right
in his good time.
One day, he
is going to expose the darkness and bring the truth to light. He will vindicate
us in due time, so we don’t need to try to do that ourselves right now. We
don’t need to resort to revenge or threats or insults because those who treat
us with injustice will not have the last laugh. God may ask us to endure
injustice right now, but you can rest assured that the judge of all the earth
will do right. He will vindicate us in the same way that he has vindicated
Jesus and will vindicate him again in the future.
What
freedom this realization gives us for life! You and I know that it’s not within
our power to right many of the wrongs that we suffer in this life. But rather
than feel trapped by that inability, we can rejoice that it’s not even our
responsibility! God is watching over us, and he will sort those things out in
due time, so we are free to live for much greater and glorious things than
simply trying to settle the score with everyone who has wronged us.
Some people
go through life with heavy burdens and deep grudges because someone did them
wrong many years ago and they’ve seemingly gotten away with it. But to quote
Queen Elsa from Frozen, “Let it go!” Lay those burdens down into the loving
hands of God, and know that he will make all things right.
Part of the
reason that Jesus died was that we might be set free from such sinful responses
in order to live lives of godliness and righteousness. Notice verse 24 [READ v.
24]. The healing that Peter speaks of here is a healing from sin’s dominating
power over our lives. Jesus bore our sins in his crucifixion to set us free not
only from the penalty of our sins, but also from their power over us. So today,
though our temptations still feel very strong, we have the ability to say no to
them because in Christ we are dead to sin and alive to righteousness.
We always
need to remember that Christ’s death for us has such profound power not only
for our future but also for our present. So often, we focus on what Christ’s
death for us will mean for us down the road – namely, that we will get to enjoy
a home in heaven. Consequently, we often lose focus on what Christ’s death
means for us right now – namely, that we can rise above our sinful temptations
and live lives of obedience and godliness.
Please
notice how Peter stresses that freeing us to live in righteousness was one of
the purposes behind Christ’s crucifixion. He didn’t die for you merely to give
you a home in heaven; he also died for you to give you a holy heart right now.
So please understand that if you are not carefully obeying God in your life
right now, you are not respecting one of the very reasons that Christ died for
you. That is a terrible oversight and serious failure on our parts. As we
examine our lives closely, if we find that we are not carefully obeying God, we
need to ask God to forgive us for that sin and start following him on a more
obedient path.
He will
lead us and guide us and sustain us on such a path, because he is our good
shepherd. Notice verse 25 [READ v. 25]. There’s a great reversal that has taken
place between verses 18 and 25. Peter began this section by talking about our
earthly masters or our earthly bosses, but he closes the section now by
reminding us about our greatest master and overseer – the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is greater to us than any human master, so his approval should be sweeter and
more important to us as well. If he tells us then to treat our earthly boss
with respect even if we don’t receive the same from that boss, well then that’s
precisely what we should do. He himself has set the example for us, so we
should follow in his steps with a song like this in our hearts:
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,
I’d rather be faithful to his dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I’d rather be true to his holy name.
Notes:
1. Joel Osteen, Your
Best Life Now, Chapter 6: “Living Favor Minded.” Accessed through Google
Books on June 9, 2016 at https://books.google.com/books?id=I6F0gPBfC38C&pg=PT42&dq=joel+osteen+first+class&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil8Puho5vNAhUHE1IKHcy4ANcQ6AEIQjAG#v=onepage&q=joel%20osteen%20first%20class&f=false
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