Reality
In our world today, the reality of being a Christian living in the middle of a world that denounces, excludes and sometimes hates us is something we have to face. We feel it in politics, our schools, our workplaces, our families and sometimes even within our friend groups. It brings us to our knees as we cry out to God in our pain and hurt. Should we try to escape? Should we build a wall around ourselves and associate with only those that believe like us? Should we stand tall and proud and proclaim our truth regardless of what others think? Should we turn a cold shoulder to all those that denounce us? How do we live in this reality?
Peter has a lot to say about these things as his letter of 1 Peter is one of the first that outlines the reality of the struggles in the church with society. But rather than telling us to walk away from this reality, create an entirely new one or just hide until Heaven, he calls us to live steadfastly before God with faithfulness, holiness and love inside of the world that hates us. Will that steadfastness lead to suffering? By all accounts, yes. But if we seek to genuinely understand this persecution we can face it head on with faith and hope in who we are because of who God is. The question is not: will we suffer in this world because of our faith? Because the answer is yes. The question is rather: when we suffer in this world because of our faith, how do we do it with a mind full of understanding and a heart of complete hope?
My hope is that through this study God speaks to us in a powerful way about who He is, who we are and how we live in this world with power and faithfulness to Him in the midst of persecution and suffering.
