Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, 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. (1 Peter 3:8-9)
It seems that the political climate in our country has been one of strife and discord, with strongly held views between progressives and conservatives, dividing families, friends, churches, and communities. This election seemed to bring out the worst of the dooms-day predictions for our beloved country.
With this contemporary cultural backdrop, I was struck by this passage in 1 Peter 3. Like-minded, sympathetic, humble – these are not ideals embraced by our culture, but then, we are not called by God to be part of the culture. We may try to keep peace by tolerating divergent ideas. But Peter has a higher calling for us, as Christians. Can we be like-minded and sympathetic? Can we be compassionate and humble? Can we give a blessing when insulted?
This seems extraordinarily hard, really impossible, in our current cultural climate. Yet, before writing this off as being unrealistic, remember Peter wrote this to first century believers who were living in exile and were being persecuted for their faith under Roman rule. He reminds them that as they suffer for their faith, Jesus also suffered and was put to death.
So, concluding that these instructions are relevant to us, now, how can we respond? First, we need to realize that these instructions were written to believers giving instructions regarding their behavior with each other. So, when interacting with other Christians, we are expected to be like-minded, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble, as fellow members and heirs of God’s kingdom – even if we have different political views. By behaving this way, Peter says that we bless them. And in response, we will inherit a blessing from God.
What about our interactions with nonbelievers? Although we cannot be like-minded with someone that is not a believer, we can be sympathetic, loving, compassionate and humble. Certainly, we are not called to repay evil with evil or insult for insult with anyone. Furthermore, what if this is how all believers acted toward unbelievers? Wouldn’t this be a calming influence in our society? It certainly would glorify God.