When
talking about evangelism, one of my favorite questions I love to ask people is
this: “where in the NT is there a situation where an evangelist tells others to
be silent concerning their faith?”
Most
believe that such a verse does not exist. Yet, there is one place at least. (Two, if you count Acts 16:6--10).
The passage
is 1 Peter 3:1–2. It lies in the section 1 Pet 2:13 to 3:7 which is a kind of
household code, or better, a civic code; a guide to the readers how to live in
relationship to authority from the Roman Imperial authorities to within family
structures. Peter urges all of his readers from Asia Minor to be in submission
to the Empire and honoring of Caesar (which is astonishing when one considers
at this point, he was going off his nut and would soon persecute Christians and kill
Peter and Paul!).
He then urges
the household servants to be submissive to their masters.
In 3:1–7, Peter focuses on wives
and husbands. In the ancient world, husbands ruled the home as the paterfamilias.
Peter urges the wives to live in a culturally appropriate manner, living in gracious
submission to their husbands. He then states that “so that even if some do not
obey the word (logos), through the conduct of their wives they may be
won without a word (logos) when they see your respectful and pure
conduct.” The rest of the passage builds on this urging them not to focus on their
external image, but “the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (v. 5).
I am going to leave aside the
ongoing questions raised by this passage for wives submitting to husbands and focus
on the evangelistic import of this passage.
Those of us
who take the Bible seriously as a guide for life know that we are called to
share the faith, right? We are regularly encouraged to share our faith seeking
to convince people to believe in Jesus. The Great Commission passages endorse
that this is central to God’s purposes on planet earth (Matt 28:18–20; Luke
24:46–49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). So, as we go out into our workplaces,
schools, universities, sports clubs and other social settings, we are to share
Christ with the world. We are urged to do so verbally, articulating the gospel
to the lost. In fact, we can sometimes be so hard-pressed to do this that we end
up guilty if we do not share Christ with unbelievers every time we come into
contact with an unbeliever!
So, how are
we to go about it? Are we meant to knock on doors, preach on the streets, run
programs like Alpha, have crusades with gifted evangelists, invite people to
church, use apologetic arguments or engage in friendship evangelism? There is
no doubt that all these strategies have their place as led by the Spirit and
where appropriate. In each given context certain things work better than others
and we are to allow God to show us the way in each setting.
In 1
Peter 3:1-2, Peter tells us that there is a time not to share the gospel
verbally and focus on giving witness through the quality of our lives. In
describing these husbands as those who “do not obey the word,” we can assume
he is talking about unbelievers who have at some point heard the gospel but
have rejected it. So, rather than continuing to share Christ verbally in such
instances, Peter instructs readers to seek to win them “without a word” through
the quality of their lives. They are to live the gospel in front of these
unbelievers so that they may come to realize that there truly is a God who
loves them. In other words, they know that their husbands have heard the
message, so now they must let them see the message in their lives.
To me this
has implications for evangelism in a place like NZ where a good number of
people have at some time or another heard the gospel and rejected it. Where
this is the case, rather than continue to relentlessly preach the word to them
in the hope of haranguing them to faith, rather, we need to demonstrate the word so that they can see God in our lives.
This is very
important for those of us who are Christians in long-term relationships with
people in our families, workplaces, and other social settings. We should not
assume we have to bring Christ into every conversation. Rather, we must be very
sensitive to the context. We are to share the gospel of course, but the
question is “how in this situation?”
The passage
also challenges us to get to know those people in our context. Are they Christians?
If not, have they heard the Christian message clearly? If not, then we look for
a Spirit-given opportunity, and we share. If they have heard the gospel and are
in reaction against it, then our challenge is not to push it down their
throats, but share it with lives that truly reflect the value system of God:
love, gentleness, patience, holiness, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, humility,
servant-heartedness, honesty, authenticity, integrity, and so on. We are to
treat people as we would long to be treated.
Such
passages endorse that we are to share the gospel. The thing is how in each
situation. We must be prayerful, great listeners, ready to share (1 Pet 3:15–16),
yet also uber-sensitive to the situation we are in and respond appropriately.
Sometimes we will stay quiet because the word is already implanted. We share
Christ in our attitudes and good deeds. At other times, we dare to share the
gospel verbally. Either way, we are to be Spirit-led.
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