I expected to return to the
Gospel of John this week, but as you can see that's not where we're going.
Instead, we're going to take a look at a couple of things in one of Peter's
letters. You may have noticed that there have been a few particular themes that
have been showing up in my teaching these days. I need to say that I did not
plan for that to happen. I do not figure out what I'm going to be teaching
months in advance. After choosing a book of the Bible to work through, my
planning is pretty much week by week. So, any theme that shows up is not by my
design. One of these themes has been the idea of choosing. I have tried to
impress upon you the importance of making wise choices. Let me explain why this
theme of choosing wisely is important. It seems clear that our culture is in
the process of becoming increasingly antagonistic to any public expression of
being a disciple of Jesus. As one headline I read put it, 'We fought the
culture wars, and we lost.' Associated with this increasing antagonism will be
an increasing darkness in our culture. That is obvious. If you extinguish the
light all you will have left is darkness. Evil will be more outspoken and will
hold sway more easily. Life for faithful Christians is going to become more
difficult. This seems clear to me. The question that pops into my head at this
point is whether we are ready for that. And by ready I mean prepared to take a
stand against that evil. That will be not only unpopular but also costly. It
will be costly to you and especially to your children. And please understand.
When I talk about taking a stand I'm not talking about attending some rally or
writing your senator or anything like that. I'm talking about gently but firmly
responding to a popular opinion your neighbor just repeated to you by saying,
'You know, because I'm a Christian I really don't think that's a good idea.' I'm
talking about respectfully telling your boss that, because of Jesus, you cannot,
in good conscience, do what he just told you to do. Joining some political
group or signing a petition is relatively easy. Disagreeing, face‑to‑face, as a
disciple with someone who clearly is not is much more difficult. Being ready
for that kind of stand against evil is the fruit of a series of wise choices.
And that, of course, is itself the fruit of learning whom to fear. So, in the
hope of helping you to be ready for the hard choices that will soon enough
confront you, if they haven't already, and in obedience to the direction of the
Spirit, I want to speak to you from 2 Peter 1.
Our text is 2 Peter 1.3-11.