Monday, March 05, 2007

Breaking the Silence

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (v.15)

Welcome back to Bible in the Basement! I’m glad you’re here, in spite of my protracted (ten day) leave of absence. During this silent period, I’ve had occasion to reflect on that very subject: silence.

It is said that actions speak louder than words. This is certainly the philosophy of the apostle Peter in the above exhortations, and in the background are similar statements made by Jesus and Paul. I’m actually somewhat surprised at what a pervasive sentiment this is in Scripture, given that preaching and teaching are such prominent tools for the gospel trade. Peter does go on to say that Christians should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet…with gentleness and respect” (3:15-16); but his assumption is that people will only "ask" if they see something worth asking about.

Words cannot be understood apart from a context, and that context should be lives of beauty lived by believers. Apart from good lives there is no good news.

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