Christians in a Hostile World
Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:9-12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
In the first century A.D. there were many persecutions of Christians—and persecution has continued to follow believers in Christ at many times and in many places ever since. Today we still hear of persecution, especially in societies where it is seen as unacceptable or even illegal to confess your faith in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter wrote a letter to persecuted believers in the Roman Empire around A.D. 60-64, and these words still ring true for us today: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Christians march to a different beat than do people who do not follow Christ. In the first century, Christians confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord, not Caesar. Husbands treated their wives with dignity, respect, and faithfulness. Baby girls were not abandoned (as was the Roman custom), and Christians took in abandoned babies as their own. When epidemics struck, believers stayed in the cities to help care for their own families and others, at the risk of their own lives. God was glorified. Believers made God look good, and the world noticed.
The world needs this testimony today as well. Does your behavior make God look good?
Father, we want to reflect you in all we do. Thank you for sending your Son into this sin-broken world to give us life. Use our lives to continue to reflect your heart. Amen.
About the author — John Kuperus
Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.
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