How do we treat each other?

Hello.

As oppose to making my first post about myself and an introduction, I am going to get right into it. Hopefully you will come to know me and about me through my writing and my ideas.

Speaking of which, I am going to talk about 1 Peter 3:8-12.

For those of you unfamiliar with this passage, which included me up until a bit ago, it is on how Christians are to treat each other. For those of us who claim to be Christians, I hope we can learn from this. For those of you who don't claim the title of Christian, I hope you can glean from this what Christians are supposed to be like.

Now, first off, I am going to type out what this passage says, that way you guys don't have to go to here or there to get your information. The text I am going to provide will come out of the NLT (New Living Translation), which I enjoy.

If you are nut about any of the other translations, please feel free to go to the prior links for your translation of this text.

1Peter 3:8-12

8) Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.

9) Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. that is what God has called you to do, and he will Bless you for it.

10) For the Scriptures say, "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep you tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.

11) Turn away from evil and do go. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

12) The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil."

Now that we have the text before us, I would ask that we take a minute to ponder it, and re-read it if you must. But, even if just for a second, honestly think about what this tells us to do.

... ... ...

My favorite thing about the Bible, is how black and white it is on certain issues. If you read through books such as Romans or Hebrews you will find that this is where theology comes from. This is the area in which all the different denominations come from and where all the theologians draw their material to write their books.

This passage however, is not that case.

Let's shine a little light on where the context of this passage lays. The whole of chapter three, in 1 Peter, is on mannerisms. It starts off talking about how wives should treat their husbands, and then it moves on to how husbands should treat their wives. This particular passage (8-12) is titled, at least it is titled this way in my Bible, it may be different depending on the Bible: All Christians.

So, plain and simple, we are to treat each other with love and to sympathize with each other. We are to be of one mind, and we are never to repay evil with evil, but with blessing.

First off, lets talk about "we are to be of one mind". Do we really think Paul, the author of 1 Peter, was really saying we are all to think the same way all the time? Hardly.

The phrase "be of" tells me that we are not to, as the church, be this hive-mind concept. Rather, we are to be of the same mind. The words "be of" do not imply that we all think the same, but that we all stem from the same general principles.

Think of it this way: the democratic party (just an example, I am neither a democrat or republican hater) is filled with many different minds. You have your conservative democrats, your liberals, your moderates, your extremists, as well as your apathetic democrats. But they all believe in the same general concepts that separate a democrat from a republican, correct?

The same is true for Christians. Walk into your church, and if you don't go to one, just find one and attend a church service (most churches hold an after-ten-o'clock service, which means you don't have to wake up too early ;]) and listen to the way people talk. It will be hard on a first-time visit, but hopefully you can catch what I am talking about.

People in a church are almost opposite of each other! You have your: Calvinist, Arminianists, fundamentalists, liberals, conservatives, young-earth creationists, old-earth creationists, et cetera. But what is the one thing they all have in common? They all proclaim Jesus as their personal savior.

Where is the problem though?

The problem lies when you get to they "treat each other with sympathy and love" part. Being in a church for a while has taught me one thing, Christians can be some of the most hurtful people sometimes.

That isn't to say this is all of Christians, please, don't get me wrong. Most Christians are the nicest people you will ever meet. But not all.

Sometimes people get this idea that if Jesus didn't say it, then it is a gray area, and you can do what you wish because you are saved. This stems into what I like to call, foul Christianity.

Even though Paul isn't Jesus, albeit he wrote most of the New Testament, his words strike true. When we as Christians stop focusing on Jesus and how much He gave up for us, we see a sickening trend develop, and Paul addresses it.

If you read all of 1 Peter (which I strongly recommend) you see that Paul focuses heavily on this idea that we are to love each other, and remove all foul talk from our mouth and rid ourselves of evil conversation.

Gossip hurts, no matter where you are, but especially in the church, where you are supposed to be allowed to be yourself without fear of reprimand.

Now there is a difference between being yourself and disobeying God. Sure, we are born sinners, but that doesn't justify sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

The whole stem of gossip and separation stems out of verse the later part of verse 8. When we stop focusing on Jesus and loving others as well as purging ourselves of wicked conversation who are we left to love?

Ourselves.

The last sentence in verse 8 says we are to "be tenderhearted and keep a humble attitude." When we allow ourselves to fall into this trap of loving ourselves over others we tend to start holding hurtful conversations, or insulting people because we feel superior.

God makes it very clear that we are to love others and each other (referring to Christians), and says that he watches over those who do these things.

But what does he say about those who do evil, which include our mouths--he turns his face against them.

I am a firm believer that we should only be building each other up with our conversation, never tearing down, even if in joke. (Ephesians 4:29) And I find that the people who hurt me the worst in this world, are those who Christians.

To sum up, we are called to love each other and be tenderhearted, how can a heart that insults in any situation be considered tender?