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 2:12)
Everyone must make a decision about the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Is he my personal savior or is He not? Those outside the Faith will argue otherwise, but answering this question is central to human existence. And in this verse Peter tells us that there will be a day of visitation. At some point, the Spirit will move upon a person. At some point, an individual will be curious about church or about Jesus the man. And at that time he or she will think about you and I.
Peter directs us to keep our conduct honorable. Elsewhere, in Thessalonians, Paul tells us to flee from the appearance of evil. Rightly understood, evil means that which is not of God. This truly broadens the definition and ushers in much from which we would do quite well to abstain, including conduct we might consider harmless. I feel a list here to be improper, but we should be in constant prayer about this very matter. Where do I appear to be sinful that I do not know? We may not receive judgement, but may the Lord prevent us from leading our Brother or Sister into sin.
Fundamentally, we need to be different. Not unique. Not creative. Not hip. Not even spiritually higher. We need to be different and we need to be positively and consistently engaged in our Christian duty. I am reminded of a story from the memoirs of Bob Hoffman, a decorated WWI vet. He remarks that during his journey to Europe by sea, he believed he would have to fist fight his entire company. Yes, his own peers. He enjoyed work, wanted to excel, and he had no desire to partake in the things most 18-21 year old young men do. They simply did not like him due to these things… at first.
It seems so strange to read Peter relate, so that when they speak against you as evildoers. Is not evil exactly what the Christian heart wants to avoid? Are not many socially accepted activities in our culture hurtful to others and destructive to ourselves? How is it evil to speak against them? Ah! But as Bob Hoffman found out, the reflection of Good challenges to the core that which is not of God. So when our neighbor is visited and must decided who is Jesus of Nazareth, our Hope is that they can admit that He is the Savior, because they have seen His salvation in us.
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