Reading 1 Peter Together - An Invitation

Following the announcement of the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage Friday I sent out the following tweet:

My advice to American Christians: read 1 Peter in its entirety every day for the next month. You were chosen to obey Jesus in suffering.

— Philip Lee (@LeePhilipA) June 27, 2015

After thinking things over for a few days I’ve decided to invite all of you to join me in a month long study of the book of 1 Peter.  Here’s what I’m planning and asking you to consider doing with me:

• Read the entire book of 1 Peter every day in the month of July.  It’s a short book that should only take 10-20 minutes depending on your reading speed.
• Monday-Friday during July I’ll do my best to post a short video or something written to explain some things in a paragraph or two of the text and give you some questions to consider.  The blog and my social media accounts will be open for comments, thoughts, and questions.

That’s it.  Simple.  Read a short book of the Bible every day for a month in order to become familiar with what God, through the Apostle Peter, spoke to a first century group of persecuted believers. Then, five days a week, give a little extra thought to a small portion of the book as we work our way through from beginning to end.  

Why 1 Peter?  1 Peter was written by the Apostle Peter to churches in the first century where believers were suffering for the faith.  American Christians have heard about persecution for most of our lives, but have never really had to count the cost of following Jesus.  Sure, Hollywood, the media, and the academy may have mocked us and insulted us, but that’s largely been the extent of our suffering.  Things are going to change though, and I think it will happen sooner and more severely than most professing Christians are prepared for.

We’re not going to see Christians fed to lions or used as human torches to light the White House garden.  We’re not going to meet in secret, afraid of making too much noise and knowing that the police could burst into the room at any moment and carry us away to labor camps.  But we will be shunned, we will be denied career opportunities, jobs and small businesses will be lost.  In the years to come, fines and arrests may be come to those who preach God’s law and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When Christians have brought this up the advocates of gay marriage have told us we’re paranoid, but one only needs to listen to the words being spoken about Christians by the culture at large and look at what is currently happening in places like Canada and the UK to see what the future holds for the U.S. Persecution is coming, and the church needs to be ready.

1 Peter was written to believers in a similar situation.  They weren’t yet facing Roman Empire-wide persecution.  It was local, coming from family, neighbors, trade guilds, and perhaps local governments.  Peter wrote to them reminding them of who they were and what they had in Christ, then instructed them how to live as sufferers for the sake of Christ.  His words will have great relevance to American Christians in the years ahead.

We'll begin July 1.  I hope you'll join me, and invite some friends to join in as well.