8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.
11 “HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD;
HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. (Pet 3:8-11 NASB)
These four verses is part of the “Household Code.” “Household Code” is nothing more than nuances of relationship. How are we going to live with our friends and family? Living with family is very different from living with friends or colleagues. To live out each kind of relationship is an art! However, the paragraph starts with “to sum up.” So it is not restricting to just one kind of relationship for the household code is to deal with many kinds of relationship. Maybe Peter wants to tell us all relationship has to have this!
Reading verses 8-11 gives me an impression of the gist of the paragraph. Verse 8 looks very positive and indeed it is. However, it also implicates some worries for without” harmonies,” fights may follow. “Harmonies’ is actually an attitude and an act. If I do not have harmony with someone, I would find myself disagreeing with everything. There are many ways to approach a problem. There could be solutions A to Z. But we can only pick one and follow through consistently otherwise we may be starting over every step of the way. “Harmony” means giving up my “best” solution, “kindheartedly” embracing my brother’s solution in order to get the job done. Humility is not just an attitude to believe in my brother’s ability to get things right. Humility is also an attitude to believe God is the One who is really in control. Just like Joseph’s story, God is able to turn bad into good, God is all the more capable to make things from not so good to good.
Verses 9-10 also point out some practical issues in the church-verbal hurt. Peter talked about the sin from our mouth. James also spent a long passage about the evil of our words can create. It seems these elders of the church truly understand the sin of our words. They have to remind Christians of such evil again and again. Peter’s antidote to verbal sin is inherited from Jesus’ teaching: “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead.” This is an example of “love thy enemy.” At the end, the purpose to “seek peace and pursue it.” (v. 9) This is how we approach relationship for family, and all the more with friends.
After reading these four verses, we cannot help but to realize “seek peace” is so very important at this time of chaos. “Stay at home,” “home office,” “social distancing,” are making people anxious. When our anxiety level rises, the will to seek peace diminishes proportionately. Stresses are everywhere and no outlet seems to be found. Domestic violence is a sign of a stressful environment. Pandemic or not, anxiety induced stress is real. The antidote to anxiety is the same. When we realize God can make things work, we will find peace. It really does not matter it is solution A or solution Z, God is going to make things right. Then we find an outlet in God.