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Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:1-3
I did not consult a dictionary or download a commentary, but I read Peter’s list of those traits we should bid good riddance, and jotted down these first impressions:
Malice –– Personalized anger toward individuals and groups prompting actions that injure or bring harm.
Guile - creative manipulation of circumstances and people to your benefit.
Insincerity - saying and doing that which you don’t believe to gain personal advantage, benefit, or power.
Envy - condemning others for having that which you assess should be yours.
Slander - the art of misinformation, seeking advantage over another through fallacious rumor and innuendo.
A linguist could certainly filet my loose definitions, yet as I meditated on these descriptors, I was increasingly disturbed by how accurately they describe the conduct within the various arenas of life we regularly engage –– at the office; in the marketplace; at the school; in the legislature; within the family system; and across Christ’s church. Of course, the list provides the formula for an unhealthy majority of what we consume from media, and is the template for all reality television. Who would have thought that House Hunters would grow to depend upon the friction between the homebuyers. “She wants a French provincial. He wants a stone-lined cave. Which will last longer, the relationship or the mortgage application process?” By the end of the episode you may have chosen a house and predicted a divorce.
Malice –– Guile –– Insincerity –– Envy –– Slander. Amidst denominational schisms, church scandals, and the rise of Christian nationalism, it would seem that many Christians stopped reading the Bible before getting to I Peter, and may have skipped over the life and teachings of Christ. The oft-expressed fear of cultural appropriation is ironically expressed by those guilty of it. Peter’s words of warning are not about who marries who, or the fear that someone will get something they haven’t earned, but are targeted toward those susceptible to the pervasive cultural norms of malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander. Rid yourselves of these inclinations, Peter entreats us. Instead, lean into the grace that no one earned, but that everyone received through the selfless and inclusive love of Jesus Christ.
Peter said, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Where we exclude, God welcomes. Where we blame, God forgives. Where we manipulate, God blesses. Where we harm, Christ heals. Which kingdom would you prefer? And so it is that Peter proceeds to invite us –– “Come to [Christ], a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house.”
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