Shunning Peter

This Easter various tid bits and details that had stayed sort of dark have been illumined a bit to me. Some of them come from various parts of the Bible, from different talks I heard, so I'll try to give credit where it's due, but really I want to put everything together into the bigger picture.

In talking to some of my friends who are non-believers, usually the one thing that they say puts them off to Christians is how judgemental and fake they can be, they're called hypocrites and fakes, pretending to be "holier than thou" and treating people like they are expendable. We've all heard it before in one form or another.

So why are Christians so desperate to show that Jesus has fixed all their problems? I'm not saying I'm any less to blame... but I sort of learned early on to live life out loud. At the age of 13 I decided that if I didn't want to tell people what I was up to, I probably shouldn't do it and for the most part, I've stuck to that mantra... not because every aspect of my life is everyone's business, but because Satan latches onto the hidden things and grows them into monsters that murder you in your sleep...

But back to Peter...

So... I believe it was Chris Tillman who spoke on Good Friday, on the Corinthians and the culture of the Corinthians... they had a shame vs honor culture. Honor was the greatest good, and so people would hide anything shameful and contrive ways to make themselves look good and get more honor all the time.

The thing is, I think a lot of us today do the same thing whether it's with the number or beauty of the houses and clothes we have, our perfect family, our degrees, our job, how many places we've travelled, our stamp collection, whatever,.. whatever yardstick we're using, we measure our greatness and compare it to others. Donald Miller talks a lot about how this isn't Christian in "Searching for God Knows What," which I recommend, but just keep this as a context...

So when we get to the story of Jesus in the Garden, we usually shun Peter... you see, Peter was a bit full of himself. He didn't see the fear in his heart like Jesus did... but Jesus didn't judge him, he pitied him.

Luke 22:31-32

"'Simon! Simon, Listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

It's after this that Peter gallantly insists that he would never disown Jesus, but would die for him and Jesus tells him that he will deny Him 3 times.

Jesus goes off to pray and comes back and tells them that they should be praying "that [they] may not come into the time of trial" (v 46).

And, I don't know about you, but a bit later when Peter goes off and weeps bitterly, I usually point the finger. Oh Peter, you thought you loved Jesus so much, but you wouldn't even tell servants that you knew who he was. I would never do that. I love Jesus much more. I would be faithful.

Haven't we all been there, secretly revelling when some scandal comes out about someone in our church or school. We act all compassionate on the outside (or maybe we don't), but inside, a tiny part of us rejoices "he had it comin... that will wipe the smirk off of their face."

But Jesus' response, as I have shown, is full of compassion. Few friends, KNOWING their friend would sell them out, would be so full of love and grace. Jesus says "I know what Satan wants to do, he's going to try to separate you all from me and from each other, but I've prayed for you. And Peter, listen, when you come back, I'm going to need you to be strong for your brothers."

It's like he'd already forgiven him and told him it would be ok because everyone makes mistakes, everyone has times when they are afraid and want to fit in with the crowd.

But Jesus saw that the fear wasn't all that made up Peter... he had leadership in him to rally the disciples when they were depressed and confused and even fearful. And as we see from Church History that Peter, with the grace of God, rose to that challenge, becoming one of the most revered Saints and disciples.

As Nicky Gumbel says, this gives us all hope. We're all people who make mistakes, who get afraid, who turn away, but Jesus prays for us that we will turn back and encourage other believers by our genuine walks, walks full of errors, full of smiles and tears, and full of God's love and grace.