“Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.”
1 Peter 2:17 NLT
There are four instructions in this short verse. Two refer to being respectful and the others to love and fear. So a lot to consider.
Respect is in short supply in society today. It seems that everyone has their own ideology or set of views and they insist that whatever they think is supported and affirmed to the detriment of everyone else. As an example, strident calls are being made about gender issues, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with the multi-gender adherents. Those who disagree are branded with all sorts of unpleasant and totally unfounded names. They are pilloried on social media and no-platformed in public speaking engagements. There are many other issues in which debate and mutual respect are denied. Perhaps the root cause is society’s abandonment of Christian teaching and rejection of God, with a new morality, false in its content, emerging to replace it. An anything-goes morality that is based on a form of self identification and a declaration that the person concerned is his or her own god. Scotland, where I live, has the reputation of being the most secular country in Europe, and we are starting to see the down side of that in the legislation being produced by confused and godless politicians. But where at one time people were respected for their views – not necessarily agreed with, but respected at least – now there is little or no acceptance of another’s views. Respect is a commodity in very short supply.
Back in Exodus 20:12 we read, “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you”. Respect starts in the home by being implanted in children through good parenting, but with so many broken families, basic teaching like this doesn’t seem to count for much these days. And the lack of respect spills over into the classrooms, with teachers being abused just for trying to do their jobs, educating the next generation of adults in our societies. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus taught about the “Golden Rule”, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets”.
Respect is based on grace. Our Heavenly Father has graciously accepted us pilgrims, warts and all. With all our funny ideas and sin-ridden ways, we can, through Jesus, approach His throne with boldness. He sees our struggles to make sense of a complex and evil world. He sees us agonising over the abuse of a child, or the ill-treatment of another human being. And we know that He is also saddened by the behaviour of mankind. But God had a plan and Jesus came for damaged and confused people, who were, as He said, like sheep without a shepherd. But we have a Shepherd now, and God’s plan is being worked out through His children, fellow pilgrims such as us.
Dear Father God. We are Your children, saved by grace. Please help us reach out to others, extending Your grace to those without. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 