I Peter 2:11-17
Peter makes a number of comments in today’s reading about Christian behavior. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (v. 12) Here’s a second, related verse: …by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (v. 15b) Although related, these two verses are quite different. In verse 12 Peter uses the definite pronoun “they” twice: “they” speak against you and “they” see your good deeds. Here the same group of people is the “they” in their speaking and in their seeing. In addition, it looks to me like the change in perspective for the “they” people comes later, whenever that day of visitation occurs. Verse 15 is different; here’s how I see it: Person A is a Christian, Person/Group B is/are the “foolish people”, and there is a Group C of bystanders not mentioned in the text who observe both the Christian and the “foolish people”. These bystanders are themselves put to silence as they see you doing good, both they (unmentioned) and the “foolish people”.
Finally, Peter also tells us to be law-abiding citizens: Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution… (v. 13a) Peter’s bottom line is that our behavior is important. Not only must we serve as good citizens, but the verses above tell us that we make an impression on anyone who would otherwise speak against us, both those who speak harshly and those who speak foolishly.
Slava Bohu!