Live Out Loud, Pt. 5, Living Inside Out

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12)

Verse 12 shifts to the more positive instruction. Most times in scripture you will find that when there is a command to stop doing one thing, there is often a command to start doing something else. In Paul’s writing, he describes this as getting dressed: put off and put on. Here Peter replaces what he just told them to stop doing with what they need to start doing.

Peter tells his readers to "keep their behavior excellent." If we want to live out loud so that we draw others to Christ, we must keep our behavior excellent. So what does this involve? I heard an excellent application of what this looks like in a sermon recently. You can keep your behavior excellent in 3 ways:

1. You must love others. (1 Cor. 13:1-3) A few months ago, I finally watched a full episode of ABC's "Extreme Home Make Over." And while I found myself moved by the outpouring of love for these people, I found myself asking, why can the body of Christ not be more proactive in meeting people's needs like this. Granted, we usually do not have corporate funding to do such huge projects, but we can: mow a neighbor's lawn, offer free babysitting, or anonymously meet a financial need. The possibilities are endless. We should not be out given by the world, but instead many ways we are being blown away by the world. Just keep your eyes open to the needs of other around you and watch for ways you can love them by meeting those needs.

2. You must live and speak with humility. To get the heart of this one you need to go back to verse 10. I don't know about you, but when I am around arrogant people I just want to get away from them- and I sure don't want to hear what they have to say. Perspective is always a good way to maintain a sense of humility. Remember where you were before Christ set you free and you will live and speak with humility.

3. You must learn to suffer well. 2 Tim. 3:12 tells us that we will be persecuted, Christ himself told us that in this life would have troubles. How you cope with suffering can have incredible witness to the Lord's goodness. A dear friend's son who recently, due to a softball accident, had brain surgery. Coming out of the hospital, he tells his dad, "I don't know how people face this kind of thing without Christ." When we suffer it shows the world what we really cling to. I have heard it said that when life's pressure squeezes you, what comes out? Do you become bitter or better.

The next phrase, “among the Gentiles” is vital to understand, as it points out 2 mistakes that unfortunately affect our ability to live out loud. First, too often the church lives like the world lives. We buy what the world tells us to buy, we think like the world tells us to think. We chase after the things the world tells us to chase after. So, why would the world want our gospel if we act as if it had no real impact on our lives. Second, we go to the other extreme and we isolate ourselves from the world. In John 17:15, Christ says that that is not his desire for our lives. We must continue to be in the world, but there has to be a difference in us. There is a balance to be lived between these two opposites. It must begin on the inside and work its way to the outside. Otherwise we begin to look like Pharisees that are described in the following verses: Matthew 5:16, Matthew 23:25-27.

The world tends to look at Christians in terms of what they don’t do rather than in terms of their contributions to the world. Of course I know there are many good things done in the name of Christ, but should it take a natural disaster for this to occur? This is not to say that Christians can avoid the stigma of being separatistic. Being holy means leaving behind many of the practices we once engaged in as unbelievers (see 1 Peter 4:3-4). But since we will seldom find the world eager to praise us for what we avoid, we must also be diligent to do those things which are beneficial and therefore praiseworthy.

Galatians 5:22-25 and Romans 12:1-2 gives us key insight from where our excellent behavior must originate. The end result of a life that is lived from the inside out is God's glory because when they see our excellent behavior, instead of criticizing us for being hypocrites, they will be drawn to the authentic message of the gospel being fleshed out.