We move into 1 Peter in our 5x5x5 Reading Plan (don’t ask why the books are ordered as they are…except they’re interspersing the gospels throughout the year). A friend of mine, an English professor, used to say that Paul’s epistle to the Romans was “dense text,” meaning a lot of weighty information packed into a small space. After wading through 1 Peter 1, I don’t think Paul has a monopoly on dense text!

Here’s just a small sample:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1.1 – 5, ESV)

Elect, foreknowledge, sanctification, obedience, born again, resurrection, inheritance, salvation… Heavy theology! Followed in the rest of the chapter with such topics as endurance through suffering, challenges to holiness and sober-mindedness.

But what grabs me is how chapter 2 starts. After all these heavy topics, what’s the so what?

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. (1 Peter 2.1, ESV)

Common, everyday stuff. As I said, heavy theology, calls to holiness, “purify your souls by obedience to the truth,” etc. What does that look like? Well, for starters, “…put away malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.”

I think God would have us spend less time trying to understand (and argue about!) complex theology and more time figuring out how to put it into practice.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4.31, 32, ESV)