sojourning spiritual insurgency spiritual – of or related to the soul or spirit, usually in...

Sojourning Spiritual Insurgency

Spiritual – of or related to the soul or spirit, usually in contrast to the material; biblical concept ties into realm or kingdom allegiance (values & priorities); marching orders

Insurgency – rebelling against authority or leadership; defying & seeking to overcome the values & priorities of a realm or kingdom

Sojourning Spiritual Insurgency

Spiritual – of or related to the soul or spirit, usually in contrast to the material; biblical concept ties into realm or kingdom allegiance (values & priorities); marching orders

Insurgency – rebelling against authority or leadership; defying & seeking to overcome the values & priorities of a realm or kingdom

Jesus is the quintessential example of these principles

Spiritual Insurgency Principles Many people are won over to

Christ by observing people suffer well

Our experience of God & His favor is deepened through suffering well

The opposites are also true…

SOJOURNING INSURGENCY IN MARRIAGE1 Peter 3:1-9

1 Peter 3:1-6

In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live 2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives. 3 Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart with the

1 Peter 3:1-6

imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God’s eyes. 5 For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also beautified themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and are not frightened by anything alarming.

Historical Religious Views

Judaism: “Woman is the origin of sin, and it is

through her that we all die. Do not leave a leaky cistern to drip or allow a bad wife to say what she likes. If she does not accept your control, divorce her and send her away. . .For out of clothes comes the moth, and out of woman comes woman's wickedness.”


Judaism: “Better that the Torah be burned than to

fall into the hands of a woman.” “(a woman) may be divorced...according

to Hillel, ‘for any reason whatsoever.’...the husband could reject her if she accidentally served him food that had been slightly burned, or if at home she talked so loud that the neighbors could hear her.”


Hinduism: “In later Hinduism...a widow was

prohibited from mentioning any man's name but that of her deceased husband. Even if she had been a child bride or had never consummated her marriage, the widow was not to violate her duty to her deceased husband and remarry. . .If she did, she would bring disgrace on herself in the present life and enter the womb of a jackal for her next rebirth…”


Hinduism: “In such a social position, many

widows must have felt that they had little to lose by throwing themselves on the husband’s funeral pyre.”

“In Hindu society, women were not eligible for moksha; the best that a woman could hope for was to be reborn as a man. . .”


Hinduism: “To ritualize her attitude of devotion to

her husband, orthodox Hindu authors counseled wives to adore the big toe of their husband’s right foot, bathing it as they would an idol, and offering incense before it as they would to a great god…”

“The birth of a girl was not an occasion for joy. Hindus attributed it to bad karma in a previous life and frequently announced the event by saying, ‘Nothing was born…’”


Islam: “Your women are a tillage for you; so

come unto your tillage as you wish.” (The Koran Sura 2:223)

“Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God's guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them.” (The Koran Sura 4:34)


Islam: “For many men, the best part of the

heavenly Garden was the hur: dark-eyed, buxom virgins. In addition to his earthly wife, each male in heaven could expect to have seventy hur. They would never be sick, menstruating, pregnant (unless he wished), bad-tempered, or jealous.”


China: “The Chinese ritual of foot binding was a

thousand-year-old horror show in which women were grotesquely crippled from very early childhood...the means by which the Chinese patriarchs saw to it that their girls and women would never ‘run around.’”

“A Chinese woman was primarily her husband's source of sons. The ideal Chinese woman was retiring, silent, and fertile. Female infanticide was common.”


Christianity: Jerome “As long as woman is for birth

and children, she is as different from man as body is from soul. But when she wishes to serve Christ more than the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called Man.”


Christianity: Tertullian “Do you not know that each

of you [women] is also an Eve? You are the devil's gateway, you are the unsealer of that forbidden tree, you are the first deserter of the divine law, you are the one who persuaded him who the devil was too weak to attack. . .How easily you destroyed man, the image of God. Because of the death which you brought upon us, even the Son of God had to die.”


Christianity: Thomas Aquinas “Concerning the

conception of a female child, “Woman is misbegotten and defective, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex...”


Christianity: Thomas Aquinas “Concerning the

conception of a female child, “Woman is misbegotten and defective, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex...”

Most of this is rooted in flawed interpretations of biblical texts…and unchallenged cultural traditions.

1 Peter 3:1-2

In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live 2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

1 Peter 3:1-2


1 Peter 2:13a -- Submit to every human authority because of the Lord…

1 Peter 3:1-2


1 Peter 2:19-20 -- 19 For it brings favor if, mindful of God’s will, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.20 For what credit is there if you sin and are punished, and you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

1 Peter 3:1-2


1 Peter 3:1-2


Karen Jobes, Professor of NT Greek & Exegesis at Wheaton College…

1 Peter 3:1-2


Why would a wife’s conversion likely provoke antagonism from her husband? In Greco-Roman society it was expected that the wife would have no friends of her own and would worship the gods of her husband.

1 Peter 3:1-2


First, the very fact that a woman would adopt any religion other than her husband’s violated the Greco-Roman ideal of an orderly home.

1 Peter 3:1-2


Because prosperity and well-being were seen as dependent on religious forces, disorder in the home was a threat not only to the family but to society.

1 Peter 3:1-2


Christians were frequently blamed as the cause of public calamity because they introduced a new god, upsetting the religious status quo of the empire.

1 Peter 3:1-2


Second, the husband and society would perceive the wife’s worship of Jesus Christ as rebellion, especially if she worshipped Christ exclusively.

1 Peter 3:1-2


If the wife persisted in her new religion to the extent that others outside the household learned of it, the husband would also feel embarrassment and suffer criticism for not properly managing his household.

1 Peter 3:1-2


This could seriously damage his social standing, even to the point of disqualifying him for certain honors and offices.

1 Peter 3:1-2


Third, the wife’s attendance at Christian worship would provide the opportunity for her to have fellowship with other Christians who possibly were not her husband’s friends.

1 Peter 3:1-2


Peter’s concern that Christian wives continue to submit to their own husbands not only shields Christianity from the accusation that it is a social evil but is also clearly motivated by evangelistic intent.

1 Peter 3:1-2


The unbelieving husband observes virtues in the wife’s good demeanor that are motivated by her relationship with Christ… the man himself may be won to Christ “without words,” for in that culture it is shameful for the wife to presume to instruct her husband. Here is a situation where silence is the more effective means of communication.

1 Peter 3:3-4

3 Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God’s eyes.

1 Peter 3:3-4


Their beauty is to be the inner quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight, and not the costly adornment of elaborate hairstyles, fine clothing, and gold jewelry, which are, of course, of great worth in society’s sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4


Peter’s instructions against outward adornment make sense if a Christian wife is attending Christian worship outside her home, and especially if doing so without her husband.

1 Peter 3:3-4


Society would perceive that act alone as questionable. By leaving her home unadorned, her intent to attend worship and not a tryst would presumably be all the more clear.

1 Peter 3:3-4


1 Peter 3:5-6 -- 5 For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also beautified themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and are not frightened by anything alarming.

1 Peter 3:3-4


Gen. 12:10-15 -- 10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. 13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.

1 Peter 3:3-4


Gen. 12:10-15 -- 10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. 13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.

What about abuse situations?

1 Peter 3:7

7 Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives with an understanding of their weaker nature yet showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

1 Peter 3

1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands

so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,

2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.

Is the Bible Patriarchal?1. How do other worldviews treat

women?2. Modern people are rightly cynical

toward leadership

Social Realities

The whole household adopted the religious beliefs of the male head of household

However, following Christ called for the genuine personal faith of each person, not just dutiful submission (heart issue)

Nevertheless, surrounding society would assume the household (wife) was now a Christian…

Social Realities

Women were second-class citizens in 1st century society

Some believing men needed to repent of their oppressive attitudes towards their wives…and if they did not, they would find themselves opposed by God!!!

“prayers hindered”

Social Realities

Women were second-class citizens in 1st century society

Some believing men needed to repent of their oppressive attitudes towards their wives…and if they did not, they would find themselves opposed by God!!!

“prayers hindered”

“Peter teaches that men whose authority runs roughshod over their women, even with society’s full approval, will not be heard by God.” (Karen Jobes)

Conclusions for our day?

OBSERVE what it actually said to the original audience

INTERPRET what universal & timeless principles lie behind the instruction Your relationships will change when

you come to Christ, & this will likely include various forms of suffering.

Evaluate and form your response based off of the controlling paradigm of the Gospel


APPLY these universal & timeless principles in our lives & fellowship We must consider how our

position on the role of women within the Christian community speaks to OUR larger social order

Are we unnecessarily hindering the advance of the Gospel by alienating people? The gifts & passions of women in our fellowship?


APPLY these universal & timeless principles in our lives & fellowship The broader truth is that striving for loving unity in the body of Christ is a potent testimony to the power of the Gospel


APPLY these universal & timeless principles in our lives & fellowship The broader truth is that striving for loving unity in the body of Christ is a potent testimony to the power of the Gospel

1 Peter 3:8-9 -- 8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.

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sojourning spiritual insurgency spiritual – of or related to the soul or spirit, usually in...

Documents

truesojourning insurgency

deceased husband

material biblical concept

leadership defying

marriage1 peter

husbands funeral pyre

experience of god

wives live2when