Passage: 1 Peter 2:1-12
Speaker: Steve Hands
Series: Heaven Touching Earth – Community
Belonging To A Chosen People
Competition permeates life. We constantly find ourselves in “us vs. them” situations. It’s me vs. the 300 other applicants for that scholarship or job; me vs. those 3 other eligible bachelors for that girl; me vs. my 2 siblings for my parents’ attention and love. When resources are limited, competition erupts to determine a victor to whom goes the spoils. Over time, we naturalize to this process, getting embroiled in office politics, romantic drama, and sibling rivalries. Our competitions call out to us “Prove yourself! Sell yourself!” The book of 1 Peter calls us out from competitive rivalries where we puff ourselves up and pull others down to come out on top, and invites us to find all the honor, respect, and value we could ever need in Christ. And since we have all the honor we need in Christ, we can seek Jesus’s honor instead of our own, and disengage from honor-competitions.