QT 19 Sep 16, 1 Pet 2:13-17, We need changed hearts more than changed laws

1 Peter 2:13–17 (ESV) — 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

NOTE: When we look at our world and the direction it is heading, it is easy to ask why Peter would command the believers to obey the government. Peter wrote this while Nero was systematically persecuting Jews (and Christians) for the burning of Rome. In fact, in only a few years from the time of this letter, Jerusalem would also burn -- maybe the Romans did it with the idea of payback. But Peter's reasoning makes a lot of sense in context. This world is not our home. We are aliens (our home is somewhere else) and strangers (there is nothing here that could make it our home). Our reward is an eternal home which we will receive with our glorified bodies. This world just pulls us away from what is truly important. We can't fix this world. It needs a heart change, not a ruler change, not law changes, but a deep changing in the heart. So, the very best thing we can do, is not to distract (by working on politicizing issues) from the message, but focus on eternal issues, a person's need for a savior. Peter wants us to be good witnesses for Jesus Christ and by so doing, put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. The latter phrase describes today's media attempts to portray Christians. They don't understand us. They are ignorant. And they foolishly attack our values. It is foolish because they have believed the lives of the enemy and denied the creator. They think they have reason and science, but ultimately they are putting faith in things that have no basis. The mathematical probabilities of random chance even getting one single cell to come into existence is zero (1 in 10^38). The probability of fine tuning in the universe is so miniscule that scientists have to create "multiverse (infinite universes)," a god in the gap approach to explaining something that no evidence exists. They are foolish, but so are we when we focus on temporal changes (like political parties) when the real need is eternal changes in the soul.