Out of Place: Christian community in 1 Peter and James

The green outline of his face was a caricature, the name inaccurate. Yet, we didn’t think twice about our school mascot, we were the “Indians.” We cheered his image at games and emblazoned his likeness on yearbooks. It was years later before I heard an Indigenous American Christian speak about her heartbreak at this type of appropriation of tribal culture. I was left reconsidering my perspective and my assumptions.

How does our Christian community live as God’s people when we are often either blind to appropriation or heartbroken at the pervasiveness of it? We are meant to embrace our unified identity as the people of God and help bring God’s purpose and blessing to the world, yet our experience of the world vastly differs.

1 Peter is written to believers suffering as marginalized foreigners even though they may not have left their geographic homeland. These Christians exchanged the Roman empire for the Kingdom of God in Christ and are now experiencing damaging social repercussions.[1] Peter calls them to view their present distress in light of God’s eternal purposes and Christ’s pattern of suffering and glory.[2] He wants them not to question their status as God’s elect because of their distress; instead, he wants them to see that their status as God’s elect involves participation in Christ’s suffering and future glory. This is testified by the prophets and given understanding by the Spirit (1:10-12). The trials faced by these exiles are not simply human opposition to their faith. It also points to the work of Satan aimed at destroying local churches and the broader community of faith. The struggle against evil is a cosmic battle, but thankfully God’s power and triumph are certain.[3] The conduct of these Christians in the face of suffering is their witness, their way of bringing God’s purpose and blessing to the world.[4] Peter further encourages believers to endure together, sharing hospitality, spiritual gifts and tangible help as they are empowered by God. This fulfills their witness by bringing glory to God in their treatment of one another (4:8-11).

The book of James offers a different angle to help believers understand how to treat one another as equal siblings in the family of God. The hearers of this books are scattered abroad and experience difficulty. However, their difficulties don’t grow out of separation from the world but instead grow out of embracing the world’s values. James speaks to people claiming their election before God yet not internalizing the lifestyle that comes with it.[5] When James speaks of the elevation of the poor and the lowliness of the rich (1:9-11) his hearers want to associate with the faithfulness ascribed to the poor. However, he goes on to point out that their actions demonstrate inconsistency. They show their true desire to be like the rich by giving them preferential treatment (2:3). For James right belief is linked to right actions.[6] Right actions should not lead to preferential treatment in the community of believers.[7] Right actions work to bring God’s will into the world.[8] God’s will for community is a lifestyle of siblings that has much in common with the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and little in common with the status and power of the world.

My predominantly white, suburban, American Christian context often seems unaware of how we’ve adopted the cultural values of status and power. James’ call for the church to be an equal community of brothers and sisters requires us to elevate those on the margins. We must have the self-awareness to see where we absorb status and power into our lives and the courage to explicitly reverse this absorption. This requires listening and allowing the marginalized to teach us. As siblings, it is not beneath us to learn why Indigenous Americans see mascot representation as problematic. It is not beneath us learn the history of the Black Church. It is not beneath us to learn why our Latinx siblings left their beloved homelands. An internalized faith elevates the marginalized and then, humbly, joins in their witness against suffering. Once we practice the equality of James, we can then uphold the witness of 1 Peter. In this, we love God and one another.

Bibliography

Bartlett, David L. “1 Peter.” In Hebrews, the General Epistles, and Revelation, edited by David A Sánchez, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and Margaret P Aymer, 129–146. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2021. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1370555.

Cargal, Timothy B. “James.” In Hebrews, the General Epistles, and Revelation, edited by David A Sánchez, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and Margaret P Aymer, 117–128. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2021. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1370555.

Davids, Peter H. “James and Paul.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 457–460. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Green, Joel B. 1 Peter. The two horizons New Testament commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2007.

[1] Joel B. Green, 1 Peter, The two horizons New Testament commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2007), 191.

[2] Ibid., 200.

[3] David L Bartlett, “1 Peter,” in Hebrews, the General Epistles, and Revelation, ed. David A Sánchez, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and Margaret P Aymer (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016), 143, accessed February 13, 2021, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1370555.

[4] Ibid., 135.

[5] Peter H Davids, “James and Paul,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 460.

[6] Timothy B Cargal, “James,” in Hebrews, the General Epistles, and Revelation, ed. David A Sánchez, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and Margaret P Aymer (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016), 122, accessed February 13, 2021, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1370555.

[7] Ibid., 118.

[8] Ibid., 121.