17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. - 1 Peter 2:17 (ESV)
Introduction
This is verse seems to stand on its own. It does not seem that we would need to understand the context of the verse before applying it to our lives. That may be true, but before we dive into this passage, lets be safe instead of sorry and take a quick look at what is happening.
This book was written by the Apostle Peter and, obviously, he has a reputation of sorts. He was a leader. He was a unicorn and would have made Be the Unicorn author William Vanderloemen happy. He was fast and authentic and had lots of other great qualities.
Obviously, he also made some world class mistakes. And, unlike us, his biggest mistakes were published in the Bible.
But Peter was special and God used Him in a big way. Not only was he a friend and close follower of Jesus during His ministry, but Peter was prominent in the early, formative days of the church, and he also went on, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to author Scripture.
And it is when we read the Scripture that he helped to craft that we really get a clear view of the man God made and molded Peter to be. The book of 1 Peter is a great example of this. In this book, Peter begins with a reminder of the gospel of Jesus Christ and then with this in mind, he calls us to be holy. We don’t earn or deserve our salvation. He was not instructing us about how to earn something. He was giving us instructions for living as we wait to see Jesus.
After reminding us about this call to holy living, his writing is then interspersed with reminders about what living this way looks like. For example, in in verse 2:1, he offers this:
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. - 2 Peter 2:1 (ESV)
And later, in verse 11 he gives this reminder:
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. - 2 Peter 2:11 (ESV)
This is the rhythm of 1 Peter. We are reminded of the gospel and of our holy calling, and we are given reminders of how our lives should look. So with this in mind, let’s turn our attention to today’s verse and let’s see how this reminder from Peter that came so long ago can affect us today.
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
“Honor everyone”
The Greek word for “honor” is timaō which can mean “to set a price on,” or “to fix the value, to price” and the same word that is used here is also used in New Testament passages such as this:
4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ - Matthew 15:4 (ESV)
And the same Greek word is used for the word “price”:
9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel. - Matthew 27:9 (ESV)
One of these verses is viewed in a positive way and the other in an obvious negative way, but the use of the words “honor” and “price” are the same and we can see how they fit with the definition of the Greek word above. When we honor something assign a value to that thing. We consider it important.
Here Peter is commanding us to do the same for “everyone.” We are to honor them, to value them, to view them as worth something. And to that we could reply, “that is easier said than done.” As Luke 6 reminds us, it is easy to love and to do good to those who love and do good to us:
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” - Luke 6:32-33 (ESV)
It is not so easy to honor those who may not love us and those who do not do good to us. In fact, it is downright difficult and seems to go against our self-preservation instincts. But guess what? That is already accounted for in Peter’s command. God knows what it is like for us. He gets us, remember. And yet we are still given the instruction.
Why?
Well, in some respects it is not our responsibility to wonder why. God has given us a command and our responsibility is to obey. But on the other hand, if we look at God’s word, the answer to the “why” is clear. When we are commanded to “honor everyone,” we are given the opportunity become like Jesus. Paul helps us to see this with the reminders given in Philippians 2:3-8:
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:3-8 (ESV)
And, of course, there is the The Great Commandment:
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:29-31 (ESV)
It is possible to honor someone without loving them. But it is impossible to do the reverse. We are given the clear Biblical command to love God with all that we have and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. And loving as God commands includes honoring everyone around us.
“Love the brotherhood”
The next command is to “love the brotherhood” and unlike the command to “honor everyone,” this one seems to be sort of obvious. The word “brotherhood” refers to the collective body of Christ - the Big C church - and it seems obvious that if Christians were going to love anyone, we would love fellow churchgoers.
Ha.
The reality is that it is often the hardest to practice love to those who are the closest to us, and those who are part of the body of Christ, are indeed the closest. No matter what denomination, geographic location, ethnicity, or favorite sports team, if we are trusting in the atoning work of Jesus Christ by faith we are part of the brotherhood.
Was Peter writing this because he knew that the sects and denominations in the church would form and because he knew that as soon as two or more gather in the name of Jesus that a church split became a possibility? Maybe. But it is more likely that he was calling us to unity of faith and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ because he knew the road would be tough. He reminds us of this in 1 Peter 5:9:
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. - 1 Peter 5:9 (ESV)
In our roles in the body of Christ and in our journeys through life, there will be suffering for the sake of Jesus. There will be hard times and trials of all kinds. And those who belong to the body of Christ will understand what is happening and be able to offer reminders of the hope that is to come and love like no other. The Apostle Paul understood this and provides a similar reminder in 1 Thessalonians:
11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)
Peter’s reminder that followers of Christ should love each other seems obvious yet it is not easy to follow. It can be hard to love those who are closest to us, or those who seem to have everything in common with us. Yet its importance cannot be overstated and its benefits cannot be fully understood until experienced.
“Fear God”
Peter’s list of commands continues with the instruction to “fear God.” And, again, this one would seem to be obvious.
But though obvious, like the reminder to “love the brotherhood,” obedience to this command needs to be present in the lives of followers of Christ.
What does it mean? Let’s take a quick review and to do this, let’s look at Matthew 10:28:
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” - Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
When we think about “fearing God,” many times we associate fear with the relationships with have with our parents, and in particular, the relationship we have with our earthly fathers. And for many of us, these relationships were not good.
Fearing God has nothing in common with how our parents acted - or did not act.
God is good. As the song says, “He is a good, good Father.” And God is good because goodness is a fundamental part of His character. He is not struggling to be good for a while, and then going back into hiding before He explodes with anger. No, He is good and everything He does will worked for good.
When we are commanded to fear God this has nothing to do with God having an out of control temper or having to deal with some sort of irrationality that He might display. God is good and He does not handle Himself that way - and unlike us, this is not struggle for Him.
Fearing God means having a healthy understanding and respect for who He is. As Jesus mentioned in Matthew 10:28, God has the authority and the power to judge us and to send us to hell. He is not like a rambling grandpa that may have once had a set of rules that are long forgotten. No, God never changes and He is perfect, faithful and just. When He says He will do something, He will. And He has promised that there will be an accounting for the sins we have committed.
Because of who God is and because of the power and authority He holds, we should always view Him with much respect and appropriate fear.
“Honor the emperor”
Finally, Peter ends this verse with the command to “honor the emperor.”
“Honor,” as we discussed above, means to place value upon something. And just like we are instructed to “honor everyone” - which technically includes emperors - here Peter instructs us specifically to put a value on their ruler, to hold that person in high regard.
But this instruction seems to hit differently than the others.
Though it may not be easy, God’s command to “honor everyone” and to “love the brotherhood” makes sense to us - at least theologically. We understand that we should love our neighbor like Jesus loves us. If we desire to live and walk as Christ did, we understand that loving all people is central to our faith.
We also understand how important it is to “fear God.” His power, authority and position demand our respect. And as sinners, we should be especially mindful of who God is and His ability - rightfully so - to judge us and send us to hell.
But honoring the emperor seems different.
Emperors - rulers, leaders, politicians, kings, elected officials, etc. - often have bad reputations that are rightfully earned. They serve over people with power and have a tendency to abuse that power. Because of this, they are not easy to like, much less love. And assigning value to them and holding them in high regard is not easy to do.
But that is God’s instruction given to us here through Peter (and also through other places in the Bible such as Romans 13). Rulers, like the one Peter mentions here and the ones Paul mentions in Romans 13, are appointed by God and are “God’s servant for your good.” They serve under God’s authority and act as His ministers. While they may not actually acknowledge Him or explicitly serve Him, they are ruling under His command. They are assigned to do work on behalf of God.
This makes sense when we think about the good things these rulers might do. Roads and bridges may be built under their leadership. There are things done for the common good of all. And, of course, leadership helps to ward off the chaotic behavior of anarchy. But though these leaders serve God, this does not mean God is pleased with a harsh dictator, or with a king who is doing evil. But somehow, in some sense, these rulers are still serving under God. The are serving a purpose for as long as He sees fit.
Peter’s instructions acknowledge this. Though rulers may do evil, he reminds us there is a level of respect that should be shown. During Peter’s lifetime, these rulers of which he speaks persecuted Christians and he was directly targeted. Acts 12 tells us of James and Peter being imprisoned because of their relationship with Christ. And, as church lore goes, Peter was ultimately crucified upside down.
He knew about about suffering for Jesus, yet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he penned the words “honor the emperor.” Perhaps this was done to send a message from Peter, on behalf of the church, to tell the emperor that the church meant no direct harm to the ruler. If that was not the case, it would have likely served such a purpose, even if in a very minor way. But the greater message here relates to how the church is supposed to respond to authority.
And our first response is supposed to be honor.
This type of honor and how people respond to the evil reign of certain rulers is actually a very deep theological subject and there is no way, given the brevity of this article, to do the subject justice. Some say that honoring means always doing as the king or leader says, no matter what. That would obviously make it against Christian ethics to ever participate in a revolution. And that becomes a sticky subject for Christians in places like the United States.
Others say that showing honor to our leaders does not affect our response to evil reigns. They say that somehow honor can be shown Biblically, but that God’s rights given to mankind can also be claimed and this provides an acceptable platform to end the reign of injustice. I would fall into that camp, but as said above, this article is not designed to take the deep dive on this particular subject at this time.
So we will leave things this way. God tells us to “honor the emperor.” That means that we are to place a value on the person that God has allowed to be over us. We each have to decide how this is to be worked out in our lives. And as we are doing that, let us show the leader the proper respect for the situation we face and let us pray for that leader to be the used by God in the best and most effective way possible.
Application
Sometimes we may wonder about how to live the Christian life, or we will somehow get lost in the liberty that we are provided as followers of Christ. But we also must never forget that we are called to live holy lives for Jesus as well. Living this type of life will look a certain way. Peter helps us to understand this as he gives us reminders to “honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God and honor the emperor.”
Christians are not called to a long list of rules for obedience, but rather we are called to lives surrendered to Christ. This is done as a response, or a thank you, to what He has done for us. These reminders given by Peter call us back a life of following Jesus. These reminders to honor, love and fear, help us to understand our role under the King of kings and Lord of lords, and remind us of how we can show our King to others.