5 Things that STOP a Church from Growing 1 Peter 2:13
What did you want to be when you grew up? When we ask this question to young children, we get answers like a police officer, a superhero, a teacher, a mother, a vet, or a doctor. When we're growing up, we want to be something, and sometimes we end up being that, but for most of us, we don't. In between being where you were, dreaming of what you would become, you grew up. There is this whole period of life called growing up. Sometimes growing up can be used as a negative thing, but that's not what Peter says when he's talking about growing up. Peter encourages churches to grow.
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind, like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk. So that you may grow up in your salvation now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” 1 Peter 2:13
5 Things We Must Leave
Peter is writing to different churches in different regions, all of which are currently or will be suffering persecution. Some of the churches are as large as a dozen people, and he writes about a church growth strategy plan. He doesn't say how to win friends and influence people. He doesn't say to build really big walls and defend yourselves against the persecution coming. He says to get rid of these things. This is what it's going to look like to grow; they must get rid of some of these things and crave something else. Peter says you must rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
This is not a one-time action that Peter is calling us to. Our lives are going to be marked by the discarding of this stuff. This is going to be a continual ongoing habit of the Christian life that we're fighting against the stuff that we are getting rid of.
Malice
Malice is an instant reaction when someone wrongs you, and you want to get back at them. This is what he's getting at when he's talking about malice here, that instant reaction of I will make it right My pride is here. My pride has been hurt. My honor has been called into question. I've been disrespected, I've been slighted in some way. My rights have been violated in some way. I'm going to get it back. What did Jesus say when you get slapped on one cheek? Give the other cheek. Rid yourselves of all malice. This is a great way to kill a church. If you want to stop a church from growing, just have it focus on malice. That's not what we're to focus on or to crave. We are supposed to rid our life and church of malice and continue to rid it.
Deceit
Peter says the same thing about all deceit. Peter is talking about living in a disingenuous way. To live deceitfully means that you are not able to trust anybody else. That's a great way to stop a church from growing. Don't trust anybody. If you can't trust that person to keep it to themselves.
Hypocrisy
It's common in our vernacular the saying, “rules for thee but not for me”. Hypocrisy says I'm going to initiate rules for other people because there are annoying things that other folks do. There are hurtful things that other folks do, and I'm going to create rules for them and not apply those rules to me. They're the problem, not me. That's the kind of hypocrisy that Peter's talking about here. It's very easy to do in a church
Envy
This isn't simply envy, like being jealous of something. It's not the absence of something in your life. This is the festering, obsessive notion that someone else has got something, and why don't I have it? Sometimes we do this with material things. When I was younger, I was into Pokémon cards. Somebody I knew had a Pokémon card that I wanted. That's what we would call jealousy: the presence of something that someone else has in my absence. Envy is when that jealousy grows to the point of obsession. We can see how this can really stop a church from growing. Don't be focused on envy and that obsessiveness over what you don't have and what someone else has.
Slander
Slanders are pretty straightforward ones. Peter says slander of every kind. I had a mentor who once told me that I could trust somebody based on the way they spoke about other people. If I see someone who speaks ill of other people behind their backs, you know that they are speaking to other people about you behind your back. Peter says to get rid of slander of every kind.
Peter is writing to these churches among different cultures and nations that they must rid themselves of these 5 things. In their churches, the word of God can not grow if they are filled with things that are not of God. Next week, we will look at what Peter calls the churches to look for in their growth plan.