Past Failure

"Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed" -1 Peter 5.1

This phrase gave me a lot of issues when I first started to study this passage, what does it mean to be a witness of the sufferings of Christ? Had I payed attention to the title of the book, things probably wouldn't have been that difficult, but since I was reading the New Testament, I was thinking that I was reading the writing of Paul. Yes, I was reading 1 Peter, and my mind was thinking I was reading one of the Pauline Epistles. Because of this, I had to consult a commentary sooner than I wanted to, and in reading the commentary I realized my mistake.

Here, Peter is not simply recounting his presence at the crucifixion, but his presence at the trial of Christ. It was here that Peter is asked three times if he is one of Jesus' disciples, and three times Peter denies knowing Christ. It is at this third denial that Jesus looks at Peter, the two lock eyes, and Peter knows the full weight of his denial by seeing the suffering in the face of Christ that he as caused.

Peter not only puts himself on the same level as the leaders he is addressing, "your fellow elder", but he points out his own failure and unworthiness. Peter denied Christ, and saw the suffering he had caused in his face. Peter points out how he has fallen short, how he is not superior to other leaders, but that he is a flawed human striving to become more like Christ. This is the attitude and honesty that a leader must have.

Peter didn't simply contemplate the suffering of Christ, but he owned and mourned over the suffering he had caused Christ. He didn't gloss over it, exalting himself as the first one who entered the tomb on Resurrection Sunday, but points to his failure very early on Good Friday. He doesn't point out the mass conversion and baptism that resulted from his sermon on Pentecost, but points out how he witnessed the suffering of Christ. This is where a leader must begin.


Fight the lion, 1 Peter 5.1-11

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!