When it comes to the Christ-like character development process, what we are really talking about is a matter of discipleship, true heart change, Kingdom character development or sanctification, since all of these terms really mean one and the same thing. In the context of Scripture, there is significant evidence of it at work in many different Biblical characters, one of whom is Simon Peter, also referred to as Cephas.
Essentially, the Biblical character development process involves dying to self and self-wishes in order to obey the will of God. The New Testament provides a great deal of insight into the life of the Disciple Peter. There are a variety of different passages that focus on the development of his Christ-like character through the circumstances he was involved in, the challenges he faced, the behavioral choices he was presented with, the source of empowerment he selected, and the final outcomes. He walked a particular path through his life’s journey before reaching his final maturity level.
Circumstances
There isn’t much background information provided about Peter, other than the facts that he was a fisherman who was a disciple of John the Baptist. The initial Biblical reference to him can be found in John 1:35-42 where Jesus calls His first disciples. It took Peter a while to understand what Jesus was teaching, so on numerous occasions, he asked Jesus for an explanation. This displayed not only his lack of understanding, but also, more importantly, his desire to learn and to seek the truth.
From the time of his calling, Peter had a heart-felt desire to serve and follow Jesus, - he just initially lacked the necessary understanding. In Matthew 16:13-20, Peter declared his belief about the true identity of Jesus – as The Christ, The Messiah, The Anointed One. Peter knew who Jesus was, - he just didn’t initially fully understand what Jesus’s role really entailed. It took a while for Peter to honestly absorb and fully comprehend the teachings of Jesus.
Originally he didn’t understand that Jesus’s Kingdom was not an earthly one, but a Spiritual one. Peter had a view of the duty of the Messiah that was more in alignment with a commonly held Jewish believe of the time than with who Jesus actually was. He expected Jesus to overthrow the governing authorities, and wanted political power and favor in the Kingdom that Jesus talked about establishing. When Jesus talked about being the Suffering Servant who must die and be raised again (Matthew 16:21-28), Peter refuted His teaching, saying that it would not happen that way. Peter didn’t understand that it needed to happen that way. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and taken captive by the authorities, Peter couldn’t grasp what was happening and why. It was this shattering of his worldview that opened his eyes to the truth and brought about his radical change of heart.
Challenge to Peter
Peter believed that he was a righteous man and a devout follower of Jesus. He believed that he was an exemplary disciple who would allow himself to be lead anywhere by Jesus and through anything, even unto death. In Matthew 26:33, Peter vehemently asserts to Jesus, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” Yet Jesus responds to this statement by foretelling of Peter’s betrayal (Matthew 26:34-35, Mark 14:30, and Luke 22:34), by stating that despite his protestations to the contrary, Peter would deny Him three times that very same evening.
Choice Before Him
When Peter was confronted with the reality of what it truly meant for Jesus to be the Messiah, it shattered his worldview. As he watched Jesus’s arrest, he was in shock and perhaps didn’t know what to do or how to react. When Jesus was arrested, he continued to follow Him, at least physically. He was forced to realize that what Jesus had been saying about His having to suffer and die was coming to fruition. Perhaps he feared for his own life, wondering if the same fate would befall him. He saw only the fact that Jesus was about to suffer and die, not that He would be raised again from the dead, as foretold in the Scriptures. When Peter was confronted in the courtyard (Matthew 26:69-75), his first reaction was to protect himself, rather than to honor Jesus. It was easy for him to follow Jesus as his Rabbi (teacher) when there were no consequences for his loyalty, but when he was faced with the choice of where his loyalties truly lay, he thought only of himself and denied Jesus. He succumbed to the temptation to put his own wellbeing first above his discipleship to Jesus. It wasn’t until he heard the rooster’s final crow, and remembered what Jesus had told him, that he truly understood the situation that he was in. When Peter realized what he had done, he repented, and wept bitterly over his sin.
Source of Empowerment He Selected
Peter’s own betrayal of Jesus, and his desire to again prove his loyalty, had probably been on his mind since Jesus’s crucifixion. His heart-felt and painful repentance brought about a significant change in him. John 21 recounts Jesus’s third appearance to His disciples after the Resurrection. Verse 7 indicates that as soon as Peter recognized Jesus, he was so anxious to see Him again that he jumped into the water to get to Him more quickly, while everyone else waited to come in on the boat. It is entirely possible that he expected to be able to walk on water again, as he had done before in Matthew 14:25-33, but essentially what matters was his earnest desire to prove the loyalty to Jesus, a loyalty which he had previously rejected.
Verses 15-19 describe the scene following the breakfast on the beach, where Jesus personally interacts with Peter, apart from the other disciples. In this passage, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, and when he answers in the affirmative, he is told to minister to the children of God, “tend my sheep.” He denied Jesus three times, so he was allowed the opportunity to repent by confirming three times that he really did love Jesus.
Final Outcomes
Peter’s life is an example of the fact that God’s sanctification process is primarily one of bringing about the death of self-focus, while relying on God’s strength. He recognized when he had sinned against Jesus and repented of that sin. His life was not without flaw, but it was not expected to be. Only Jesus was capable of living a sinless life – Peter was not, as he was only human.
The lesson that can be learned from the life of Peter is that discipleship does not require perfection, but rather recognition of failure and true repentance. A Christian who claims to follow Jesus in all aspects of life can still make mistakes. The saying is that, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” because when a Christian makes a mistake, as they invariably will, they repent and are forgiven.
Peter made a mistake by denying his personal relationship with Jesus – a momentary lapse of judgement, a choice which he regretted bitterly. His apology to Jesus was in the form of his trice affirmation of his true love for Jesus. A fact that he was able to prove, time and time again, in his later ministry. His teachings about Jesus are made clear in his epistles.
As is often the case in the life of Christians, Peter’s failure brought about a greater strength. It was through his crisis of faith, in his denial of Jesus, that he was made stronger in his faith. A fact that many Christians hate to admit is that it often takes suffering to bring about an honest change of heart. What truly matters is the recognition of human frailty and inability to please God, on top of the fact that God is in control. Christians must put their lives in the hand of Jesus and trust in His strength rather than their own. Choosing to follow Jesus means putting Him first, before their own wants and wishes, and their desire for their own earthly self-preservation.
Practical Application
There are many different bases by which to evaluate a person's worth. This determination is partially dependent upon the perspective of the evaluator. The dictionary defines worth as, "the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held." The secular humanistic worldview places a person's value on their ability to perform. Someone who is a religious legalist would place a person's value on how well they are able to keep the rules they are expected to follow. By contrast, the Kingdom worldview sees a person's worth as being based upon their character, or their value to God as a person. God sees people as they truly are, and values them by the strength of their relationship with him.
In essence, every human being has the same value based on the fact that they are created in the image of God. This is not an easy thing for human beings to see for themselves, though, because as temporal and finite beings, they obviously have a very different perspective than an infinite and omniscient God does. Therefore, human beings are unable to view the true character of those they come in contact with. They are only able to evaluate each other based on what they are able to perceive using their five senses. These senses can only be used to perceive what someone does rather than who they are. While God sees someone's heart, man sees his actions.
Having a heart to serve God means living life as He commanded. According to Martin Luther, “The works themselves do not justify him before God, but he does the works out of spontaneous life in obedience to God and considers nothing except the approval of god, whom he would most scrupulously obey in all things." (Luther 2003 p.36) Human beings see evidence of the character of others by the way they exhibit their faith in their actions.
Human beings believe each other to be in a right relationship with God, and therefore possessing of a Christian character, when they exhibit Christ-like behavior toward one other. When someone acts in a Christ-like manner toward someone else, they are often referred to as having acted in a "Christian" manner. Likewise when someone is intentionally mean, cruel, or hurtful toward someone else, they are perceived as not being very Christian. For example, saying something spiteful to someone else is not a very nice, or a “Christian" thing to do, and someone who said such a thing would not be thought of as a "good Christian."
References
Cameron, T. (n.d.). Becoming ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’: The development of the self-regency mechanism from birth to 18 years. Cape Town: South Africa.
Luther, M. (2003). On Christian liberty. Minneapolis, MI: Fortress Press.
Mirriam-Webster, I. (1996). Mirriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (10th ed.) Springfield, MA: Mirriam-Webster.
No comments:
Post a Comment