Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

Peter writes that wives must accept the authority of their husbands and by doing this even if the husbands are not fully persuaded they may come to faith in Jesus. This follows on from his exhortation to act as slaves in obedience to God. Can we as 21^st century people accept that women should be subject men? Can we accept women should be subject to a particular way of dressing as suggested by Peter and that they should not plait their hair or wear jewellery or fine clothes? Are women the weaker vessel as he suggest?

In Peter’s day society was totally Andro-centric, that is, everything was controlled and moderated by men. Men went out to work whilst the women stayed at home and raised and educated the children. Peter is writing from his context and is trying to tell his hearers that spiritual authority flows from the head downwards. He uses the analogy of Sarah obeying Abraham as a model for Christian living. We know that Sarah was not completely obedient and instructed Abraham to have a surrogate child with Hagar, who she later despised.

So although we read Peter, we need to be careful and do not read into what he is not saying. He is not saying that women must stick to a particular dress code where they completely cover up like our Muslim sisters do. What he is saying is this: just like Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord, and just as slaves obeyed their masters and called them lord, so we who are followers of Christ must be obedient to him if we call him lord. Peter is not being prescriptive in how we should dress, he speaks from his context that we should be moderate in our dressing and in our actions. We may look the part but internally we are totally corrupt (see Matt 23). Hence he tells us to get rid of the vices that tarnishes our character and put on the virtues that bring us closer to God. Paul puts is more plainly in Colossians 3:8-15.

So today dress moderately, but ensure that you heart and your motives are pure so that God can use you by his Spirit.

Read 1Peter 3:1-7 and try to be a good husband or wife.