This chapter deals with living for God in a pagan society. While Peter talks about a debauched ancient society, the ideas are still applicable today.
Cultures and Contexts
I think that people often forget that much of the Bible, especially the New Testament, was written when the cultural values it describes were against the prevailing culture.
The Empire was debauched. The city of Pompeii reveals some of the Roman beliefs of the time. There is pornography adorning the walls of buildings and artwork of an obscene nature. It was so shocking that archeologists locked it away until about 2000.
Pompeii was covered in volcanic ash just a few years before 1 Peter may have been written. This sexualized environment was the cultural context in which the letter was, therefore, written.
The Bible has always been counter-cultural. It often deals with how the cultures that surround the believers—whether it is the nations surrounding Israel or the occupying empires—have a moral and religious impact on God’s people.
This passage was not written by the strait-laced Victorian people or in today’s Bible belt of the US. It was written in the Greco-Roman Empire, where morals were very different from what the Bible professes.
Relevant Today
So it’s interesting that when reading the chapter today, it resonates with the experience of living within a Western society. Verses 3–4 say,
“For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do — living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.” (1 Peter 4:3–4, NIV)
We live in a culture where there are court cases debating whether men who accidentally kill their partners during rough sex are liable to prosecution. Sleeping with your partner before marriage is now the norm. To have had sexual partners still numbering in the single figures is deemed to have only a few.
Although there isn’t direct persecution, there is a prevalent culture where chastity is an outdated oddity. Indeed, friends are surprised when you don’t get drunk on weekends and don’t seek out sexual partners.
Living to a Different Standard
However, as we follow Jesus, we are to follow a different standard.
It’s hard because often society and Christian standards are at odds. It can be hard to uphold these differences in the face of what society says is right and wrong.
So, how do we live counter-culturally in a way that is welcoming, loving, seasoned with salt, and also offensive to those around us?
It’s a really hard tension, and it’s really hard to know where we draw the line.
I think in these things, however, we need humility and faith in God’s Spirit working in us. The Spirit helps us discern, have wisdom, and have strength while living lives so different from those around us.
Reflection
Here are some questions to prompt thought. Feel free to answer them in the comments.
- How do you live up to standards different from the culture around you?
- Where do you see society at odds with following Christ?
- Do you have advice for being loving, hopeful, and joyful whilst living differently in the culture you are in?
Justin Marsh is a missionary who has served in Asia for over six years. He is the country leader of a team of missionaries and has just completed an MA that looks at missional practice. While his team works within a range of contexts across the country, Justin’s focus is on Muslim minority groups.
Secret Missionary 
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