Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Prepped to Proclaim

⁸Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For,
   "Whoever would love life
       and see good days
   must keep his tongue from evil
       and his lips from deceitful speech.
    ¹¹He must turn from evil and do good;
       he must seek peace and pursue it.
    ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
       and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
   but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
¹³Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear ; do not be frightened." ¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Discussion Questions

-In this passage there are a series of suggestions as to how to behave that end with telling us to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have.  One way to read this passage is to see these suggestions as ways that we are, in fact, prepared to do that.  From verses 8 and 9, how do these things help prepare us to have an effective witness:

            -Live in harmony with one another

            -Be sympathetic

            -Love as brothers

            -Be compassionate

            -Be humble

            -Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult

-In verses 10-12 Peter quotes from Psalm 34.  Do these verses offer encouragement when faced with evil or insults?

-What kinds of situations can you think of that verses 13 and 14 would fit? 

-What does verse 14 say will result if this should happen to us?  How do you think that works?

-Verse 14 tells us not to be afraid if we suffer for doing good, and verse 15 gives us the alternative (note the “but”).  What is it?  How does that help us conquer fear?

-How will that help us be prepared to give an answer  for our hope?

-Having to give an answer implies that somebody asked a question.  How can these characteristics we have discussed cause people to have questions about our hope?

-In what way does verse 15 say we should give these answers?  Can how we speak be important in making what we say effective?

Leaders' Guide

This lesson is about the kind of life that will make people want to ask questions about our faith as well as make the proclamation of our faith have effectiveness and integrity.

-In this passage there are a series of suggestions as to how to behave that end with telling us to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have.  One way to read this passage is to see these suggestions as ways that we are, in fact, prepared to do that.  From verses 8 and 9, how do these things help prepare us to have an effective witness:

The intent here is to take each of these characteristics of how you relate to other people in light of how they might effect your witness as a Christian.  It isn’t certain that Peter had in mind each of these as working up to the command to be ready to give an answer, but it is one possible way of reading the text.  In any event, there is no doubt that each of these can effect our witness, both positively and negatively.  The other question you can ask in regards to each, if you want, is: “how can doing this cause someone to ask about the hope that we have?”  (also found in verse 15)  In other words, what makes each of these so different from normal behavior as to cause us to stand out and make people not only take notice, but ask why.

            -Live in harmony with one another
                        People living at peace in real community is one of the great witnesses that we have.  Here remind your people that this is one of the great roles for the church, and can be one of the most important things that your group can do for a newcomer:  show them what people living in community can be like.  Also, fighting with each other hardly puts us in a frame of mind to be a good witness, especially not one with “gentleness and respect” (see v. 15).  Another thought is that our witness is always corporate:  we all play a role together in seeing people won to Christ.  Not getting along with each wouldn’t be very good preparation to accomplish that.

            -Be sympathetic

                        This word means to suffer together with people.  It would certainly help our witness with people if we were willing to struggle along with them in their trials.

            -Love as brothers

                        Scripture says they will know we are Christians by our love.  Remind your group that agape love in the Bible is not a feeling, it is an intentional act of the will that subordinates your own needs to those of others and results in concrete acts of selfless service to others. In a self-centered world, this should make people sit up and take notice.

            -Be compassionate

                        This term is related more to actual emotions, or feelings.  It should be noticeable to people that you really do care about them, you’re not just trying to be a decent person because you want to have a witness in their lives and get another “notch in your belt.”

            -Be humble

                        Pride and arrogance are some of the most common characteristics of the world, and perhaps some of the greatest barriers to being a good witness.  No-one wants to listen to another person all full of themselves.  In regards to our witness, we in humility understand that we actually have nothing in and of ourselves to offer.  We are just “one beggar showing another where to find food.” 

            -Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult

                        Here is where we can really set ourselves apart and get people asking why we behave so oddly.  Jesus mentions this in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5), and it has always been one of the greatest witnesses the church has.  From the very start, the willingness of believers to face persecution and even be martyred without thought of retaliation has pointed to our complete trust in God and understanding that we live in light of eternity.

-In verses 10-12 Peter quotes from Psalm 34.  Do these verses offer encouragement when faced with evil or insults?

            These verses underscore that even when we face undeserved evil, God is still on our side and ultimately he will see that justice is done.  Hence, we don’t have to worry about trying to serve it up ourselves by offering “an eye for an eye.”

-What kinds of situations can you think of that verses 13 and 14 would fit? 

            Try to coax some contemporary examples out of the group of situations in which a Christian person might face undeserved persecution because of their ethical stands.  It will help to bring this lesson home.

-What does verse 14 say will result if this should happen to us?  How do you think that works?

            This verse promises that we will be blessed.  It does not, however, specify how that will happen exactly.  This is something we have to trust God for.  We might get a material blessing here and now to compensate for our pain, or it may have to wait for eternity.  God is sovereign in these things.  What we do know is that we can trust him to be absolutely just—the Scripture is clear about this. 

-Verse 14 tells us not to be afraid if we suffer for doing good, and verse 15 gives us the alternative (note the “but”).  What is it?  How does that help us conquer fear?

            Setting aside Christ as Lord is the antidote to fear in this passage.  This speaks of an inner frame of mind—a way of living where we always turn to thinking of Christ, especially in difficult circumstances, and always with the thought that he is Lord, that is king over every situation and has absolute power and authority in this world.  Encourage your group to keep training themselves to get beyond automatically thinking about how to get even and learn to turn to Christ in prayer and surrender in every situation. 

-How will that help us be prepared to give an answer  for our hope?

            Having an inner orientation toward Christ is important to always being ready to give an answer.  Without that, we are more apt to be ready to give a swift kick if someone is doing us an injustice.  When we seem unruffled or at least far less concerned about these things than other people, then people are more likely to as why that is.  As the next question says, behaving in ways that makes people ask about it is the only way to get an opportunity to give an answer.

-Having to give an answer implies that somebody asked a question.  How can these characteristics we have discussed cause people to have questions about our hope?

            You can run back down all of the ones that have been discussed, or just focus on the last one (not paying back evil for evil).  The general bottom line is that these kinds of behavior patterns should be far enough out of the norm for people to start asking what’s wrong (or better put, what’s right) with us.

-In what way does verse 15 say we should give these answers?  Can how we speak be important in making what we say effective?

            This is just a wrap up to remind us that yelling and screaming the gospel at people rarely produces results.  In this context, telling them what jerks they are because of what they did to you versus how righteous you are for standing there and taking it, will probably not accomplish much.