Suggestions for leading a study:
The End is Near
1 Peter 4:7-11
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and
self-controlled so that you can pray. 8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude
of sins. 9 Offer
hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various
forms. 11 If anyone speaks,
he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he
should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be
praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and
ever. Amen.
Discussion Questions
If you knew for sure the world was about to end, what would you make sure you did while you still had time?
In this passage, Peter makes some suggestions for what we should prioritize, sin
1 Peter 4:7-11
ce “the end is near:”
-In verse 7, what should we be like and for what purpose?
-How is this in contrast to the world?
-Does your own life reflect this priority?
-In verse 8 we get the “biggie:” to love one another. What sins do you think that “covers up?” Is that important to get done while we can?
-According to verse 9, what else should be our priority? How do we do that, and why is it so important to have the attitude that Peter suggests here?
-According to verse 10, what is it that we all have, and what should we be doing with it?
-How do you think we can discover our area of giftedness?
-If Jesus came back today, would he find you faithfully using your giftedness to serve others?
-Verse 11 says to serve “with the strength God provides.” How do you think we tap into that?
-Who should get the praise and glory for our service, and why is that important?
Leaders' Guide
The End is Near
If you knew for sure
the world was about to end, what would you make sure you did while you still
had time?
A discussion starter. Let it get as crazy as you want: eat your
favorite meal, go on a cruise, run up your credit cards and party,
whatever. The whole point to this lesson
is to look at how Christians live in light of the impending return of Christ,
so have some fun with this to set the stage.
In this passage,
Peter makes some suggestions for what we should prioritize, since “the end is
near:”
-In verse 7, what
should we be like and for what purpose?
We should be clear minded and self controlled. The terms here work together to paint a picture of someone who is taking a very sober and reflective look at reality and making appropriate choices as a result.
-How is this in contrast to the
world?
You can bring in some examples from the opening questions, if that works. Or just contrast this with what much of the world would be doing if the end was near, which would probably be extremely self indulgent and “out of control.” There is also the stereotype of the spiritual recluse heading for the wilderness, but most people would probably not be doing a lot of praying.
-Does your own life reflect this
priority?
Here is another opportunity to
underscore the importance of being people of prayer and encourage your group to
grow in this key discipline. The rest of
Peter’s suggestions have to do with being busy and accomplishing things, so it
is probably his intent to remind us that we need to always have our activities
put into the context of a developing and dynamic relationship to God. Try to take the opportunity to reiterate for
your group this key biblical understanding: our works always flow out of our
relationship to God, which is largely developed through prayer. This will come up again at the end of the
lesson to give you another opportunity for this.
-In verse 8 we get
the “biggie:” to love one another. What
sins do you think that “covers up?” Is that important to get done while we can?
Peter says that “above all”, we should love one another. In other words, that is the over-arching attitude that makes everything else worthwhile. (See Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. 12 and 13 for support on this). The term here is agape, meaning intentional action rather than just warm feelings. The interesting part of this verse is why we do that: because it covers over a multitude of sins. Presumably, if we are loving other people with intentional acts of service, it is the relational sins we commit that will be “covered up:” the ones which violate the only “law” left in the new covenant: to love God and love each other. To cover up here means to hide so they are no longer noticeable. In other words, they no longer effect our relationships.
There are
many reasons this is important, of course, not the least of which is pure
obedience to God. But in light of the
end of all things, Peter may be underscoring that we don’t want to enter our
eternity with unfinished business done down here, especially with those we may
have sinned against. God wants us to
keep short accounts.
-According to verse
9, what else should be our priority? How
do we do that, and why is it so important to have the attitude that Peter
suggests here?
We should be hospitable: willing to hang out with people and share what we have with them. The way we do that these days (and people always have) is to eat together, but there are all sorts of ways we can prioritize just being together as God’s people. Your group is a key one, of course.
Peter says
to do this “without grumbling.” Apparently some folks were seeing hospitality
as some kind of requirement that was a hassle, or too costly or something. One reason it is important to have a good
attitude, is that you can’t drag someone kicking and screaming into an
experience of positive community. We all
have different social skills and proclivities, but we should all be happy to be
a part of a loving community of believers.
One way to ensure that is to see that it is those with gifts and
passions for hospitality who are the ones that are unleashed to create the
opportunities for that. That’s a good
lead in to the next suggestion Peter has:
-According to verse
10, what is it that we all have, and what should we be doing with it?
We all have a gift that we have
been given. This refers to spiritual
gifts that God gives to the church through individuals to accomplish his
work. Everyone’s gift should be getting
used continually. The terminology Peter
uses here is that we are stewards of God’s grace: we have been given
responsibility to take care of the various ways that God wants his grace to be
manifested in the church, and to make sure that grace is being applied the ways
that he intends.
-How do you think we can discover
our area of giftedness?
Many people don’t use their
giftedness in the church simply because they aren’t sure what they should be
doing. Your church may have a way to help people with this, but encourage your people not to
see this as too intimidating. The best
way is to jump in and start doing ministry so you can discover what you’re good
at and what you enjoy (the area of your giftedness and passion).
-If Jesus came back today, would he
find you faithfully using your giftedness to serve others?
A reflection question to
encourage your people to thinking about themselves the way Jesus thinks about
them. Everyone is useful, and he expects
everyone to be going about his work when he arrives (see the parables in
Matthew 25, among other passages.)
-Verse 11 says to
serve “with the strength God provides.”
How do you think we tap into that?
Here we return to where we
started with this lesson. All of our
works flow out of being tapped into the source of our strength. That is no doubt why Peter began with an
exhortation to prayer, and absolutely one of the key ways that we accomplish
that.
-Who should get the praise
and glory for our service, and why is that important?
Peter ends by reminding us that
we do all of these things so that God may be praised, and then does that himself
with the doxology that ends this passage.
Self-glorification is poison in kingdom ministry and mission, and many
churches and ministries have gone down in flames because of it. Again, focusing on a sober relationship to
God developed through prayer, and keeping in mind that Christ could return at
any time to evaluate our attitudes and activities will be the antidotes to
selfishness.