Some years ago there was a Christian man said to me, he had been very, very convicted. And this was how: he was very free with the speaking about the government and expressing his views, and running down, in the office, the Prime Minister of the day, and landing on his every mistake, or perceived mistake. Then one day one of his colleagues said to him, ‘You do invoicing and things like that, and you make a mistake, and I'm sure you make a number of mistakes, and one customer is affected. That Prime Minister – I don't like him either – he makes a mistake and millions of people get hurt, millions of people are affected. Have you ever thought of that? One mistake from him! Tremendous ramifications! A dozen mistakes from you, only a dozen people in some way inconvenienced or hurt.’ And he said these words, and this is what cut into him: ‘Isn’t there any grace in you?’ Here was an unbeliever speaking, and he meant grace in terms of courtesy. But the Christian who was being reproved thought, ‘Grace! He can't see any grace in me, any work of God, any tempering influence, any softening, any kindness. He can't see any courtesy’, ad that convicted him very deeply. I wonder if people might be inclined to say that to us, even some of our little children. ‘There isn’t much grace in you, Dad’, real grace, spiritual grace.
It is said that many of the Jewish communities in New Testament times that were expelled from different places or had been dispersed from Jerusalem and lived in the various pagan countries roundabout; that many of those Jewish communities were very bad guests in their new countries. Not all but many were. The intense Jewish nationalism of the time reared its head, and they were always very difficult people in the lands to which they went. And it got them a bad reputation. And the apostle Peter is saying, in effect, ‘Don't be like that. You're different from the world. You’re already under suspicion. You don't go along with them to the pubs, to their particular lewd entertainments and all this kind of thing, so they're offended by you and there are against you. And your you must counter that by your courtesy and patience and good behaviour. You are going to be suspected. We know what the world is like. Wherever people migrate to other countries. They always find it difficult. The host country is always unreasonableness its behaviour towards an immigrant minority of people. That's human nature, fallen human nature. And it's so with us. As soon as people realise that Christians are different, they are against us. And it’s by our impeccable courtesy and behaviour that we surmount that.