Greg and Amy explain that Christians must develop wisdom to know when firm correction is appropriate. Peter’s call to show gentleness does not necessarily conflict with examples of more direct language found in the Gospels.
Transcript
Question: How do we reconcile Jesus calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers when, in 1 Peter 3:15–16, it says we should show gentleness and respect when defending the faith?
Greg: Well, we don’t. I think what this shows is that there are general rules that sometimes there are exceptions for. And I think that statement actually was John the Baptist: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath that’s to come, you brood of vipers?” And John the Baptist was on the extreme side.
But sometimes an aggressive approach is required. Now, Jesus did say, “You are whitewashed tombs with dead men’s bones inside.” He said, “You go here and there, travel thousands of miles to find one disciple, and you make him twice the son of Hell as you are.”
What was interesting in both those cases is they were speaking factually and colorfully communicating the truth about these people, and it wasn’t just that they were putting these people down without cause. They were speaking accurately and truthfully, and I think what we learn from that is there are times when we’re justified in being much more aggressive, depending on the nature of the circumstances, but we need to be careful about that. You know, because John the Baptist did it, well, he’s a fallen human being, so he may be a little over the top. But in the case of Jesus, Jesus is a legitimate example. There was no sin found in Jesus.
Amy: And it actually is John the Baptist the first time. But actually here in Matthew, Jesus does say, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?”
Greg: Okay, there we go. He learned that from John the Baptist.
But I think what that demonstrates is that there are circumstances where it’s appropriate to be very aggressive and very straightforward and call a spade a spade, so to speak.
Amy: But even in this case, you get the idea that he’s rebuking them, but it’s not this snarky—I’m trying to think of a word to describe what I see—constant mocking. It doesn’t strike me as feeling the same way, and maybe this is something, again, that we just have to get better at and figure out what to do, because I do think we should strongly say the truth when it calls for it. So, maybe this just involves developing wisdom so we can know what is called for in each situation. But I would also say, as a general rule, I think we get a lot more specific instructions from Peter than we do from what Jesus does because, again, we’re also not Jesus. So, I think we need to be careful about doing everything that he did, because he is the judge, too.