One day a missionary arrived disappointed from the poor results of his trip. He had spent his entire summer in the region of Central America vigorously spreading the gospel of Christ, but without any conversions. As he rode the taxi in silence, he began analyzing what must have gone wrong. Did he not explain the biblical verses well enough? Had he presented enough biblical evidence to support his teachings? He began to replay his trip over and over again in his mind and confirmed that he had done everything that was possible to teach the locals properly. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like a failure due to his inability to convert anybody. Suddenly, his cab driver asked the missionary what guilt was weighing so heavily on his heart. Stunned, the missionary asked how he was able to tell that it was guilt what he was feeling. The cab driver smiled gently and told him, “It is not necessary to speak with our words to express the reality of who we are.” In that moment, the missionary realized the error of his ways. He had forgotten how his demeanor always reflected how miserable he had been due to the extreme summer of Central America. While there, he had not realized how his anxiousness to return home and discomfort of being there spoke louder than any words he used to teach Christ’s gospel. Never again did this missionary forget that actions speak louder than words! The Master understood this very well. Hence why he explained to us in His sermon on the mount that our lives must be as lamps that shine brightly in a city engulfed by darkness (Matthew 5:14-16). “Let your light so shine before men” are the words the missionary from our story had forgotten. They are the words the apostle Peter wisely shares with us following patience. The apostle, inspired by the Holy Spirit, advises that godliness must be applied after endurance. Continuing to teach us how we are to help others, his advice is that we are to lead by example. Being godly before men is allowing our reverent and devout love for our God to be noticed in us even before we open our mouths to speak. This is why our Lord is the best teacher there will ever be. He was not only patient with His disciples, but He “began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). Luke makes the important observation that our Master would first teach by example and then through explanation. The apostle Paul supports Luke’s observation by stating, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1st Corinthians 11:1). The fact that the apostle Paul points to Jesus as his example to follow further proves the apostle Peter’s logic of instructing us to be godly. In reviewing more closely the etymology of the word godliness, we clearly see Paul’s command to the Corinthians. The word godliness, is composed of God and likeness; therefore, in separating the word we see that being godly is being in the likeness of God. In other words, we are to imitate our God as He established from the moment we were created (Genesis 1:26-27). Peter’s instructions reveal that men must be able to see the likeness of God in our lives. They must be able to see God reflected in us. The apostle is presenting us with the lesson he received directly from the Master. He is explaining what letting our light shine before men means and it’s importance. The Greek word used by the apostle is eusebeia and is composed by two other Greek words. The first one is eu that in English means well, and the second word it is composed of is sebomai that means to be devout (Strong, 2095, 4576). Therefore, eusebeia in our tongue means piety (Strong, 2150). Peter is resonating the words of his Master by insisting that we are to be pious men and women for the Lord! The word piety is defined as “devotion to God: the quality or state of being pious” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Without a doubt, our God wants His children to be recognize by everyone as His. Because we are His children, we are to be distinguished from the rest of the world. Our piety must be ever present in everything we say, do, or approve. Being pious, as described by the dictionary, is being “deeply religious” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). This description of piety as a concept of being very deeply involved in God’s teachings are best seen in Moses when he returned from mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29-35). Moses’ devotion to Jehovah God was so rooted into his inner man, that it spilled over to his outer man. The fact that “the skin of his face shone” as a result from speaking with God about His commandments is similar to what Christ expected from His disciples who were in attendance at His sermon on the mount. Our devotion to the Master must shine brightly so that man may be able to tell the difference between the children of God and the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-10). We mentioned in our last article that the church of the first century was acknowledged because two bitter enemies were able to forbear one another and find peace amongst each other. However, it was their devotion to God that convinced the multitudes that this was the true church. Their pious actions toward God in the midst of a horrible persecution made the church powerful because it’s growth could not be stopped. The willingness of our brethren to lay their lives down for the doctrine of Christ and refusal to deny Him as Lord and Savior knowing it meant death is how their godliness shone brightly before men (Hebrews 11:35-40). Those pious men and women imitated the Master in His willingness to lay His life down so that His lamp would shine brighter than the sun before men and His Father be glorified for it (Hebrews 12:2-3). A “deeply religious man” is how man himself defines the word pious. We must never forget that to be godly has been intended for us from the very beginning because it was how we were created in His image and likeness. Some may even say that a pious man is a man of zeal; and they may be right. Acknowledging that having this zeal for God if not applied properly can be disastrous, the apostle feels obligated to remind us that our godliness is to be used to show men the path toward salvation. We are once again reminded that in these final stages we are no longer focusing on self command but rather governing others. Therefore, we are forewarned not to allow our godly nature to be tainted by a godless zeal (Romans 10:1-4). We are reminded by our God not to follow the cruel example of the Pharisees who considered themselves pious men, but had no compassion for their brother. In the world we live today, it is simple to see the deplorable consequences of fanatical devotion toward God lacking the kind nature toward our brother. Hence why the apostle instructs us what we must add to our godliness so that it may always shine bright for our God. To be continued…
