1 Peter 2:13-17: a reflection

13Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme, 14or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. 15For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Peter compresses a whole ethic of relationships into one packed verse: honor everyone; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the king. Four short commands, and it is worth weighing each. But start with the first and widest: honor everyone. Not just the important, the impressive, the ones who can do something for you, but everyone. Every person is to be treated with honor, given the dignity that belongs to a human being made in God's image.

Notice how radical and how leveling that is. We naturally honor some people, the influential, the useful, the admired, and quietly disregard others, the lowly, the servant, the person who can offer us nothing. Peter cuts across that: honor everyone. And he places it alongside a special love for fellow believers, and above all, the fear of God, the reverence that belongs to him alone. Even honoring the king, the highest human authority, sits under fearing God; earthly authorities get honor, but God alone gets fear.

There is a whole way of moving through the world in this small verse. Treat every person you meet, from the greatest to the least, with genuine honor. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ with a special affection. And keep the order straight: fear God above all, and give even the highest human authority only honor, not the reverence that is God's. Live today by Peter's rule: honor everyone, love the family of faith, fear God, and honor those in authority, each in its proper place.

Lord, teach me Peter's rule: to honor everyone, from the greatest to the least, treating every person with the dignity of one made in your image, not just those who are useful to me. Help me love my brothers and sisters in Christ, honor those in authority, and above all fear you, giving to you alone the reverence that is yours.