[First Things]

Faithful Presence is looking for two interns for the summer. Please reach out to us if you are aware of someone who might fit well.

Many of you are enjoying spring break with friends and family. This is also Holy Week! Wherever you are, please make plans to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus with other Christians at a local church.

Please let us know if you are interested in joining an in-person Washington discipleship cohort or reading group, have a pastoral concern, or are interested in our resources for churches.

[The Devo] Marriage as a Proclamation of the Gospel

​​3 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, ² when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ³ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 

⁷ Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.  1 Peter 3:1–7

A word about singleness

It is to the shame of the church that so little attention is given to singleness. Peter, the author of this letter, was married, but the Apostle Paul was not. We do not have adequate information about the rest of the apostles to make statements about their marital status. However, we do have Paul’s thoughts about the benefits of singleness, 

⁸ To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. ⁹ But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 

³² I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. ³³ But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:6-7, 32–35.

In our present culture, singleness is often seen as a means of freedom from entanglements that allows the individual to pursue their own goals and pleasures. Contrary to the world’s misrepresentation and misappropriation of singleness, Christian singleness is intended not for personal autonomy but for a more focused participation in Christ’s mission of making all things new.  Throughout history, God has used singleness (both intentional and undesired) to offer foretastes of the coming kingdom through such individuals as John Stott, Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Amy Carmichael, Henri Nouwen, and Lottie Moon. Both singleness and, as we are about to see, marriage, are susceptible to the disharmony, distortion, and disruption caused by sin.  In this passage, however, Peter’s interest is in the unique aspect of marriage as it relates to the Aristotelian grounded Greco-Roman understanding of power-differentials and their relationship to the flourishing of a society. 

Peter’s Recalibration of Christian Marriage

The previous lesson stated that despite attempts to redefine marriage, society can only misrepresent and misappropriate marriage as simply a legal contract or a financial arrangement, or even as a relationship based solely on feeling in love with the person you are chasing at a particular moment. Christians are called to define marriage as God does: a covenantal union that models the relationship between Christ and his Church. In God’s economy, marriage plays a twofold role for the believer. First, it is a covenantal union created as a proclamation of the gospel of steadfast love and faithfulness even amid great difficulty, suffering, and weakness. Second, it is also a covenantal union in which to experience the transformation into disciples of Christ through the power of the gospel. By recalibrating this section of the Greco-Roman house table, Peter intends to propose that marriage is integral to the flourishing of society, not despite its Christian heritage but because of it. 

In referring to marriage as a covenantal union, we are using the language that God uses with his chosen people, now known as the Church. The language of covenant is used throughout the Old Testament to speak of God’s relationship with his people. Genesis 15 records the one-sided covenant ceremony between the LORD and Abraham. In Exodus 24, we are given a picture of the covenant renewal ceremony between the LORD and his freshly redeemed people. But more importantly, the book of Hosea makes clear that the LORD’s gracious covenant with mankind began back in the Garden,

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. Hosea 6:6-7

Marriage as a Proclamation of the Gospel

Marriage is intended as a live-action presentation of the gospel. It is the gospel proclaimed through a covenantal union of steadfast love and faithfulness even in great difficulty, suffering, and weakness. 

God takes marriage very seriously. Even the most difficult marriages. In the difficult story of the Prophet Hosea, he is asked by the LORD to marry a prostitute named Gomer to visually depict both the unfaithfulness of Israel and the faithfulness of God in the face of their infidelity. This story is a call to examine our position before God and to grasp the magnitude of his grace towards us. In the story, we are intended to see ourselves in both characters. Our primary identification is with Gomer, who has done nothing to either merit the offer of marriage or the continuation of marriage. We can identify with Hosea only as a reluctant servant of God, called to show steadfast love and mercy to someone who, by any measure, does not deserve it. Through this incredibly broken marriage, we see God pursuing steadfast covenant love and faithfulness through which he seeks to bring the wayward back into Covenant relationship. 

Proclaiming the Gospel through Word and Deed 

Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, ² when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ³ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.

It is critical to notice the heart response Peter is seeking. “Be subject” is the same phrase he has used to instruct believers regarding their relationship with unjust emperors and unjust masters. If Peter is using house tables to place a road map of practice and obedience before Christians on the weak end of a power differential with non-Christians, then his words come into clearer focus and lose at least an aspect of their current cultural dissonance. 

Perhaps the new converts were thinking that since they are a new creation, this entitles them to utilize the somewhat liberal divorce laws to leave their spouse because they are not a Christian. Perhaps the newly married female convert is thinking, “Well, maybe I have to stay married, but I can certainly ignore, disrespect, and perhaps even humiliate my husband since he’s just a pagan.” Peter uses their new identities not as an encouragement to leave or mistreat a spouse, but to love them.  

An important note that will be repeated in the next lesson. What this does not mean, ever, is that a woman should stay with an abusive husband. In those situations, the wife is well within her rights to manifest publicly what the abusive husband has already done before God - abandon the covenant. Further, it is the church’s primary job to protect the woman, to ensure her and any children’s safety,  and to facilitate their legal separation, not to oppose it. 

Peter sees the attitudes and actions of the wives within the marriage as a word and deed proclamation of the gospel to their husbands. They should not take their conversion as an opportunity to abandon or publicly shame their husband, even if he isn’t the best husband out there. Doing that calls for imitating Christ, who humbled himself to unjust authorities, even to the point of dying to fulfill God’s promise to redeem his sinful and unfaithful people. 

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

To the recently converted husband, Peter is instructing them not to force conversion to Christianity upon her. Further, Peter is exploding a common misunderstanding of a man’s role in marriage that comes from a misreading of Genesis 3:16: “Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.”  The curse is communicating that the woman will desire to dispose him of his covenantal role (more on this in the next lesson), and, in response, the husband will dominantly rule over the wife. As Peter says, they are “joint heirs with you of the grace of life.” 

Circling back to those servants and leaders in the public square who are single, the teaching here is quite applicable given the nature of distractions and career commitments typical of Washington. The Bible instructs us not to yoke ourselves to non-Christians because it often hinders our relationship with God, and also because it is often much harder than a marriage in which both participants are Christians.  We are called to evangelize those in the world, but we should not place ourselves in a position of trying to evangelize our spouse to check a box on our bucket list of life goals. 

If you are in a marriage where your spouse is not a Christian, or even perhaps a weak Christian, take this to heart: through your faithful presence on the weak or unwanted side of a power differential, God intends to use your steadfast love and faithfulness as a proclamation of the gospel to unbelievers. 

If you are both equally yoked, then you have an opportunity to give proper meaning to the designation of “Washington Power-Couple.” Not as a couple networking for influence and further advancing their careers, but as a couple whose marriage is a proclamation of the gospel to everyone inside and outside the public square. In our next lesson, we will address how marriage exists as a means of transformation through the gospel. 

Application questions

How does seeing this passage as primarily addressing those in marriage relationships with non-Christians reshape your understanding of Peter’s instruction?

If you are married, how is God calling you to proclaim the gospel through your relationship with your spouse? What is your assessment of how non-Christians view your marriage in contrast to marriages between two unbelievers? 

In this place in the study, what questions or concerns do you have regarding the teaching of this passage?

Share Faithful Presence

[Faithful Prayer] 

• Cabinet Agency: The servants and leaders at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as they promote the integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets through sound regulation. 

• Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The Atlantic Council, as they provide an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century, including crypto-currency and stablecoin, by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders.

•  Weekly delegation: The servants and leaders of the congressional delegation of the state of Hawaii.

• Agency News: Pray for the servants and leaders at the SEC who are in the process of hosting four more roundtables in its ongoing series discussing crypto asset regulation. Also, pray for those trying to negotiate the accountability overlap (“turf war”) between the SEC and CFTC on cryptocurrency. 

• Personal requests: An agency official requests prayer for focus as they are being pulled in many directions. A Congressman requests prayer for their staff during the coming weeks and depolarization within local churches. For a senior staff official working on crypto policy. A married couple both serving in Washington ask for prayer to enjoy Holy Week amid the daily complexities and busyness of their work. Another couple asks for prayer during a family spring break trip. An agency official asks for prayer on a forthcoming book. Someone asks for prayer as they consider a run for office.

[The Page, The Pod & The Stack]

• → Read this first → Outreach Magazine has a must-read Easter-related interview with Rev. Dr. Tim Keller from April 2021, Timothy Keller: Becoming Stewards of Hope—Part 1, in which he explains (in Kelleresque fashion) the necessity of grappling with the resurrection, especially when you have stage-four pancreatic cancer.

• → Listen to this first → Mockingbird has an Easter-related conference lecture delivered by Rev. Dr. Fleming Rutledge, author of The Crucifixion: The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, entitled The Raising of the Crucified One.

• Christianity Today has Rev. Dr. Russell Moore’s recent essay on “How Christians Embrace Nihilism,” in which he argues that “The church’s current temptation is a Christology empty of Jesus and a biblical authority void of the Word.”

• Religion & Liberty has a sound and timely piece, There Is No ‘Just Tariff.’ In the essay, David Herbert (Ph.D., George Mason) walks the reader through the history, use, and development of tariffs as an instrument of justice.  

• The Gospel Coalition has Collin Hansen’s assessment on the news of a once-prominent evangelical seminary’s recently announced sale and move to Canada, which raises questions about the nature and future of American seminary graduates. Midwife to a Movement: The Legacy of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

[What’s Happening?]

Due to multiple requests, this section now reflects events for This Week and Next Week

This Week

• Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET, The Urban Institute is hosting an online event, Using the Mobility Metrics: A Data-Driven Workshop for Local Leaders, featuring experts from the Urban Institute's Upward Mobility Initiative. This session provides a deeper dive into the practical application of the Mobility Metrics and how they can be used to drive positive change within communities.

• Thursday, April 17, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET, Cato is hosting a hybrid event, Civic Solitude: Why Democracy Needs Distance, with philosopher Robert Talisse to discuss how polarization threatens American democracy, is deeply pervading politics, schools, and everyday life, and offers a provocative solution - civic solitude. 

• Friday is Good Friday

• Sunday is Easter - He is Risen, indeed!

Next Week

• Tuesday, April 22, 10:00 - 11:30 am ET, Brookings will host Strengthening global economic cooperation for a changing world: The unique role of the G20. Taking place on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings, a diverse panel of experts will examine how the G20 can adapt to new challenges, strengthen its role in global governance, and promote inclusive and sustainable global growth and shared prosperity.  

• Wednesday, April 23, 12:30 - 1:45 pm ET, The American Enterprise Institute will host a hybrid event, Is American Civic Culture the Source of Our Challenges?, with Yuval Levin and Christine Rosen.

• Wednesday, Apr 23, 2:00 - 3:00 pm ET, the Aspen Institute’s Law and Public Policy Center will host an online event, Getting a Job in Policy. During the event, their staff will cover the key steps to finding career opportunities and making a good first impression during the hiring process.

• Friday, April 25 - Sunday, April 27, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, the annual and ever-popular Georgetown French Market brings over 7,500 attendees to the charming Book Hill neighborhood of Georgetown as it’s transformed into a Parisian-inspired open-air market.

[Two Thumbs Up] Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the 383-minute epic originally aired in the United States as a four-part miniseries. The film itself was suggested by Pope Paul VI, who also encouraged Zeffirelli as a director and later praised the film during a Palm Sunday Mass. Despite several creative liberties, including the addition of a minor character named Zerah who persuades Judas to betray Jesus, and some omissions (see John 21:25), the film is largely faithful to the Biblical narrative. Due to the cultural context of the time, the G-rated film quotes large portions of Scripture directly as part of the script. 

In addition to the excellent script and on-location filming, the cast includes eight Academy Award-winning actors, including Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, James Earl Jones, and Peter Ustinov. All of that results in the film boasting a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94% (Certified Fresh) and an IMDb score of 8.5. 

Due to its episodic nature, this epic movie is an excellent way to move through Holy Week with the narrative of the true story of the God of steadfast love and faithfulness reconciling the world to himself through the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth. Reading through the comments and reviews reveals this film was the evangelistic call of salvation to many. 

The film is available on YouTube, Prime Video, and many other streaming outlets.

[Last Things]

If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with a friend. If you want to join a Bible study, discipleship cohort, or reading group, please get in touch!

Faithful Presence exists to provide whole-life discipleship in the whole of life for the whole of the public square. Join us as we seek renewal in politics and the public square by becoming a Supporting Partner.

Find Us On: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Apple & Spotify