Above the Fray

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

Amidst the call to prepare themselves to suffer for Christ, be sober, and pray, Peter tells scattered believers to practice “fervent charity.” By that he simply means continual love for one another.

There’s too much trouble to comprehend going on in the world right now. It’s more natural in battle to have our eyes on the conflict and combatants than on those right in front of us. It’s more natural to feel tense and be inwardly focused. But those right in front of us need to be shown real acts of kindness, they need to be sacrificially loved. The Bible says that fervent charity covers a multitude of sins.

What does that look like? One of my favorite Bible teachers, Warren Weirsbe, puts it this way in The Bible Exposition Commentary:

“Christian love is forgiving. Peter quoted from Proverbs 10:12—“Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” This verse is alluded to in James 5:20 and 1 Corinthians 13:4 and 7. Love does not condone sin; for, if we love somebody, we will be grieved to see him sin and hurt himself and others. Rather, love covers sin in that love motivates us to hide the sin from others and not spread it abroad. Where there is hatred, there is malice; and malice causes a person to want to tear down the reputation of his enemy. This leads to gossip and slander (Prov. 11:13; 17:9; see 1 Peter 2:1). Sometimes we try to make our gossip sound “spiritual” by telling people things “so they might pray more intelligently.”
No one can hide his sins from God, but believers ought to try, in love, to cover each other’s sins at least from the eyes of the unsaved. After all, if the unsaved crowd finds ammunition for persecuting us because of our good words and works (1 Peter 2:19–20; 3:14), what would they do if they knew the bad things that Christians say and do!”

Before Peter wrote to the need to express continual love he also declared that the end of all things was at hand. It was right then and right today, albeit much closer. Jesus is coming soon, and feeling the late hour as we do, let us stay above the fray and love people that need to see Jesus.

-Pastor C.