“Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
that when they speak against you as evildoers
“That” – in what thing. The very thing in which the world speaks evil of the Christian.
“Speak against” means to speak down. They love to run down the reputation of Christians. They are in the business of adversely criticizing Christians. The testimony of Christians makes them feel guilty. This happened in Christ’s life, as well.
“As evildoers” – they seek to discredit the testimony of Christians. When God comes to scrutinize our conduct, this will give rise to the glory of God. He will make known the real truth about our lives.
This is unjust slander. Christians of the first century were accused of disloyalty to the government because of their loyalty to King Jesus. The Roman government viewed their testimonies with a dim outlook.
PRINCIPLE:
Non-Christians are inveterate enemies of Christians with a positive testimony.
APPLICATION:
Slander is an occupational hazard of the child of God. If our lives are different because we have come to Christ, we will stand out as a speckled bird.
Non-Christians love to downgrade Christians. They do not want anyone to put confidence in you. They do not want someone with a testimony to get ahead and hold credibility before others. They will say anything to slur you, belittle you. They love to degrade you in the opinion of others who make take notice of your life. This is especially true in the media.
Slander will try your soul. The natural reaction is to fight back and vindicate yourself. You want to stick up for your rights. We will lose our testimony and blow our platform to speak to others if we do. Our testimony is more important than justifying ourselves. We do not have to get our own way all of the time. This may cost us something. Our testimony is worth it. Yet we can blow it so quickly.
