At the pinnacle of Peter’s Christian walk, he preached the sermon in the Upper Room that not only ushered in the Holy Ghost, but also pierced the hearts of 3000 listening souls and brought them to salvation. The portrait we have of Peter’s life includes both sides of the coin – his mistakes and his victories. The greatest victory of Peter’s life was a simple choice. No matter how many times he got it wrong or missed the mark, he never gave up.
Jesus asked Peter the question that bridged the time of the temple to the time of the church. “Who do you say I am?” Through the veil of fumbling flesh that failed him often, he pierced the atmosphere with his declaration, “Thou art the Christ.” No matter the humbling of soul that his flesh brought to him, Peter continually called upward for the Savior – “Thou art the Christ.”
Two thousand plus years later one could ask a thousand Jesus followers who Jesus is, and most would identify Him just as Peter did – “The Christ.” Our words may vary. “The hope of glory,” “Salvation,” “Messiah,” “King of Kings,” “Lord of Lords,” “Savior of the World,” are some of the things we might say. But the gyst is the same. “We know Him as the Christ.”
What if we were to ask a hundred individuals the same about Peter? Walk up to ten people at church and say, “Who do you say Peter is?” Some will say, “The disciple that walked on water.” Others will say, “He betrayed Jesus.”
We are confronted with this situation more than we realize. “Oh, you know so and so,” then we lean in and whisper, “the song leader who had an affair with….. “Oh, yeah! I know him!”
“You know that girl…..lean in…..the one who had an abortion.”
“…..that girl with the drug problem…….”
“…..that guy whose dad is an alcoholic…..”
“…..that guy whose dad lost their house to gambling…..”
“……. that cheater…….”
“…..that prostitute…..”
“…..that lesbian….”
One of Satan’s titles is “accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). We overcome him with our sword: “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1).” The Word admonishes us: “How can two walk together except they agree?” (Amos 3:3). When we define people by their thorns, we are speaking forth powerful proclamations into the spirit realm and fueling hell’s assault and condemnation over that person’s life. We agree with Satan instead of God and thus tighten the chain of bondage around that person’s throat without even realizing it.
Peter’s failure reminds me that Christians are often assaulted by Hell and fall in battle. Momentary failure is part of the walk – part of our training as foot soldiers for Christ. It humbles us. It moves us into a more desperate dependence on Christ. But a crushed spirit and a mind turned inward with self-loathing is Satan’s perverted version of God’s plan. Our victory is choosing to get back up and keep going onward with Christ.
If one were to have asked me ten years ago, “who do you say Peter is, I probably would’ve said, “betrayer of Christ”. But having been a betrayer with my actions many times, I now understand that Peter was so much more than the sum of his mistakes. Peter was the one of whom Christ said, “upon this rock I will build my church (Matt. 16:18).”
What if we only identified Peter by his mistakes? What a tragedy that would have been for the church! Without his failures pliable Peter would be pious Peter – a one hit plumb line of perfection with whom we could never relate. But Peter’s life – the mistakes and the mountain tops – provide for us a vivid portrait of God’s amazing grace. Each time I fall I see his outstretched hand and hear Jesus say, “My grace, child……. it’s sufficient,” and we journey on towards home.
Lord, help us to become a people who would not allow the shadows of people’s failures to blot out the greatness of their calling
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