The Well Palmdale, CA

On Sunday I promised a little bit more info on the sermon text from 1 Peter 3:1-9. Well, I know that the blog has been a lot more of story telling and random musings, but for the sake of telling a story I'll give you a little bit more background on the passage from 1 Peter. As you remember, Peter wrote this letter to a number of new believers. Almost all of them grew up in a home that didn't know Christ. A common occurance was that one spouse would be Christian and the other would not be. In this region that Peter was writing to, there were many women who were converted, but their husbands still did not believe. That is why he stresses this idea of winning over your spouse with a Godly life. It means that your spouse cannot be converted by guilting them or brow beating them to come to worship or a church function. It happens through patient and faithful witness. I didn't bring this up because I felt that we only had enough time to focus on what Peter is teaching us about marriage in general. There was a story that I really wanted to share with you, but, instead, I'll share it with you here.

There was a man who lived during the 4th century named Augustine (think St. Augustine, Florida...it was named after him). He was a very wise man, well educated, a philosopher, and even a professor of rhetoric (think debate and public speaking). He grew up in a small town in present day Algeria (North Africa) where he studied rhetoric and philosphy. He was such a brilliant kid that his parents (with the financial help of a friend) sent him off to Carthage, Rome, and eventually Milan to study at the universities there. It was during that time that he was converted to Christianity and in his book "Confessions" he writes about his conversion. In one section he talks a lot about his mother, Monica. He recalls here faithfulness to her family, her husband, and to Christ. Monica really embodies the godly woman that Peter talks about in his letter. She was patient and supported her husband though it tore her apart that he didn't have faith and that he didn't want his children baptized. Eventually through the witness of his mother and the influence of one of his rhetoric mentors, Ambrose, Augustine was eventually baptized. He spent the next few years diving into the writings of other great Christian thinkers and eventually devoting his life to the church and he became the Bishop of a region not far from his home in Algeria.

In His book "Confessions" he writes about how his mother was committed to her husband even though he didn't have faith and didn't follow Christ. Through her witness, Augustine's dad was eventually baptized before he died. Augustine recalls her servant heart and her committment to sharing the gospel with a love that only a wife and mother can give.

I know that many of you are in a relationship where one of you has faith and the other doesn't. Maybe you're married...maybe you're just dating. The thing to remember is that whether you are a guy or girl...our witness matters. We still need to follow Christ in our relationships, and that can produce the best witness of all. This is really nothing new. The struggle of who to date and marry has been around forever. I would hope that you would all seek the one who God is calling you to, but also one who can encourage you in your faith...but I also know that we end up in relationships with people who have drastically different views of God than we do. I think God shows us something in this story of Augustine and his mom, Monica. He shows us the power of our love and witness...especially when it's directed towards our spouse. I pray that God uses you as His light in your relationshiop.

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