Introduction
Are you living like Jesus at work when your boss is difficult, your job feels unfair, and you’re tempted to disengage or quit? The central teaching of 1 Peter 2:11–25 is that as sojourners headed for heaven, we honor God on earth by doing good, even under harsh authority, because Christ suffered for us and calls us to follow His steps. Peter is helping us navigate the tension of being “dual citizens.” We belong to God and our true home is heaven, yet we live in a messy world with real authority structures: government, workplaces, households, and more. In this passage, Peter moves from the public sphere (citizens and rulers) into the daily grind of service and labor, where many of us feel the pressure most.
Main Points
Are you living like Jesus at work when your boss is difficult, your job feels unfair, and you’re tempted to disengage or quit? The central teaching of 1 Peter 2:11–25 is that as sojourners headed for heaven, we honor God on earth by doing good, even under harsh authority, because Christ suffered for us and calls us to follow His steps.
Peter is helping us navigate the tension of being “dual citizens.” We belong to God and our true home is heaven, yet we live in a messy world with real authority structures: government, workplaces, households, and more. In this passage, Peter moves from the public sphere (citizens and rulers) into the daily grind of service and labor, where many of us feel the pressure most.
Remember You’re A Sojourner With A Witness
Peter’s anchor for everything he’s about to say is this:
- “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and exiles… having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may… glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11–12).
I want you to hear the heart behind this: Peter isn’t giving you a playbook merely to survive a hard world; he’s giving you a way to live for redemption. Your honorable conduct is meant to be seen. God intends to use your daily faithfulness, especially when people misunderstand you, to point them toward Him.
So when work feels “small,” remember it is not spiritually insignificant. God uses ordinary service to display extraordinary grace.
Resist The World’s Quitting Spirit
We live in a moment where many workers feel disconnected and disillusioned. It shows up in modern patterns like:
- Quiet quitting (staying employed but emotionally and practically disengaging),
- Ghost quitting (stopping communication and disappearing),
- Rage quitting (burning bridges on the way out).
All of these are temptations toward a life that says, “I don’t care what anyone thinks; I’m done.” But Peter is shaping a different kind of Christian reflex. When pressure rises, we don’t abandon honor. We don’t use “I belong to heaven” as an excuse to treat earth lightly. We don’t become transient in our relationships and responsibilities.
As followers of Jesus, we’re called to endure with purpose, so that our lives testify to a better King.
Understand What Peter Means By “Servants”
This passage can raise hard questions because some translations use the word slave. Peter’s world included widespread slavery in the Roman Empire. But the term Peter uses here points to household servants, people serving under authority in a structured system (often with varied roles, responsibilities, and social standing).
Two important guardrails help us read this faithfully:
- This text is not a permission slip for oppression. If anyone uses Scripture like this as a “cloak for evil” (cf. 1 Pet. 2:16) to justify abuse, exploitation, or modern slavery, they are twisting God’s Word.
- The gospel is fundamentally liberating. God’s redemptive story repeatedly reveals His heart to set people free, seen in the Exodus (“Let my people go”) and fulfilled most deeply in Jesus, who breaks the real slavery of sin (cf. Rom. 3:23; the broader NT teaching on sin’s bondage).
Peter’s goal here is not to endorse injustice, but to teach a general principle: wherever God places you under authority, you can honor Him through submission that flows from faith.
Submit With Respect, Even Under Harsh Leadership
Peter’s direct instruction is clear:
- “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but also to the harsh” (1 Pet. 2:18).
That phrase “with all fear” is not a call to terror; it’s a call to respect and honor, recognizing that our ultimate submission is “unto the Lord.” Just like with government last week (1 Pet. 2:13–17), Peter teaches us that we don’t have to love every decision to still be faithful, hardworking, and respectful.
This is where discipleship becomes painfully practical:
- If you follow Jesus, you show up on time.
- If you follow Jesus, you refuse to build community through workplace gossip.
- If you follow Jesus, you work with integrity even when no one is watching (especially in a remote-work world).
- If you follow Jesus, you learn how to speak respectfully even when correcting what’s wrong.
God intends Christians to be the kind of workers and teammates that others genuinely want around, people whose presence quietly lifts the environment rather than poisons it.
Embrace The Reality Of Suffering Wrongly
Peter goes further:
- “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully” (1 Pet. 2:19).
Let this recalibrate your expectations: there is such a thing as suffering that is not your fault. The Christian life is not a promise of smooth roads. Any message that implies, “If you trust Jesus enough, you won’t suffer,” is not just mistaken, it runs against the grain of this text and the gospel itself.
Sometimes you will do good and still be misunderstood. Sometimes you will obey and still be criticized. Sometimes you will endure injustice because you belong to Christ.
And Peter says: God sees that. It is “commendable” before Him. Your endurance is not wasted when it is offered to God with a clean conscience.
Own Your Faults And Grow In Maturity
Peter adds an important clarification:
- “For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?” (1 Pet. 2:20).
In other words: if you suffer because you were lazy, careless, dishonest, or harsh, there’s no spiritual badge for simply “taking it.” Sometimes what we call persecution is actually correction for immaturity.
This is where I want to pastor you gently: let’s be humble enough to ask, “Is this hardship happening because I did wrong?” When the answer is yes, repentance is the path forward, not self-pity.
Peter is training us to discern the difference between:
- consequences for our sin and folly, and
- suffering that comes from doing good.
Follow The Steps Of The Suffering Christ
The deepest reason we can live this way is not personality, grit, or a strong work ethic. It’s Jesus:
- “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).
Christian submission and endurance are not rooted in passivity; they are rooted in Christlikeness. Jesus is the ultimate Servant. He suffered unjustly, not because He deserved it, but to redeem. When I endure hardship at work with a conscience toward God, I am walking a road Jesus has already walked, and my life begins to echo His.
This doesn’t mean we never pursue change, report wrongdoing, or seek wise help. It does mean that whatever we do, we refuse to abandon honor. We refuse to return evil for evil. We keep our eyes on Christ and trust God with our vindication.
Conclusion
You are a sojourner, headed home to heaven, yet sent to represent Jesus on earth. Peter calls you to honorable conduct in the workplace, not only when leadership is good and gentle, but even when it is harsh. Some suffering is your own fault and should lead you to repentance and growth. But when you do good and still suffer, God calls that “commendable,” and Christ Himself becomes your example and your hope.
So I want you to think about your workplace this week as a mission field for visible honor. Not to earn salvation, but because you’ve been called, because Christ suffered for you, and because God intends your steady faithfulness to display His glory.
Father in heaven, thank You for calling us Your beloved even while we live as sojourners and exiles. Help us abstain from the desires that war against our souls, and strengthen us to keep our conduct honorable before those who do not yet know You. Forgive us for the times we’ve disengaged, complained, or dishonored authority over us. Give us humility to own our faults, and give us endurance when we suffer wrongfully. Fix our eyes on Jesus, the Suffering Servant, who left us an example to follow in His steps. Fill us with Your Spirit so we can work with integrity, speak with respect, and live with hope, until the day of Your visitation. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
You are a sojourner, headed home to heaven, yet sent to represent Jesus on earth. Peter calls you to honorable conduct in the workplace, not only when leadership is good and gentle, but even when it is harsh. Some suffering is your own fault and should lead you to repentance and growth. But when you do good and still suffer, God calls that “commendable,” and Christ Himself becomes your example and your hope.
So I want you to think about your workplace this week as a mission field for visible honor. Not to earn salvation, but because you’ve been called, because Christ suffered for you, and because God intends your steady faithfulness to display His glory.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, thank You for calling us Your beloved even while we live as sojourners and exiles. Help us abstain from the desires that war against our souls, and strengthen us to keep our conduct honorable before those who do not yet know You. Forgive us for the times we’ve disengaged, complained, or dishonored authority over us. Give us humility to own our faults, and give us endurance when we suffer wrongfully. Fix our eyes on Jesus, the Suffering Servant, who left us an example to follow in His steps. Fill us with Your Spirit so we can work with integrity, speak with respect, and live with hope, until the day of Your visitation. In Jesus’ name, amen.