Denying Christ
“Peter answered and said to Him,
‘Even though
all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.’
‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.’”
Matthew 26:33 & 35
Peter
is famous for his denial of Christ and often gets criticized as a result. Yes, he was impetuous. His insecurities seemed to be revealed by his
talking without thinking, and he may have had a chronic case of foot-in-mouth
disease.
To
be fair, while condemning Peter for his actions, one must also condemn the rest
of the disciples. Peter was not the only
disciple that night claiming allegiance to Christ to the point of death, “All
the disciples said the same thing too.” (Matthew 26:35). The brave assertions of allegiance by
the disciples vaporized when faced with a great multitude carrying swords and
clubs (Matthew
26:47). ALL the disciples fled (Matthew 26:56). By running away, the disciples
denied Jesus, any desire to be recognized as His followers, or as having been
associated with Him.
Historically
it is easy to criticize Peter, the individual.
Peter is a good example of how not to be when faced with the pressures
of being a Christian in a hostile environment.
While Peter is often singled out, the whole Truth is that he was not
alone in his denial.
Everyone
abandoned Jesus at the time of His arrest.
No one stood by His side, no one was willing to be identified with Him,
bearing the same consequences He faced.
That Truth broadens the application of this passage. It is easy for one to say, “I would never be
like Peter, I would never deny Jesus.”
It is more difficult to say, “I will not be like the rest of fallen
mankind.” It would be arrogant to say,
“I am better than the rest of mankind. I
would never deny Jesus.”
The
drive for self preservation can work against one’s witness. One will not easily volunteer to be placed in
the lion’s den, to step into a blazing furnace, to be ridiculed by one’s peers
for taking a stand for the disenfranchised, or jailed for teaching the
inerrant, unchanging Truth of the Scripture.
It is not easy to be a Bible-driven spiritual leader in the midst of a
culture antagonistic to the Truth of the Scripture. It is difficult to tell the Truth about
divorce, abortion, fornication, deceit and manipulation, independence, and servanthood
in a culture violently hostile to the Truth.
It is easier to “fudge”, to skirt around the hard issues, not preaching
the whole gospel, denying Christ.
Each
day, as a spiritual leader, you face spiritual challenges affording you the
opportunity of witness or denial. You do
not speak a witness in all of those challenging situations, sometimes you
flee. This is a part of your fallen
nature. As a spiritual leader, it is
vital for you to acknowledge your fallen nature and the times you fail to be the
witness Christ offers you to be. It is
important for those God has given you to address the fallen nature which will,
when threatened, at times deny Christ.
As
a spiritual leader, Truth is the most important filter to teach to those God
has given you. The Truth is each of us
is fallen. The natural response when
threatened is to self-protect, believing self preservation is our personal
responsibility. It is also True that in
Christ that natural response can be overcome.
Like every other sin, the sin of denial can be overcome as the Holy
Spirit transforms our mind to the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:16).
When a witness is given and denial is avoided, God, your Father, will
preserve and protect you even as He has His children in the past.
© Written by Dr. Richard L. Roberts, Director
of Life Focus Ministries.
