Kenyan Terrorist Attack, the Apostle Peter, & Humility

The Friday feature of the Worldly Saints blog is a reflection on a recent event or topic and a new feature of this blog for Fridays. The topic could be something taken from the news cycle, popular trend in culture (e.g., movies, music, etc.), a debate on social media, or the like.

Yesterday, 147 people were killed at a Kenyan university before dawn. It is the highest death toll since 1998 bombing at the U.S. embassy that killed 200 people. The terrorists moved around asking people if they were Christians and if the answer of “yes” was given, they were shot.

Here’s a straight-forward question: if someone asked you to deny Christ, would you? If an African Muslim walked into your school or tent, as many did yesterday, and asked if you were a Christian with a gun pointed to your head, what would you say? Would you deny that you knew Christ? Would you accept your fate of death and say, “Yes.”

I think many of this blog’s readers – including myself – would boldly say, “You bet I would say I know Jesus.” When news first broken yesterday about the Kenyan Christians killed for simply professing the name of Christ, I got to thinking, “I would do the same.”

And then, this morning I thought about the Apostle Peter. He was graciously given more chances than the Kenyan Christians. The martyrs from yesterday’s massacre were given one chance; Peter was given three chances and he still denied Christ! He was warned by Jesus and counseled to pray and he still denied Jesus! These Kenyan Christians had no warning and they proudly professed Christ with the promise of imminent death!

What happened there? Why did Peter give in so easily or quickly? I heard someone say, “The greater potential someone has to be used by God, the greater potential he has to be used by Satan.” That seems to sum up what happened with Peter. D.A. Carson wrote about Peter’s sincere pledge to now betray Jesus (John 13:36-38),

“Safely, good intentions in a secure room after good food are far less attractive in a darkened garden with a hostile mob. At this point in his pilgrimage, Peter’s intentions and self-assessment vastly outstrip his strength. And so Jesus utters the fateful prediction: “I tell you the truth, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times.””

So what happened with Peter? Was his pledge sincere? I believe it was.

What happened was simple: when the temptation came to deny Christ, he denied Christ because he trusted in himself. He thought he was stronger than he really was. He thought to himself, “I can handle it.” He thought highly of himself. He was overconfident.

Peter is not the only example of overconfidence we have in the Bible. He is not the only one who might have denied Christ yesterday when relying on his own strength.

• Aaron thought he could handle the Hebrews in the wilderness while Moses was atop Mt. Sinai. Instead, he gave in to the people’s request for something to worship and he led them in the erection of a golden calf for the purpose of worship.

• David thought he could handle being in his palace all alone while his army was off to war. He thought he could handle the gazing at a woman bathing upon her roof. Instead, he gave into his sexual lusts and began a series of sins beginning with idolatry and then leading to lying, murder, adultery, blasphemy, etc.

• Even Solomon thought he could handle the pagan religions of his many wives. Instead he compromised his faith by erecting temples for those false gods.

The flesh is much sneakier than we all realize. As soon as we experience a moment of weakness and our defense is down, the darts have already been shot.

Peter clothed himself with himself. Peter learned his lesson and he gave us counsel from his own Letter. Peter matured. He grew and he tells us not to trust in ourselves but to clothe ourselves with humility (I Pet 5:5).