“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17)

In going back over my blog posts, I notice that I write a lot about respect, a.k.a. “honor”.  There are many reasons for this.  For one thing, we live in a very disrespectful society these days, and I’m trying to swim up current .  For another thing, I think that respect or honor is very important.  But I will tell you the main reason why I write so much about respect and honor: I struggle with it—a lot.

I suppose that I struggle with it in many ways and with many people.  Struggles are like icebergs: Most of them are submerged and hidden.  You only see how big they are when you hit them.

However, while I’m not sure of the depth of my disrespect problem, I can tell you that there are several politicians that I know I have a really difficult time honoring.  There is one other person (not a politician) whom I struggle to respect.

At this point, I can almost hear you recite, dear reader, the common maxim, “Respect is not given.  It has to be earned.”  However, I believe, as a would-be Christ-follower, I am called to honor/respect everyone, as 1 Peter 2:17 says.  But, unfortunately, I act as if I believed the common maxim, rather than believing 1 Peter 2:17.  So, what do I really believe, if I don’t act on the basis of what I think God’s will is for me?

I would love to wiggle out of the “all” in 1 Peter 2:17, but I suspect that, by using the Greek word pan (“all”), Peter really meant all.  It is tempting to try to do an end run around the command to honor all men, by saying that this actually means “all kinds of people.”  However, does this really take me off the hook?  I don’t think so.  After all, all kinds of people would, I think, include all people.  Yes?

I mentioned earlier in this post that there is one other person who is not a politician whom I struggle to respect.  The problem with not respecting or honoring this person is that I am very close to this person.  Very close.  In fact, I am that person.  I never quite come up to my lofty expectations.  In fact, sometimes I don’t even come close.  So, self-respect is an ongoing battle.

And yet, I suspect that the word “all” even embraces me.

But I hear someone protest, “But isn’t there some validity in the idea that respect should be earned?”  Perhaps, but I doubt it.

However, there is another idea that sounds roughly similar, although I think there is a huge chasm that separates the true from the false.  The truth, at least as I see, it this: Those who are given respect whether they’ve earned it or not, need to live in such a way as to live worthily of the gift of respect.  I also suspect that those who are given this gift are also better positioned to live a worthy life.

My wife is giving me some cooking lessons.  (Please pray for her—and for me!)  In many arenas of life, the order of two things doesn’t matter.  I don’t know much about cooking yet, but I am learning.  One of the things I’ve learned is that, in some cases, the order in which ingredients are put into a concoction matters profoundly.  If I, or anyone, puts the ingredients into whatever we’re making in the wrong order, things do not go well.  Either the ingredients do not mix well, or they do not cook properly.

Of course, in the case of cooking, a ruined dish isn’t the end of the world.  It may, in fact, be a valuable lesson.  However, if a surgeon begins cutting on his patient before she has created a sterile field, things may not end well for the patient—or for the surgeon.

In the case of respect-as-a-gift and respect-as-a-challenge-to-live-worthily, I think the order matters supremely, as it does with a surgeon.  It is the people who have given me the gift of respect, who have also invited to live worthily.  I may or may not respond positively to the invitation, but it is important that I have received the invitation.  Furthermore, when I am given the gift of respect I often also find the motivation to live a worthwhile live.  I suspect that this is generally true.

Consider yourself, myself, and all selves as having been invited to this respect party!

R.S.V.P.