Pastor's Circle - Sam Shaw

Sam Shaw is the lead pastor of The Orchard Fellowship, located in Memphis, TN. He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss his sermon yesterday, on 1 Peter 3:1 - 7. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Does this method of evangelism work for wives?

Sometimes. And that text says they may be one. There is no guarantee, but there is the possibility.

The passage talks about Sarah, whose hope was in God. Because of that, and the peace in her spirit, she was able to follow her husband.

The root system that fed the action of submission was hope in God.

It sounds strange. And as I read this text, I could feel the filters going up.

In the Trinity, Jesus submits to the Father. There's tremendous power in submission. There's a transforming power in peaceful submission.

If you're a follower of Christ, and a husband, you're called to follow the example of Christ in laying down his life.You're going to feel the compulsion to die to what you want.

If you're a wife, you want to follow the example of Christ in submitting to the Father.

What is all this about adornment?

He's talking about the kind of spirit and attitude that you have. Your hope is not in anything but God.

This thing about adornment, he's not saying don't take care of your appearance. He's saying it's a matter of focus. Am I going to focus on what other people see? Or are am I going to focus on what God sees?

Is this about mutual submission?

I think the way it works out certainly is. Submission for the wife is an attitude of helping the husband to be what he needs to be.

Both husband and wife in the Scriptures are meant to lift up and honor each other.