True Beauty and Evangelism

There is a type of evangelism that is not accomplished through preaching or teaching and that is evangelism that is accomplished through living the right kind of life.

1 Peter 3:1-6 teaches that concept. Husbands can be converted to Christ purely by observing the behavior of their wives. Obviously Bible study enters in at some point but I think the Apostle Peter is teaching that wives don’t need to harangue their husbands constantly with Bible teaching, etc but should just live their lives according to God’s instructions and let God do the rest of the work.

Let’s look at the text. First of all wives need to be submissive to their husbands. That doesn’t mean to never render an opinion or never to give advice but to respect her husbands headship in the family.

I’ve said before that many wives are smarter than their husbands. Many wives are more emotionally stable than their husbands and many wives make better decisions than their husbands. However, the really smart wife will not self promote herself to her husband but will in humility help her husband develop in his role of being head of the family.

Additionally, according to the text, a husband needs to observe purity and reverence in their wives. A husband may want his wife to engage in sexually improper activities. The pure wife respects her husbands headship but refuses to do anything that would stain her purity and ultimately stain her husband’s purity because the two are… one flesh. What stains one also stains the other.

A wife needs to have a “gentle and quiet spirit”. Especially when dealing with an angry husband a “gentle and quiet spirit” is a great weapon. Too often when both parties become angry the anger escalates and improper things happen… words spoken that can never be forgotten and physical abuse. Whether you’re a man or a woman the smart person doesn’t get sucked into a vicious cycle of anger that is only inspired by Satan.

The text says that a woman with a “gentle and quiet spirit” has a true beauty that never fades or diminishes… rather it grows and becomes more beautiful and everyone can see it. Consider the opposite… a woman with a “contentious and angry spirit” just grows uglier and uglier.

Obviously this type of evangelism doesn’t have instant or quick results but is an investment in time and in God. This type of evangelism is practiced by men and women and I suppose women are primarily being addressed here to give them hope and assurance.

God doesn’t tell lies and this is a recipe that will work. Trust God.