Principled Peter

Acts 4:5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

I remember a book back in the ‘60’s explaining the concept of ‘The Peter Principle.’ (I have no idea if the name somehow sprung from the apostle Peter.) Here is an explanation of the principle:

In business organizations, this theory states that any ambitious person will continue to rise within an organizational structure until they arrive at the position at which they are least effective. Amazing, and unfortunately, true. How often we see those who are great at everything along the way suddenly prove to be completely horrible at say…management. Completely ill-equipped. The whole organization suffers by the rise of many into positions of ineffectiveness.

It makes you wonder about the financial crisis our country (and the world) finds itself in at the present time. Perhaps some of those top-level finance & banking guys have risen higher than their ability affords? Perhaps some are in oversight in legislative branches that are over-matched intellectually? Is the ‘Peter Principle’ in play here?

The apostle Peter had been somewhat of an example of this ‘promotion-to-failure’ principle with his own life – and so perhaps the originator of the ‘Peter Principle’ concept was thinking of Peter as he wrote the book. But there was a dramatic turn in the life of the apostle Peter which completely belied the principle of promotion-to-failure, which we can use as a powerful example in our lives. Suddenly, and I might add, supernaturally, Peter went from being a fearful wimp in dread for his life, denying association with Jesus even to a slave girl – to a bold witness for Christ, at great risk of his life, even before the leading members of the Sanhedrin. The answer is Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you need power over ineffectiveness in your life? The answer is the same: Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Filled with the Spirit of God, Peter became a principled man who backed down from nothing.

- Pastor Bill