The Surprising Sin
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: Why does Peter place meddling alongside murder and theft in 1 Peter 4:15? This article examines the meaning of biblical meddling, distinguishes it from loving correction, and encourages Christians to avoid busybody behavior while pursuing a quiet, Christ-honoring life.
Consider this verse from 1 Peter 4:15,
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;
I love the list. Think about the fact that meddler is in the same category as murderer!
The Greek word for meddler is allotriepiskopos and it means busybody (KJV, NKJV), meddler (REB, NIV, NASB, ASV), one who infringes on the rights of others (NEB), intriguer (NAB), informer (NJB), mischief maker (RSV, NRSV), formally, one who oversees what belongs to another (1Pe 4:15+).
Definitions above are from Swanson, J. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek.
The word appears nowhere else in the New Testament. It seems to mean not prying into the affairs of others. The verse at 1 Timothy 5:13 is a parallel, where idle women are warned not to become busybodies.
The point of the passage is that Christians suffer enough for the sake of the Gospel. There is no need to bring on suffering ourselves, which the list of sins in the verse implies will happen if we do those sins. Meddling is one of these.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary advises,
“That they should take care they did not suffer justly, as evil-doers, v. 15. One would think such a caution as this needless to such an excellent set of Christians as these were. But their enemies charged them with these and other foul crimes: therefore the apostle, when he was settling the rules of the Christian religion, thought these cautions necessary, forbidding every one of them to hurt the life or the estate and property of any one, or to do any sort of evil, or, without call and necessity, to play the bishop in another man’s charge, or busy himself in other men’s matters.”
What would count as meddling? Since the word only appears here, it’s hard to interpret exactly, though we know a meddler when we see one. The 1887 Word Studies by Marvin Vincent says meddling here may be “the officious interference of Christians in the affairs of their Gentile neighbors, through excess of zeal to conform them to the Christian standard.”
MacArthur says, “There are four evils mentioned there that really are typical of an unregenerate lifestyle and they are used to illustrate the character of unacceptable suffering. They’re very obvious, at least the first three.” Murder, thievery, evildoing.
MacArthur continues, “Then, he adds one other very interesting word, he says, “Or a troublesome meddler.” You say, “Well, how in the world did you get a troublesome meddler in there with a murderer, a thief and an evildoer?” Because this is a very, very interesting word. By the way, it’s only used here in the whole New Testament. That always challenges the lexicographer, or the person who has to define the terms.”
“The word is allotrioepiskopos. Episkoposis is the word for overseer. And if you combine the two words together, it means someone who looks over, or someone who intrudes into things that belong to someone else.”
He continues to explain in detail, which was interesting and instructive. The sermon is “The fiery trial, part 2“.
The other parallels verses urge the same standard for Christians, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:11, 1 Timothy 5:13.
Those verses command us to mind our own business, attend to our own affairs, don’t be a busybody. Proverbs 26:17 says the same.
Now, there is a balancing line to tiptoe. Matthew 18:15 says that if we see a brother in sin, go to him privately. James 5:19-20 says that if we see a brother in sin and someone brings him back… which indicates that someone had to confront a brother (or sister) in order to bring him back.
You may be second-guessing yourself, thinking, ‘Is this my job? Should I go to the pastor first? Is my sister really sinning? and so on. First, pray for yourself. Make sure there is no log in your own eye so you will not be seen as a hypocrite. Then pray again for wisdom. The Holy Spirit will bring verses to mind and the words to say. Also, ensure your correction is coming from a loving heart, not a jealous one or a revenge one or any other reason than to sincerely see your sister restored.
In The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, Christian and Faithful were joined for a while by Talkative, a man who only talks religion but does not live it. Faithful began to tire of Talkative’s company and Christian urged him to plainly discuss with Talkative why he was weary of his talk. He did so, and of course Talkative accused Faithful of being judgmental, peevish, and critical. Talkative departed. Christian had promised that the plain discussion would either have hypocrites like Talkative “become sincere believers—or the company of saints would be too hot for them to remain in.”
At first you may indeed be called a busybody or that you’re being meddlesome. But later, if the interaction was sincere and prayerful, the sister will likely come back and make things right.
On the other hand it does no good to see a situation occurring and choose NOT to correct or confront because of fear or laziness or avoidance. James also says that one who sees what should be done and does not do it is also a sin.
The Christian life is not easy. Our goal of living a quiet life of submission to His word means we engage in prayerfulness, vigilance, constant repentance on our part, many decisions, and more. Our ultimate goal always is to honor and glorify Christ with our lives.
In the end, it’s good to remember that the list in the original 1 Peter verse contained murder, thievery, evildoing, AND meddling. Meddling, like gossip, is destructive. This counts not only in real life personal interactions, but social media too. The window of social media, being a window to the world like no other generation has had, means we have a wider scope and more temptations to become meddlesome.
A quiet life is a good life.
Further Resources
Book, Internet Inferno by Michael Beasley, urging Christian principles for social media users.
Devotional, Ligonier, Deserved Suffering
