Exile living ain’t necessarily easy living. Beyond the hostility of the nations around us, there’s the danger of false teachers among us (2Pet. 2:1). As to the nations around us, the sort of people we ought to be are those who seek to live “lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God” (2Pet. 3:12) — even so, Lord Jesus come! But as to the “ignorant and unstable” among us, we are to “take care.”

Take care against what? Against twisted scripture.

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

(2Peter 3:15-16 ESV)

Twisted scriptures. It’s always been a problem. Was so with the first century Scriptures being brought online by the Spirit through Paul, was so with the Scriptures of old given to Moses and all the Prophets. Twisted as in contorted and wrenched out of place. Think ancient torture on the rack and you’re getting the picture of what was being done to the Scriptures by those who pretended to be of the Way but weren’t, those Peter identifies as the “ignorant and unstable” — or, as Philips puts it, the “ill-informed and unbalanced.” It was a thing among the people of God back then. I’m thinking it might just be a thing today, as well.

So, says Peter, “take care!”

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

(2Peter 3:17 ESV)

Take care lest you be carried away and lose your own stability. Take care “lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers” (MSG). The stakes are high.

The twist is subtle. The ground starts to shift. And, before you know it, you’ve lost your own stability. You look around at the people of God among you, you look at yourself, and you say, “What happened! How did we get carried away?” Simple answer: twisted Scriptures.

Okay, so how do I recognize twisted scripture? I think Peter provides a diagnosing tool, a helpful barometer to detect when the winds are changing, an accurate thermometer to indicate when the temperature is out of whack.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

(2Peter 3:18 ESV)

First word: “But.” Aka, in contrast. Aka, what it should look like when the Scriptures are not being twisted, and we are not being carried away, and we are not losing our own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Could it be that simple? That we can know we are rightly dividing, and rightly applying, and rightly contending for the Scriptures when we see that we are growing in grace? I’m thinking. Conversely, might it be a warning that we are being carried away and losing our own stability if, when we replay our actions and attitudes, we find we are behaving less like Jesus than we used to? That in our fight for what’s right we may be going about it all wrong? When, instead of growing in grace, we’re becoming more cantankerous and contentious? When reviling is more our tactic than “reviling not” (1Peter 2:23a)? When turning up the rhetoric is our default position rather than turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) and entrusting ourselves to Him who judges justly (1Peter 2:23b)?

Grace. If doing our exile thing is resulting in growing in grace, then maybe it’s an indicator we are doing exile the right way. If it isn’t, perhaps we need to take care.

Something to chew on.

By His grace. For His glory.