FIRST PETER 3:15

Most people may have heard of the phrase ‘the Peter Principle”; it is a phrase coined by Dr. Laurence Peter in about 1969. The phrase was named after him and it means "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence... In time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties... Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence." The meaning is not an insult, it’s just an observation about how high up a corporate ladder people may climb. There comes a point, for almost everyone, wherein we cannot function above that level; we have performed well up until our last promotion, then we cannot perform well any longer because it is above our skill level; we are then supported by people around us to get the job done.

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As I have read the bible, I have found a specific verse that speaks to my mindset; 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (NIV). Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have requires studying the topic. My dad’s favorite verse was 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”(KJV); one of his favorite things to do was to study the bible. I cannot tell how much I learned from him because sometimes I still recognize “he taught me that”. Intellect was very important to my dad and it is very important to God. To tell someone “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” is intellectually weak at best and almost dishonest.

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Dr. Neill deGrasse Tyson is a world-renowned physicist/astronomer; he can discuss what he knows and believes on a level that speaks clearly to elementary school aged kids, high school kids and PhDs. He’s very intelligent and a very good communicator (I completely disagree with him on the topic of God, but that doesn’t detract from his ability to communicate). I’ve long told my kids that it doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you can’t communicate what you know, it doesn’t matter to anyone that you know it.

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So, in light of both of these topics I thought that combining the name of “The Peter Principle” with the scripture from “First Peter” would make for a great introductory idea/statement.

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Peter, the disciple and apostle, stated this idea first (2,000 years ago) and he did so in FIRST Peter. So I’ve modified Dr. Laurence Peter’s title just a bit to frame my work.

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I would like to thank Dr. Laurence Peter and Peter the disciple and apostle because they provided a better idea for designating my work than “Stuff Ron thinks and believes”.

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Yes, I know that the disciple and apostle Peter did not label his epistles “First and Second Peter” – those are the names assigned them when canonized into the bible.