The NRSV’s translation of 1 Peter 1:13 as ‘[T]herefore prepare your minds for action’ in my view strikes entirely the wrong exegetical and theological note with its emphasis on action. Literally, the verse reads ‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind’. The girding of the loins signifies preparedness; but the reference to the mind suggests that something other than action is what the person is to be prepared for. What the rest of the verse (and indeed the rest of the epistle) commands is rather a posture of patient and hopeful waiting for the final revelation of their salvation. Whatever actions are commanded in the letter as such, they are ordered to this more passive stance. They are invited to a "passive action": submitting, accepting, enduring, waiting, answering. The particular theme of holiness in the letter points towards a disciplined, purificatory activity in the same preparatory key (see 1:13-21)...
"Passive action": is that enough to characterise the Christian life? (Reinhard Hutter calls it pathos...)
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