Who Am I?
I am only a visitor of this world in which I temporarily live
By: Chuck Taylor
1 Peter 2:11 (New International Version, ©2010)
Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
1 Peter 2:9-12 (The Message)
9-10But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
11-12Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
When I was a senior in high school, a foreign exchange student lived in our home for the entire year, and our families became close. Several years later, when my wife and parents and I traveled to Chile for his wedding, my Chilean brother gave us a crash course in some of the cultural differences that we would encounter. We did our best to adjust our habits so that we would “fit in” and not embarrass our hosts, but clearly we never stopped being Americans. Had we stayed for more than a couple of weeks, however, I expect that we would have begun to adopt some of Chile’s cultural norms – both good and bad. (“On time” for a party means something like an hour after the time on the invitation!)
As Christians, we find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation. We believe that we are truly “just visitors” here, and that this world is not our final home. In this passage from 1st Peter, we’re urged to live exemplary lives here on earth, adopting the good cultural habits of the world so that as Christ’s people, we’re not easily dismissed with, “Oh, they’re just a bunch of Christians!”
But we’re also reminded to never forget who (and whose!) we really are. If we allow ourselves to become too comfortable in this foreign land, it’s easy to also adopt some of the world’s manybad cultural habits. When that happens, when we give in to the sinful desires of greed, jealousy, lust or anger, we move our lives away from Christ and away from the eternal home that he has promised to us.
The Bible is full of stories about God’s people in foreign lands trying, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, to keep their faith. They were slaves in Egypt, wandered in the desert, and were exiles in Babylon. Often they strayed far from their relationship with God as they embraced customs in the lands where they lived – even going so far as to worship Baal or other gods. Each time, however, something reminded them of their true home, their place with God, and they returned to Him.
That, then, is our challenge: to live exemplary lives here on earth so that our words and our deeds honor Him and turn others toward Him. At the same time, we’re not to get too comfortable. We need to be always mindful that this is not yet His world; it is still a “foreign land” full of hate, anger, prejudice, temptation and sin. When it becomes a choice between “fitting in” and being true to our faith, as Christians we are always called to Christ – and toward our eternal home with Him.
Questions for reflection:
- In what ways do I stand out from the culture around me that honors Christ?
- What do I need to do differently to better live an exemplary life while here on earth?
- How have I honored God with my words this week? How have I honored Him with my deeds?
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