ALIEN EXILES

1Pet. 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, ¶ To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

It’s easy to misunderstand the significance of regeneration. The born again experience changes many things in our lives. Peter went so far as to call us elect exiles or temporary residents. This world and its culture is not our home nor our final destination. We have received a new nature, totally alien to the culture of this world. The more we try to conform to the culture all around us the more awkward it becomes. I have been privileged to travel to much of the world doing ministry trips in the last thirty five years. Every human culture is precious but often very different to what I am accustomed to in Southeast Louisiana. For me, it was good to enjoy these various cultures for a couple of weeks but at the end of the day there was no place like home. In a similar way this present world system is not our home, we are traveling pilgrims on our way to another land. Martin Luther recognized this valuable truth, here are some of his thoughts.

“Christians still have an external existence. While they live here on earth, they are nurtured by a mother and father, eat and drink, wear clothes and shoes, have a house and garden, and own money and property. They view all of this as if they were guests who were traveling through this land to another city—their true destination. When they arrive there, they will no longer care about the places where they stayed along the way. During the journey, they were always thinking, “Today, I am a guest. Tomorrow, I will continue my trip.” In the same way, a Christian also thinks, “Today, I am a guest on this earth. I eat and drink here. I live honorably and modestly in this life. But tomorrow, I’ll proceed on my way to an eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, where I am a citizen.” So Christians also journey through this life. When they come to the end of this life, they will let go of everything physical and enter a spiritual life that will never end”.

When you recognize this valuable reality then something else begins to dawn on us. We are here for a reason. The reason is not just to accumulate wealth or power, our goal is to impact people for the kingdom of God. Using Peter’s analogy, there are other elect exiles all around us, they just don’t know it yet. Our job is to share Christ and watch the light turn on in their heart.