Living as Resident Aliens?

It was a radical change for these early Christians: turning away from their old way of life and embracing Christ. Being drawn into the heart of God’s community meant being pushed to the outside of their earthly communities.

In becoming the people of God (2:10), they turned towards Christ and away from other gods. Doing so had repercussions (4:3–4, 12–16). Now they were targets of malicious accusations, their names now the ‘x’ in the ‘have you heard about x?’ conversations between neighbours or fellow slaves. Households, fields, markets, and streets, which might once have felt like home, did so no longer. They had become outsiders.

Peter understood their situation, he knew how they felt. He had seen this elsewhere (5:9). He’d experienced rejection himself. Knowing how they felt, and knowing who they were in Christ, he wanted to help them make sense of what was going on and renew their imagination of what life could be like in this old-yet-new world.

They were ‘foreigners and exiles’ (2:11). The word he uses for ‘foreigners’ means someone who is not a citizen of the area they currently inhabit, and an ‘exile’ is someone who will not stay there indefinitely. Peter was very happy to apply Old Testament language to New Testament followers of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile. In referring to them as ‘foreigners and exiles’, he’s doing it again.

When living among the Hittites, Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, described himself as ‘a foreigner and stranger’ (Genesis 23:4). And between the times when Abraham and Jesus walked the earth, the Jewish nation walked from Jerusalem to Babylon as exiles, before walking back again.

When Abraham found himself in a foreign land (willingly), and when the Jewish people found themselves in a foreign land (unwillingly), God was with them and was furthering his plans and purposes through them. Their job was to trust God and be channels of his blessing in those places. Whether they were making their way to the Promised Land, living in the Promised Land, or were exiles in a strange land, God remained their God, they remained his people. His good plans for them stood firm. Unlike the Israelites, Peter’s audience was not literally in exile. But just like the Israelites, Peter’s audience were called to bring glory to God and blessing to others.

It’s probably fair to say that these early Christians faced greater marginalisation than Christians these days in the West.

Nevertheless, we too may feel like ‘foreigners and exiles’ in our nation, at work, or in our communities. At the same time, many Christians are a source of great blessing in their context and God has opened many doors for them to minister grace and love, to be messengers of the gospel. Yes, the media report on Christians taken to court over taking a stand for their faith. Others are sidelined. Yet we have enormous freedom to stand up for our faith. And many Christians have found ways to offer prayer, do good, and build meaningful friendships in their public spaces as well as their personal ones.

Whatever our lot, the call to us as resident aliens is the same: ‘be holy in all you do’ (1:15), commit yourselves to our ‘faithful Creator and continue to do good’ (4:19), and in so doing bring glory to God (2:12).

The Gateway Seven Series from LICC comprises seven studies from seven books that together will deepen your understanding of the whole Bible and impact your discipleship seven days a week. This blog post was extracted from '1 Peter', you'll find the full range below...