“From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen (1 Peter 1:1 NET).
Having considered the characteristics of “home” in our previous study, let’s now substitute the word “home” for “the world” in the following list and see how well we measure up…
- The world is a place where we are accepted.
- The world is a place where we belong.
- The world is a place where we feel most comfortable.
- The world is the place where we seek to return whenever we’ve been away.
- The world is a familiar place, a place where we spend much of our time.
- The world is the place where we relax with our friends.
- The world is the place where we find the people and things we love the most.
Given Peter’s description of his audience as those who were “…strangers in the world” (NIRV), it seems likely that they would have scored relatively low on the list given to us above. It also seems likely that the members of Peter’s original audience understood that those who are serious about Christ will never completely fit in with others in this world.
This should not be surprising, for Jesus wasn’t always popular or well-liked during the period of His earthly ministry, nor did He always fit in well with others. He remains that way among many today. In fact, Jesus once addressed this circumstance in speaking with His disciples…
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:18-20 NIV).
Those who seek to honor God will never completely fit in with a world that has little interest or use for the God of the Scriptures. Thus, as we are told in the New Testament epistle of James, “…do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4 NAS).