As the story goes, a young minister once visited the famous
Polish rabbi Hofetz Chaim while traveling in
The rabbi replied, “Son, where is yours?”
“Mine? But I am only a visitor here.”
“So am I,” was the rabbi’s response, “So am I.”
One of the reasons it is difficult for us to live as righteous families in this world is because righteousness requires us to live (and to teach our children to live) as strangers to the world.
In his letter to God’s people, Peter addresses them as
strangers scattered throughout the world
(1 Peter 1:1). In fact, they were residents of
It’s not easy being strange. Whether it’s the new kid in school, the new neighbor on the block, or the new citizen immigrating from a far country, being different can invite suspicion and rejection from others.
Strangers can make us uncomfortable because they often act and think differently. Sometimes they may threaten our traditional beliefs and values. The current controversy over the escalating immigration to our country, both legal and illegal, is fueled by many legitimate concerns. But one concern may simply be that we are a little uneasy about so many strangers moving into our national neighborhood.
Peter tells Christians, however, that we are the real immigrants in society. In Peter’s day, the Christian faith was misunderstood by most pagans. The list of charges made against Christians might surprise you. Christians were considered atheists, because they didn’t participate in the worship of pagan gods. They were thought to be an anti-family cult because of their practice of calling others in their faith community “brother” and “sister.” They were even thought to be cannibals because they ate and drank the body and blood of their leader.
But as misunderstood as the Christians were, their main problems came because people understood them all too well. Pagans called them intolerant, because Christians believed that Yahweh was the one true God. Christians were considered unsocial and cultish, because they refused to participate in the drunken revelry connected with pagan festivals. They were considered foolish and weak because they associated with and cared for the poor and outcasts of society. Christians were considered bad for business, especially for those who trafficked in the lucrative business of idols (merchants, artisans) because they persuaded people to leave their pagan idolatry.
Because Christians were considered strange, they were often mistreated and even persecuted. Peter writes his letter, what we call 1 Peter, to encourage the persecuted believers. His word of encouragement reminds them of a few important truths. Remember, Peter says, you are strangers in this world. Your hope and your inheritance are in heaven. These troubles that you are having now do not endanger that inheritance at all. In fact, they only strengthen your faith, just as gold is refined by fire. Don’t forget the goal of your faith that even now you are receiving, the salvation of your soul!
Peter’s words are important and valuable for our families to hear today. As parents in a world increasingly strange to the Christian faith, we must tell our children often, “Remember, we are strangers!”
Our goals are different from those who may live around us. We may send our children off to school to get a good education, but we are less concerned about their education than we are about their growth in God’s wisdom. We will not complain if our children secure a good job with adequate retirement, but we are much more concerned that they are laying up treasure in heaven. Our hearts will jump when our children receive various awards and the praise of men, but we’d trade all the praise this world has to offer to know that one day they will hear from the lips of our heavenly Father those blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Parents, there is nothing wrong with our children getting an education, a good job, and public recognition for their various good works. But, to paraphrase our Lord, what does it profit our children if they gain a doctorate from Harvard, a six-figure salary from a Fortune 500 company, live in a country manor with a vacation home in Aspen, get elected citizen of the year, and yet lose their souls!
Not long ago I met my son at baseball practice. It was a
very windy day, and
How like that bird we Christians are as we attempt to fly against the winds of our culture. It is so important that we impress upon our children that the goal of their lives should be to know God and to receive the salvation of their souls. We must make sure they are not getting mixed signals from us. We must live a lifestyle before them that reflects the priorities of people who are just visiting this world. If we are not clear about our alien status, our children will have great difficulty making headway against the winds of culture.
As with the early Christians, there will be times when the world accuses us of being intolerant because we believe some things the world calls “alternative lifestyles” are sinful and wrong, because we believe people are created in the image of God and not products of blind chance or multiple reincarnations, because we believe life is sacred and no one has the right to end life because it is unplanned, inconvenient, or has outlived its value to society, because we believe all people are spiritual by nature and that spiritual nature should not be ignored or denied in our public schools, courts, and town squares. These are views we should express gently and humbly, not militantly or arrogantly. But even a gentle, humble word will still seem intolerant to many, and no one likes the label, “intolerant.” If we know, and if our children know, that we are indeed strangers in this world, we can survive the labeling.
As was the case with the early Christians, we will find that there are times when the world thinks we Christians are unsocial and not very much fun. What we enjoy is not determined by the Top 40 or the latest television ratings. Our children may not attend every school function or frequent every student hangout. Some may think us extreme because we are committed to exposing our children only to environments which pass the Philippians 4 test (whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy). When we refuse to have our lives consumed by Little League and soccer and gymnastics and ballet and band and choir, and invest more of our time in worship and service to others, some of our children’s friends may think they’re “kind of weird,” and no one likes that. But if our children know they are strangers in this world, they can survive the labeling.
As was the case with the early Christians, we’ll probably go through times when the world thinks we’re bad for business. Not just the owners of the nightclubs and liquor stores, but even the American Express, Visa, and Discover folks may not appreciate us because we refuse to be seduced into living a lifestyle above our means, bound by debt. CEOs of companies who sponsor television programming filled with filth and violence may not be too happy with us for choosing not to subsidize their immorality. Advertisers who seek to sell us clothes and toys and cereal and cologne and cruises and houses and boats and cars and golf clubs may not greatly appreciate the fact that our purchase decisions are not made on the basis of sex appeal, covetousness, or greed, but on the priorities of the Kingdom.
There will be times when the world thinks we are foolish because we teach our children that the poor among us are as important as the doctors and lawyers and bankers, because we spend as much time visiting the sick and the elderly as we do the theatres and the ball parks, because our homes sometimes smell of the homeless, our furniture is sometimes scratched and stained by the careless play of children we are keeping because their single mother cannot afford day care, because we don’t believe paying taxes absolves us of personally feeding and clothing and caring for the needy, because our children cannot always wear Nikes because their parents are also invested in other children’s feet. People may look at us and say we are foolish, and no one likes to be thought of as foolish. But if our children know they are strangers in this world, they will be able to handle the strange looks and the not-so-silent chuckles from their classmates.
Well, you see the point, I’m sure. Living as strangers means that our lifestyles will sometimes seem a little odd to unbelievers. Some will even feel we threaten their own lifestyles and values. We may be ridiculed and misunderstood, even mistreated, and this can be especially difficult for our children. But when those times come, and they feel a little strange, then we have the opportunity to sit down with them and turn to the words of Peter and remind them that though God places no premium upon our trying to be “strange” for no good reason, when living as God’s people means adopting a course that appears strange to this world, so be it.
We are strangers in this world. Our hope and our inheritance is in heaven. Our goal is the salvation of our souls.