Dichotomy of Life

 In Alabama, where I live. people shop next to each other in the malls, walk by each other on the sidewalks, drive together on the roads, eat next to each other in restaurants and even sit amongst each other in church. But they are not the same.

Much of the time one cannot tell them apart. But sometimes the Auburn fan will be dressed in blue and orange, while the Alabama fan will be dressed in red. An Alabama fan will be heard saying, “Roll Tide,” while an Auburn fan would say, “War Eagle.”  However, if you could be an invisible drone hovering above in the malls and restaurants, over the sidewalks and roads, you would be hard pressed to determine in which group the people below belonged.

The reason for this separation, in the long run, is of no importance at all. It is just a pastime. If it didn’t exist, our lives would go on without it, and without missing something we had never experienced, anyway.

But there is another way of grouping people that is of great and lasting consequence. Yet even people grouped in this other way are often indistinguishable, one group from the other. They walk around together, sit on buses and park benches together, cheer for football teams together. These two groups have many short term goals that they strive for together. They intermingle in almost all facets of life. If you were a drone, looking down on the crowds below, you would not be able to tell who was in what group. But they are not the same.

Imagine, in the 1800’s, two groups of pioneers pushing west across the Great Plains coming to a mountain range standing before them. One group, intending to push on farther west before settling in a different place would see the mountain range as a nearly impenetrable barrier making their trip more difficult. The other group, intending to settle on the east side of the mountain range, would see it as a spectacular backdrop across the valley which would be their new home. A difference in perspective causes the first group to see the mountains as a negative obstacle while the second group sees the same mountains as a positive scenic blessing.

Similarly, those who have become followers of Christ will have a different perspective than those who are not followers of Christ. Peter has some wisdom to share regarding this concept in 1 Peter. In fact, it is the main argument he is making to the new Christians to whom he is writing. What is the basis for the “new” Christian perspective?

First, notice the word Peter uses to describe the people to whom he is writing. In the first verse of 1 Peter, he says, “to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia.” The Greek word translated “strangers” would just as accurately be translated as exiles, aliens, or sojourners. These words all describe someone who is not where they truly belong. They are in the wrong place, and the description implies they have no wish to stay there.

Strangers are out of place and uncomfortable. Exiles are forced from their residence to a foreign place. Aliens are people who simply do not belong where they are. Sojourners are only in a place as they pass through it on their way to somewhere else. Describing his readers with this word, Peter makes it obvious that Christians will have a different perspective than the people amongst whom they dwell.

But those to whom Peter is writing are as native to the land in which they live as everyone else who lives there, so what makes them strangers/exiles/aliens/sojourners? In verse 3 he says they are, begotten . . . again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In verse 4, they have, “an incorruptible inheritance.” In verse 5, they “are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” The non-Christians who live around them don’t have any of these things; no new birth, no living hope, no incorruptible inheritance, and God is not keeping them for any of these things.

The Christians are not the same. They do not fit into the land in which they live nor do they fit with the people among whom they live. They are strangers. They are pressing on to another home on high. They are sojourners who are currently in exile. In these verses Peter is proclaiming this as good news to his readers and a cause for celebration, which it most definitely is. They are receivers of the blessings the prophets prophesied about (vs 10 – 12.)

In verse 13 Peter changes from proclamation to exhortation. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The first part of this verse is an echo of what’s coming in chapter 5, verse 8. Get ready to go to battle, (using your mind.) Live life as one plays chess; be aware of every result that can occur based on any action you take, and then do what is best for your relationship with God.

In the last part of verse 13, Peter ties everything together by going back to his use of the word ‘hope’ in verse 3. Being begotten again provides Christians with a living hope. Think ‘very real expectation,’ when you read ‘living hope.’ Then he says, “put your trust completely in that expectation.”

Note that a partial commitment is not acceptable. Jesus told the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:14, ”because you are lukewarm I will spew you out of my mouth.” Peter says put your hope, your trust, completely in the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That grace is God’s grace and that is Jesus Christ dying on the cross for the salvation of the souls of men.

Trust in that salvation is not something you add to the other things you hope for in life. Peter says we should make it the only thing we hope for. Yes, the Greek word translated “to the end” in the King James Translation actually means ‘completely.’ (“To the end” is as far as you can go. It completes the effort.) “Hope completely for the grace.”

 The people of this world are tied to the things of this world. Their hope is rooted in the things of this world: wealth, long life, good health, notoriety, power. They are not what the Christian is. The Christian cannot be what they are.

If you are a Christian Trying to Walk through this world, Peter’s wisdom for you is: You don’t fit in. You are a stranger here. Your residence is not of this world. Don’t try to fit in. Be prepared for mental combat with the world around you.

Remember, you have been begotten again. You have an incorruptible inheritance, the salvation of your soul. That gives you a new perspective. Your hope, your trust, your expectation of the salvation that Jesus has attained for you is your 100% complete and total motivating factor of your life.

The Christian perspective is incompatible with the perspective of the world. This is the dichotomy of life. Also, the Christian perspective is correct.