As citizens of the Kingdom we are no longer of this world. We should not think like the world, we should not be friends with the world, we should not align with the world. We are called to live as strangers and aliens in this present evil age. We have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light. To the unbeliever, our Kingdom is strange. But the truth is, most citizens of the Kingdom are not strange enough.
Peter identifies us as “aliens and strangers.” Let’s briefly consider what the words mean. The Greek word translated “stranger” is the word parepidemos. This is a compound word incorporating the Greek words para, epi, and demos. Simply put, this word identifies someone who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives. This speaks to us on several levels. Primarily we must see this word indicates we are no longer to consider ourselves as native to the world or the country of our natural birth. We have a uniquely different culture and ethnicity that most of us have never explored – the ethnos and genos of the Kingdom.
The word translated “aliens” is the Greek word paroikos. This identifies someone who lost their rights of citizenship and are sojourning in a foreign land. We who have come into the Kingdom have effectively forsaken our earthly citizenship and therefore the commensurate rights associated with the country of our natural birth. We live in the world, but are not of the world. We might occasionally use the leverage of our natural birth for the purposes of the Kingdom, but we should not inhabit both worlds. We are to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth, for we have died and our life is now hidden with Christ, in God.
To our shame, we still find value and validation from the systems and citizens of the world. We seek to be accepted, understood, and respected by citizens of the world. We fight for our perceived freedoms and celebrate our earthly, natural culture. We are not living “other” – holy, set apart, clearly of a different ethnicity and genealogy. Rather, we try to integrate with the world under the guise of persuading some to follow Jesus. Beloved, light and darkness cannot mix. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness, into the Kingdom of light.
Our Lord Jesus was in the world, and although the world was made through Him, the world did not know Him. Since we are now children of God, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. The world and its citizens try to reintegrate us by any means possible. We must follow the way of our spiritual ancestors, who refused to remember that country from which they went out so that they would not leave the door open to return.
The world hated Jesus, and if we do not abide in the world as He did not abide in the world, the world will hate us also. Our lives and our words should convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement, for we are born of the Spirit. A disciple is not greater than his or her master – if they hated and despised Jesus, the should also hate and despise us. We should not be surprised if the world hates us. We should expect it.
As we participate with the Father to receive His kingdom, we condemn the world as did Noah. If we love the world and the things in the world, we reveal that the love of the Father is not in us. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The more we are conformed to His image, the stranger we become to the world. Our Kingdom is not of this world, we are no longer of this world. The citizens of this world love their own for the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
I neither condone nor excuse behavior by believers who use Jesus’ rebuke of the religious as a license to be rude. However, I find in myself and other believers the tendency to shrink back into the niche the world allows us to inhabit: a niche that is shrinking every day. If we simply did not laugh at crass humor, did not participate in gossip and back biting, nor engaged in the world system of entertainment we would illicit hatred from those around us. The more we live from a heavenly position, the more of an impact we have on the systems and people of the world with whom we integrate. Our mere presence sends ripples through the spirit that impact others.
I do not believe we are strange enough. I do not believe we are “other” enough. All our programs and outreaches are for naught if we are still living life from our earthly position. We are not here to change the world, we are here to receive the Kingdom!
