“To those who reside as aliens…”
Reflection on 1 Peter 1:1&2
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about residing as an alien. As I head to Beijing, my role will be to minister to people who are all residing in a land not of their birth and as TCKs (third culture kids) many of them have given up complete familiarity with their homeland as they spend formational years in another country. In my experience as an international alien to this point, my observations are that you become more aware of what makes you different as an American. It causes you to evaluate the things you think through another lense, sometimes becoming more appreciative of what we have, sometimes gaining distaste for parts of American life, and often, even for those apathetic to patriotism, to rejoice to come on contact with others who share the same homeland and speak the same language. The longer one spends in another culture, the more the surrounding ideals influence you, especially at an age where those values are being formed. Likely the ideas you develop are held stronger because you have considered several options and made a decision that you think is right.
I’m challenged to consider that like those who travel to lands far from “home” for business, study, or diplomatic purposes, we as people, are all travelers in a land that is not our home. We as Christians, know that we have an eternal home in heaven, but we have been placed/ commissioned/ called here for a time, for a specific purpose. We may look around at this world that is not our eternal home and wonder why some people just don’t get it. Why they don’t care about the same things, and why they practice certain things. At the same time, we may wonder why we should care about certain things. Are the things we hold to really The Truth? We see other people hurt when they experience loss, rejoice in good news, laugh at ironies in the world we both experience. Maybe it’s very ethno-centric of us to think that we have anything to offer them, that our beliefs are any better than their beliefs or traditions. We can fall on two sides of the spectrum, and even feel we are being torn in two by these questions.
Are we just another traveler in a foreign land with other expatriates? I suggest that while this analogy gives us some great insight into what Peter means when he says that we are aliens in this world, in his description, there is a transcendent hope in the spiritual application. That is, while on earth, we will struggle with never quite belonging and the temptation to acculturate to the society around, we are promised an eternal home. A place where we are fully know and accepted. None of us will have missed out on the last 2-4 years of pop culture. We will all be drawn to worship around the throne of the Almighty God who has called us by name before one of our days on earth came to be. No one will be left out, marginalized, or made fun of.
So, as we read “to those who are aliens” may rejoice that we are promised an eternal home. May we grasp what that identity means. May we not lord it over others self-righteously, but may we freely share our unique “culture” with those around us, and how unlike our ethnic cultures, they may be joined into this family and promised a permanent residence in heaven. As we tarry here, may we also rejoice to fellowship with other aliens, to “speak the same language” and to share good news from afar!
