Scattered Strangers – 1 Peter for Today

 

Introduction

Do you sometimes, as a follower of Jesus, feel different to the culture around you?  Perhaps it is not a case of “sometimes” but “often”.  The letter of 1 Peter offers us really helpful principles for how we live as Christians in a culture which is not very Christian.  This is why Peter begins his letter with these words:

 

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia . . .” (King James Version, italics mine).

 

Peter refers to believers as scattered strangers.  We can feel in a minority.  We can feel like the culture around us doesn’t match the values of the way of Jesus.  As we prepare to journey through this letter, let’s first understand the two terms Peter uses here for scattered strangers.

 

The Greek word Peter uses for “stranger” is paroikos.  It refers to someone who lives away from home, but whose thoughts are turned to home.  This is the origin of the word “parish”.  What Peter aims to do in his letter is to honestly engage with the challenges being faced by the Christians he addresses, whilst reminding them that their true citizenship lies elsewhere.

 

The Greek word used for “scattered” is diasporas.  This became the technical name for Jewish people who had been scattered all over the world, beyond the land of Israel.

 

The early Christians rose to the challenge of being scattered strangers.  Inspired by the life and example of Jesus, they found ways to live within their culture, but with integrity to their faith.  The late 2nd century Christian apologetic writing known as The Epistle to Diognetus describes the ways of these early scattered strangers:

 

“For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.”

 

Just as those first Christians were able to live authentically within their challenging culture, so we can have hope that the same is possible for us, too.  And Peter’s letter still offers us both robust theology and good practice to help us.

 

The format of this series is that we will spend several days with each section of the letter.  For each day there will be a Bible reading from 1 Peter, some teaching and reflection on the passage, including ways to apply the text to your own situation.  And then there is a prayer to close.

 

We may feel like strangers.  We may feel scattered.  But when our heart knows its true citizenship, we can be well-grounded and can be a distinctive witness for Christ wherever we find ourselves.