Many Christians have clung to a kind of romantic idealism about our status as “exiles” and “sojourners” in the world. We struggle with the tension, complexities, and conflicts that arise from living out our faith as God’s people in the world. Once there was a kind of “normative national ethic” into which biblical Christianity fit, but today that is largely gone. Stephen McAlpine wrote, “We used to be the good guys. Then we were just one of the guys. Now we’ve become the bad guys.” In other words, the stark reality of being “sojourners” in the world is setting in. We need 1 Peter because it will help us reset our expectations about what it looks like for us to live out our identity in Christ, and God’s calling for our lives in this world with a hopeful trust in God’s purpose and plan.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:1, 5:12
