Be Different

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

            Do you ever feel that you’re different? I don’t mean that you’re odd or weird. I mean that as a Christian, you’re just different from the rest of society. It’s not just a feeling. It’s the truth. We are different. Just take a look at this verse. There’s so much in here! First it says we’re chosen. Let that sink in for a little. Have you ever been chosen for something and had the feeling deep down inside that if they only knew the real you, they wouldn’t have chosen you? I know I have. No one knows us like God. He knows us even better than we know ourselves. He knows every sordid detail, every thought we’ve ever had, every secret wish of our hearts, every emotion we’ve tried to hide. He knows it all. And still He chose us. He chose you. He chose me. We belong to Him. He didn’t choose us out of pity. It’s true that we can’t redeem ourselves. Only God can do that for us. But it’s not the kind of situation where He saw these poor, pitiful creatures who would be lost without His help, so He had pity and with a sigh of resignation, decided to help us out. That’s not it at all! He chose us because He loves us that much!

            He didn’t just lift us out of the pit of sin and death so that we’re “good enough.” After lifting us out, He continued to raise us up so He could make us royalty. And make us priests. And make us holy. That’s so much to digest right there! What does it mean to be royal? Well, it means we’re children of the King. And not just any king. We’re children of the King of kings. We Americans don’t usually think of royalty very much since it doesn’t exist in our country. Suffice to say that no one can ever change our status. No matter what someone else says or does, and no matter what we say or do, we’re still children of our Father, the King. As for being priests, I usually think of priests as wearing special clothes that differentiate them from others. So do we. We are clothed in righteousness and humility. A priest is also someone who performs certain functions to help bring others to God. What about us? Do we do and say things that will bring others to the foot of the cross?

            This verse says we’re holy. We’re set apart. We’re not like the rest of the world around us. In fact, in some ways we’re the exact opposite. The world goes after fame and fortune. We go after Jesus and His teachings. The world values status. We value humility. The world seeks fleshly pleasure. We experience the deep joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. We’re also a nation. In the Old Testament, God had ordained Israel to be His holy nation. After the death and resurrection of Christ, all believers make up His nation. That means that because of our connection with Christ, we have a special connection with one another. We’re all part of a bigger whole with a unique kinship that may not exist if we’re weren’t connected in Him. All of this is because we belong to Him.

            What is to be our response to all of this? We are to declare His praises. In fact, when we fully realize all that He’s done for us, we can’t help but erupt into praise. We were in complete darkness and He brought us out into His wonderful light. How can we not want to praise Him for that? I’ll tell you how. When we become used to it and begin to take it for granted. We can become hardened to the glory of all He’s done for us. Oh, we may not admit it out loud. We still agree that He is to be praised, but we don’t feel it on the inside. I used to worry about that but I’ve come to realize that it’s okay. If I don’t feel the praise welling up, it doesn’t mean I’m ungrateful or a bad Christian. It just means that my emotions haven’t kept up with what the rest of me knows to be true. There could be any number of reasons for that. Everything from neglecting my time with God to not getting enough sleep last night. Notice the verse doesn’t say that we are to feel like praising. It says to declare praises. If we do, the feelings will come later. Sometime much later, but they’ll come. In the meantime, remember who you are. You are chosen, you’re royal, a priest, holy, connected to others, and you belong to God. Then praise Him for all He’s done and is doing in and through you.