Strangers Have To Tread Carefully

Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (I Peter 1:17-19) 

            Stranger. Yes, I understand what it's like to be a stranger. I am an introvert in a society that considers extroverts normal, a thinker among a bunch of feelers, and  person who likes black and white in a nation that seems to see everything in ten zillion shades of gray. I grew up as a white, Republican, Protestant egg-head in a blue-collar, Democratic, Catholic neighborhood. I'm not saying the kids here weren't intelligent, but  looking back, it seems most of the rest were more practical. I lived in my head  Being a stranger means never quite fitting in, being different, learning to face loneliness. Learning to be strong, independent and resourceful because the people around you don't know quite how to feel about you.

            Strangers have to tread carefully. Think how irritating it is when you get a phone call from someone from another country, or when you have to do business with someone who doesn't speak your language. Think of how inappropriate you think it is for Muslims to demand Sharia Law in the United States. That is how inappropriate our ways seem to the world - and yet,  we know that the way described in Scripture comes from God, through Christ. There are times when the world moves toward those ways, and times when it moves away. There are times when we move toward the world, and times that we move away.

            We need to remember that we are strangers. We also need to remember that we were redeemed. We should never long to be less strange to the world, but we should pray that the world would find a truth and a depth in our strangeness that calls to it.