In Peter’s first letter we are introduced to what he calls “…a living hope…” and “…an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you.” He was writing to believers who were suffering for their faith. He wanted to remind them that regardless of what happens to them now, they have a heavenly reward waiting for them.

Then he turns his attention to the idea that Christianity isn’t just a set of things to be believed, it is a life to be lived. Verses 13-16 of chapter 1 tells Christ-followers to live holy lives. In fact, Peter writes, “…be holy in all you do…” But what does it mean to live a “holy life.” If you want to provide a one-word summary of everything Peter teaches us about that is the word “different.”

Christians are to be different in the way they are grounded to God’s Word. In chapter 1 Peter quotes part of Isaiah 40: “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” Isaiah was referring not only to his own prophecy, but to the entire Old Testament and, now Peter applies that to the message of the Gospel as well. Peter is telling us that every follower of Christ needs to develop a strong desire for the Word of God. And our desire should not just be to KNOW the Word, but also to do what it says; to let God’s message change the way we live every day.

Christians are also to be different in their connection to Christ. Chapter 2 is full of descriptive terms like “living stones,” “a chosen people,” and “a royal priesthood” etc. The idea is that through the sacrifice of Jesus we now belong to God. Galatians 3:27 says that when we come to Christ we are actually clothing or covering ourselves with Christ. That means more and more people who look at us should actually be seeing Christ.

Peter goes on to describe Christ-followers as being “aliens and strangers.” And in reality that is what they are. Disciples of Jesus are citizens of heaven, but are still living here on earth. We will be so different that it will be obvious to everyone around us.

In the Smithsonian Museum of American History in our nation’s capital, there are several items that are carefully encased in Plexiglas. A casual glance might not make you think they were anything special… an old hat, a leather jacket, a pair of boxing gloves… common items one and all, until you know that the hat belonged to Abraham Lincoln, the leather jacket was worn by Henry Winkler as he played “The Fonz”, and the boxing gloves were used by Mohammed Ali in one of his matches. What made each item special was the person who possessed them. The same thing is true of every disciple of Jesus. Every follower of His belongs to Him and therefore is different because we belong to him. We are to be different in order to make a difference in the world around us.