Being Different / Holy

It isn’t popular in our society to be different, is it?  Peer pressure doesn’t affect just kids and teenagers.  Adults are also worried about what others may think or say.  We are afraid to speak up at work or in various meetings.  We don’t like attention drawn to us.  We don’t want to “rock the boat.”  We don’t want to be different.

But Jesus was different – very different from anything anyone expected.  This is what impressed the Apostle Peter about Him.  Jesus didn’t conform to the preconceived ideas that everyone had for Him.  Instead, He chose to be different.  He was born different, he lived different, he taught different, he prayed different, he treated others differently, he endured suffering differently and he died different.  He also rose from the dead - talk about different!

The word Peter uses in his letters to portray Jesus’ difference is the word “holy.”  Holy means set-apart (for a special or religious purpose).  Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines holy as “separation from all that is sinful, or impure, or morally imperfect.”  It means being different by destroying our sinful behaviors and living a life devoted to God and His principles rather than living for self – differently from most of those around us.

Peter’s call to us today is to adopt for ourselves this holiness that Jesus portrayed.  The apostle encourages us to “Be holy, because I [God] am [is] holy” (1 Peter 1:16).  We must be different (from the selfish, greedy, uncaring majority) in our way of thinking, which leads to a change in our behavior (selfless, generous, kind & thoughtful).  And in 2 Peter 1:5-9, we are persuaded to grow in our faith so that our holiness will grow as a natural result.  The more we grow in holiness, the more like Jesus we become: the more different we will be from the ungodly around us.

Since Jesus was willing to be different / holy, it follows that His people should be too.  Would those around you every day consider you to be different - holy?  Jesus warns us that by being His disciples, the world considers us to be different (John 15:19).  Peter uses the word “peculiar” or “strange” when referring to our difference / holiness (1 Peter 2:9) even going so far as to say that the crowds around us will consider our attitudes and behavior to be quite odd (1 Peter 4:4).

But think of the end result of pursuing holiness in all that you do - eternal life in God’s presence.  That should be plenty of motivation to help you put up with the temporary troubles that those outside of Christ will provoke you with.  Plus, thinking of Heaven is a great way to improve our attempts at continuing to mature in Him (see 2 Peter 3:11).

Doug