Sojourners

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

I Peter 1:17

If you call on God as your Father, (that is if you are a Christian, then be reminded that He will one day come to judge men. His judgment will be fair and impartial and based on your deeds. Therefore, you should live your life on earth in the way that a stranger, an alien, a foreigner, or an immigrant might live temporarily in a foreign land.

The idea presented here is the opposite of the melting pot idea that America was built on. It's the idea of an alien who does NOT take on the customs and behavior of the country in which he now lives but continues to live like he is from a different culture and country. He knows all too well that he is only sojourning in this strange land and that he will soon return to his home country, so he lives as a representative of his home country in this foreign place. He is an oddity and a constant source of bewilderment for the people of the land where he now lives. But if he were to change to fit in with the people of this foreign land for the short time he is here, then he would spend a much longer time being an oddity and a bewilderment to the people of his home country when he returns. And that would be truly sad for a person to return to their home country and to be so changed that they end up living as a foreigner in the place where they should be most at home. 

So this passage warns you to have a reverent fear of the coming Judge and His judgment. Fear Him and avoid taking on the customs, behaviors and attitudes of this world. Live as a citizen of Heaven. If you fail at this, then you should expect to be judged when the day comes.

This means, among other things, that the believer should live a self-controlled and holy life. The way you talk should be different from non-Christians. The way you spend your money should be different. You should read different books and watch different TV shows and listen to different music. You should have a different attitude and way of treating people. You should even eat and drink differently (i.e. in a more self-controlled way). Every minor detail about how you live your life ought to be in line with the gospel and focused on Heaven. Perhaps verse fifteen puts it best. "Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do..." 

So be holy friends. Be like Jesus. Be strange. Be weird. Be odd. Confuse people and make them ask questions about why you are so different. And whatever you do, do NOT live like everyone else! You don't want to get to heaven and be unrecognizable as a Christian because you became so much a worldling.