A Distinct People
The Bible's Old Testament tells us a story that helps us understand our story as Christ followers. Let's start here:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
God chose a people—the people of Israel—out of all the peoples of the earth. By naming them his treasured possession he made them a distinct people. The Bible word for 'distinct in a God-ward direction' is holy. This distinctness was seen in their new identity. And it was seen in their culture: 613 laws, feasts, festivals, the tabernacle, sacrifices, systems of government, etc. The Old Testament nation of Israel was different from all the other peoples on earth.
But why? For what purpose?
Genesis 12:2-3 tells us that God intended to bless his people so they would, in turn, be a blessing to all the families on earth. That's it. God chose Israel to have a special relationship with him so that the rest of the world could see what God is like and how he wants to relate with people (Isaiah 49:1-7).
Israel struggled with their distinctness, often looking more like other nations than God's treasured possession. That blunted their influence at times, but God's hand was still on them and he continued to use them to bless the nations—most powerfully by sending Jesus through their bloodline.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Look how similar Peter's language is in the New Testament. But he's not speaking to Israel. Nor is he speaking to any earthly political country. He's speaking to the Church—to all Christ followers. He calls us a holy (distinct) nation. Like Old Testament Israel, we have been given a distinct identity and a distinct culture (Acclimation Gauge). But we inhabit a different kind of nation—one of loyal hearts and love; not of land and laws.
Why? For what purpose?
Jesus told his followers to "make disciples of all peoples" (Matt. 28:19). God still wants intimate relationship with every person (1 Tim. 2:3-4). He wants his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Now it's the Church that will be God's example to the rest of the world. An example of a people blessed by God. An example of how to live well with him. A conduit of blessing.
But like Old Testament Israel, we struggle with our distinctness. And it blunts our influence. In Matthew's gospel, Jesus gave us this warning:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? Then it is no good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.”
Metaphorically, Jesus is telling us that our ability to disciple others—and to bend culture toward the Kingdom—depends on our distinctness; our holiness. Salt only loses its saltiness—its activity or influence—when it becomes mixed with impurities.1
In the same way, we surrender influence when we lose our distinctness—when we live like the world (James 1:27).
But to be distinct from the world is not to be distinct from God’s Creation. We cannot be separated from our natural world. We are a part of it. We love it, we enjoy it, and we care for it as our home. We feel its pain and we share its brokenness with every other creature. Distinctness is not about separating from Creation. It’s about conforming to the patterns of God’s kingdom and rejecting the patterns of this world. It’s about authority, identity, and culture.
In Christ, life has been made manifest, and your life is hidden with him (Col. 3:3). Let the five gauges on this site guide you to greater Kingdom distinctness. In that distinctness, enjoy the life God intends. And from that distinctness, help extend God's kingdom to the ends of the earth for the benefit of all.
Photo | Engin Akyurt/Pexels
1 John Stott, Reading the Sermon on the Mount, ©2016 IVP Connect, pp. 32-33.