Chosen...but why?

A chosen people.

This idea of being chosen by God is more of a calling than a privilege, more a responsibility than a right. According to Peter, we are “rejected by humans but chosen by God.” (1 Peter 2:4) However, this does not give us the right to reject humans because we are chosen by God.

A few verses later, Peter writes this…

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

In the midst of a verse that can cause us to become conceited about our status as God’s chosen people and special possession, we find a phrase that can easily be overlooked: “…that you might declare the praises of him who called you…”

Being chosen isn’t the end of the journey, but simply the beginning. God is inviting us into relationship so that we might declare his message of mercy to the rest of the world.

So much of Western Christianity focuses on our individual standing with God. Are we saved? Will we make it to heaven? Do I have a personal relationship with God?

While those are important questions, they cannot be the questions that dominate our understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Notice that Peter is writing to God’s people as a community, not as individuals. While there is certainly a personal, individual aspect of following Jesus, it is in the context of a larger community that God has called us together. We are not a bunch of islands; we are a nation. We are a gathering of people, linked together through the bond of the Holy Spirit.

More important than me being a chosen person, we are a chosen people. A people chosen for a purpose.

God has called us together to be people of mercy. We have received mercy and we are called to show mercy, mercy towards one another and mercy towards every person we encounter.

If we think that we are chosen because we deserve it, we are misguided and missing the point. We are chosen because of God and God’s unyielding love, a love God wants to share with the entire world. Ultimately, we are not reservoirs for God’s love; we are conduits called to share mercy and love with all who we encounter.

 

shine!
Jason