The King James rendering of 1 Peter 2:9-10 is interesting: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

In Peter’s description of the people of God, there’s a word in that translation that sticks out: “peculiar.”

Christians are to be a “peculiar” people. To our ears, that sounds, well, strange. It sounds peculiar. And yet it’s true. We are a peculiar people, and here are two reasons why:

1) Because we belong to God. Apparently, the origin of the word “peculiar” is the Latin word, peculiaris. That word referred to something that was “one’s own.” Something personal. In English, during the time when the KJV was first printed, the word meant “belonging to one person.”

So when the KJV says that we are a peculiar people, it means we belong to God. As the ESV renders it, we are “a people for His own possession.” We are God’s chosen, special possession.

And that feels good, doesn’t it? We all need to be wanted. To be valued. To be treasured. It’s built into us, and when we don’t feel as though we are treasured by anyone, we slip into despair. But here, in a single word, we find the wonderful truth that God doesn’t merely “put up with us;” we find the truth that He actually, truly, deeply, really loves us. He treasures us. We are His; we are His peculiar people.

But there’s another reason why we are a peculiar people, and this one is a bit more ironic…

2) Because we do not belong to the world. Over the years, the word “peculiar” started to take on a different meaning. Now, when we say “peculiar,” we’re referring to something that’s strange. Weird. Out of place. Ill-fitting. And this, too, is an appropriate way to think of Christians. If you keep reading in his epistle, Peter comes to this idea next:

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Sojourners. Exiles. Foreigners. Pilgrims. That’s also who we are. We are God’s special and chosen possession, called out of darkness and into light, and as a result, we are no longer the possession of the world. It is not our home, nor does it have any claim on us. So in light of who we are in Christ, our lives should be so vastly different from those that are around us that they ought to look at us and use the same word: “Peculiar.”

One word that reminds us of our true identity and that which we’ve left behind. One word that tells us about our true home and the place we currently reside. One word that reminds us where we are treasured and where we are strangers.

I’m looking forward to presenting a series of lessons this week at Knollwood that will encourage us to be distinct, to be different, and dare I say, to be peculiar. Let’s appreciate what it means to truly be the people of God.