Presence Weekly 9/23/2024, "A Matter of Perspective"

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 1 Peter 1:1–2 (ESV)

Back in 2015, Cecilia Bleasdale posted something on Facebook that caused millions of people around the world to question the very nature of reality. Ms. Bleasdale was looking for social media assistance on a dress she was considering purchasing for her daughter’s wedding. So, she took a picture of the dress and posted it to Facebook to get people’s perspectives on the dress. 

However, what followed came to be known as The Great Dress Debate. Rather than receiving yes and no votes, the question quickly spilled over from Facebook to Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram and produced the trending hashtags #whiteandgold and #blueandblack. Somehow, in either an optical oddity of computer screens or a fantastic algorithm, people saw the dress as different colors. The perspective she sought was, in fact, complicated by people’s perspective on the nature of the dress itself. 

As we lean into the paradox of our identity as elect exiles, we realize that our transformed identity comes with the consequence of a transformed perspective on the very nature of reality. 

A Transformed Perspective

Going back to a question we addressed last week, very real questions might arise when we grasp the reality that God has chosen us: “Then why am I exiled? Why am I not with God right now? Why am I living in such a messed-up world? Why isn’t everything awesome around me?”

Those are great questions that demand even deeper, more personal questions. Should we understand our exile as punishment for something that we have done? Is God mad at us? 

We live in exile from a perfect relationship with God because of The Fall. But we should not understand our current exile as punishment in the same sense as the Exile that God’s people experienced in Babylon. Our exile is simply the reality of The Church as we await the return of Christ. Peter wants his readers to know that their exile is just as much a part of the foreknowledge of God as their being elect. In fact, it says that it is for our obedience to Christ. Speaking grammatically, the words elect, and exile are adjectives in apposition, not opposition. That means that they are to be considered parallel concepts. As we read this opening passage, both elect and exile should be understood together.

The movie ET is part of Americana, and thus is assumed and shared knowledge. In the Speilberg classic, a cute and very merchandise-marketable alien is left behind on Earth - forgotten - accidentally. The plight of ET, the story of abandonment, is not how we should understand our exile. 

Peter wants the reader to know that they have not been forgotten or abandoned by God. In fact, this passage is about shifting the reader’s perspective from one they may have reluctantly adopted to one that will change how they live in the world.

Encouraging his readers to embrace a transformed perspective is another part of how Peter moves the reader from confusion and frustration to a place of living in grace and peace. He wants them to embrace a new perspective on their present situation. It is okay to ask "why" when it is intended to communicate to God, “I am finite, and I do not understand why this is the case.” It is not okay to ask "why" when you mean, “How dare you?” The latter perspective moves God out of the seat of Creator and us into the position of Judge. That’s a perspective we have struggled with since The Garden.

Our present situation, whatever it is, exists “according to the foreknowledge of the Father, and the sanctification of the Spirit, and for obedience to Christ.” In all situations, we are both elect and exile.

Perspective and the Public Square

How might this apply to a challenging job environment? It is one thing to say, “Lord, I do not like this position that I am in. I do not understand the position that I am in.” You might even say, “I am suffering in the position that I am in.” However, when we don’t think there is any rhyme or reason to our situation, we often respond by acting out of confusion and frustration, perhaps even anger. When we act out of confusion and frustration, situations rarely improve, and the church’s testimony is diminished. 

As we face an election only six weeks away, many Christians in America believe that the culture has exiled them. Many of those same Christians believe that our cultural exile is because we have not done enough to honor God’s commandments in this country. Some move from that conclusion to the belief that we need to “win this nation back.” 

The reasons for the decline of American morality and Christians’ cultural exile are as many as they are profound. Yet the best response to addressing that issue is for the church to recommit itself to whole-life discipleship. Discipleship that takes seriously spiritual, emotional, relational, vocational, ideological, cultural, and evangelical formation. Perhaps Christians in America would feel less anxiety, frustration, and confusion if they were centered on the truth that they are elect (chosen), “according to the foreknowledge of the Father, and the sanctification of the Spirit, and for obedience to Christ.” As it turns out, that is the same reason we are experiencing exile. 

We must also distinguish between our current cultural exile and the exile that Peter writes of - the fact that his readers are not currently with God and that what has already been promised has not yet been experienced in its fullness. Both types of exile are difficult and produce suffering. 

Perspective Matters

Peter wants readers to understand that their present circumstance is according to the foreknowledge of the Father - a Father who loves them so much that he gave his only Son for them that they might not perish but have everlasting life. In our present situation, we must rest in the reality that it is in the sanctification of the Spirit that we live each and every day- no matter how confusing or frustrating it may seem. Finally, we must have the mindset of learning obedience to Christ, who does not call us to change the world but to change how we live in the world. 

More on that next week.

Application Questions 

What situations do you find yourself viewing from the perspective of elect?

What situations do you find yourself viewing from the perspective of exile?

What do you suppose shapes your perspective on how you view particular situations as elect or exile? 

The paradox of our identity as elect exiles is “according to the foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and for obedience to Christ.” How can this truth shift our perspective to see how we are being sanctified and discipled through various situations, challenges, and opportunities?

• Monday: Morning: 1 Samuel 22: 6-23, Romans 15:14-33, Psalm 38, 39, 40 // Evening: 1 Samuel 23, Luke 8:1-21, Psalm 38, 39, 40
• Tuesday: Morning: 1 Samuel 24, Romans 16, Psalm 44, 45, 46 // Evening: 1 Samuel 25:1-43, Luke 8:22-56, Psalm 44, 45, 46
• Wednesday: Morning: 1 Samuel 26, 1 Corinthians 1:1-25, Psalm 50, 51, 52 // Evening:1 Samuel 28:1-29, Luke 9:1-17, Psalm 50, 51, 52
• Thursday: Morning: 1 Samuel 30, 1 Corinthians 1:26-2:16, Psalm 56, 57, 58// Evening: 2 Samuel 1, Luke 9:18-50, Psalm 56, 57, 58
• Friday: Morning: 2 Samuel 2:1-3:1, 1 Corinthians 3, Psalm 62, 63, 64// Evening: 2 Samuel 3:2-39, Luke 9:51-62, Psalm 62, 63, 64
• Saturday: Morning: 2 Samuel 4-5:12, 1 Corinthians 4:1-17, Psalm 68 // Evening: 2 Samuel 6, Luke 10:1-24, Psalm 68
• Sunday: Morning: Judges 16:4-31, Mark 9:30-50, Psalm 71, 72 // Evening: 2 Samuel 11, Acts 8:26-39, Psalm 71, 72

• Cabinet Agency: For the Director and staff of the Central Intelligence Agency as they “provide objective intelligence on foreign countries and global issues to the president, the National Security Council, and other policymakers to help them make national security decisions.”
• Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: For the servants and leaders at Rand and their work to “develop solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.” This includes “three federally funded research and development centers sponsored by the Department of Defense and one sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security.”
• Weekly delegation: For the Congressional delegation of Louisiana.
• News events: The 4th Lausanne Congress and the 10,000 men and women from diverse backgrounds to consider gaps and opportunities in global mission, the global church meeting in Incheon, South Korea. Together they will strategize on "advancing the Movement’s fourfold vision — the gospel for every person, disciple-making churches for every people and place, Christ-like leaders for every church and sector, and kingdom impact in every sphere of society." The staff of the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (Energy) as they oversee the award of three billion dollars to develop battery production infrastructure in the United States. According to their website, “the selected projects will retrofit, expand, and build new domestic facilities for battery-grade processed critical minerals, battery components, battery manufacturing, and recycling.”
• Personal requests: For wisdom for a job decision. For someone angered and grieving over the end of a marriage. For someone preparing to give multiple talks over the coming weeks. For someone working on a position paper that they do not fully support. For someone facing a deadline. For a couple celebrating the birth of their second child.

• Go here first →  The Ideos Institute’s (Re)Union Project will launch 31 Days of Unity. For the 31 days of October, you can receive daily texts — each with a prayer for unity, scripture reference, and a link to a short video reflection. Faithful Presence is participating in this initiative. 
• Read this first → The Moral Imagination has the latest from Michael Matthison Miller, The Wonder of the Ordinary, Ignoring the Invisible, and Gratitude as an Antidote to Ideology, which addresses the need for Christians to live in this world while longing for the next. In doing so, he engages coffee shops, Marxism, the Enlightenment, and cultural discernment. 
• Mere Orthodoxy has a clarifying and insightful piece by one of our favorite writers, Jake Meador, “Evangelical Sociology vs Mainline Sociology,” which is part of a must-read series.
• From the Laussane Congress, as promised, comes part three of four on workplace evangelism, “Fostering Redemptive Conversations at Work,” in advance of their global conference in Seoul. 
• World Magazine published an op-ed from former Vice President Mike Pence and Grove City College President Paul McNulty asserting that “Colleges should teach students discernment and virtue, not just job training.”

• Monday, September 23, 2:30 - 3:30 pm ET, The Brookings Institute joins the conversation on the housing supply issue and its place in the election conversation, “Making housing more affordable: Issues at stake in the 2024 election.”
• Wednesday. September 25, 5:00 - 7:00 pm ET The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University presents the 10th Annual Costan Lecture in Early Christianity: Thomas Williams Discusses “Augustine on the Saving Work of Christ”
• Thursday, September 26, 3:00 - 4:30 pm ET, RAND will host "All Elements of National Power: The Way Ahead for the Next National Defense Strategy."
• FINAL WEEK → Weekdays 12:00 - 1:00 pm, LIVE! CONCERT SERIES ON THE PLAZA at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center’s Wilson Plaza. On stage this week,
• • Mon. 9/23 - Jill Fulton, Classic Rock
  • Tues. 9/24 - Sol Y Rumba, Salsa
  • Wed. 9/25 - Colie Aziza, Jazz
  • Thurs. 9/26 - Shirleta Settles, Old School R&B
  • Fri. 9/27 - E.U. Featuring Sugar Bear, Go-Go
• Friday, September 27, The Ilona Foundation is hosting its second annual Sunflower Benefit Concert featuring Wendell Kimbrough at Grace Church in Fredericksburg, VA.
• Monday, September 30, 6:30–8:30 pm, The Trinity Forum is hosting Democracy and Solidarity: An Evening Conversation with James Davison Hunter and David Brooks. at the National Press Club.