The person s stay may be short or long but is understood to be only temporary in nature not permanent. Nobody in their right mind would want to be an alien, not in a family, not in a high school, not in a nice community like Pana, not even in America where with some patience most legal aliens can become citizens. Of all people, Peter should know best how embarrassing, how shameful, how painful it is to be treated as an outsider, as someone who doesn t belong. However, that does not mean we are called to be obnoxious and contrary eccentrics who do not fit well into the community. The Apostle Peter says we are called to be God s aliens in this world for two reasons.
Some people become displaced strangers and aliens for cruel reasons.
Today ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe but also among rivaling African tribes is making many people aliens living in neighboring countries. These are desperate conditions. Many others in our society are homeless and alienated from society due to mental illness, or alcohol and drug addiction, or a criminal life style. This is evil. Peter says our being scattered in the world is not a curse but a grace , not an accident or a tragedy because we are chosen and elected by God s foreknowledge to be His people in this fallen world.