Be Different to Make a Difference

- Pastor Jän van Oosten

“As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.”— 1 Peter 2:4-5a (NIV)

In this passage, Peter challenges us to know who we are in Christ. Knowing who we are is a key to making a difference in our world.

First, he tells us we are living stones. At a critical point in Peter’s life, Jesus gave him the name Peter, meaning “rock.” Peter understood that he, like us, is one of the “living stones” that make up the building of the church. By itself, a stone cannot do much good. With others, it can be a beautiful building. Our role is to come to the “living Stone”—Jesus—and join others in God's living and active work. In our individualistic culture, it is easy to go it alone, but it takes effort to be different and join others. Together, we can make a difference.

Make a Difference:

Are you making an effort to be different? Join others at a Bible-believing church and actively participate in God’s work.

As You Read:

As we read in Exodus, the people of Israel were set apart. Their identity was found in their relationship with Jehovah, and He was trying to build them into something beautiful. Likewise, Peter said that we have been chosen and set apart as a faith community; these individual stones, when woven together in God’s tapestry, build something the world has never seen.