EXILES & AMBASSADORS
- UnstoppableRevKev
- Aug 12
- 2 min read
📖Scripture: “…who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…” – 1 Peter 1:1b
🔎Reflection: The Greek term for “exiles” (parepidēmos) describes foreigners—people who don’t belong to the geographical space they inhabit. For Peter’s readers, this was literal: persecution had scattered them hundreds of miles from their homes. But it’s also true spiritually. Followers of Christ are sojourners on earth (Phil. 3:20; Heb. 11:13). We live in this world, but we are not of it (John 17:16).
The dispersion was not an accident—it was a sovereign scattering for divine deployment. What Satan intended for evil in scattering believers, God used to spread the Gospel far and wide (Gen. 50:20; Acts 8:1-4). Our dislocation—whether geographic, cultural, or relational—may feel like loss, but in Christ, it’s intended as missional.
The Church is most effective not when comfortable but compelled by Christ. Being an exile means embracing both our alien status and our ambassador role (2 Cor. 5:20). We carry the Gospel into every place God sends us, whether it’s a new job, a hostile campus, a difficult neighborhood, or an unfamiliar culture. This requires courage, endurance, and the perspective that our true home is yet to come (Heb. 13:14).
🤺Action: Identify one “exile” circumstance in your life where you feel out of place or under pressure. Ask God about His plan and how He can use that very situation to position you for Gospel impact and the glory of Christ in the church. Take one intentional step this week to live as a visible ambassador of Christ in that “exile” setting as worship in Spirit & Truth.
🙏Prayer: Sovereign Lord, You have appointed my times and places. Forgive me when I grumble in discomfort, complain in fear, or chase the illusion of earthly belonging. Please teach me to embrace my full identity as a citizen of heaven and a stranger here. Holy Spirit, I submit to your power and leadership in carrying the light of Christ into the darkness around me. My desire is to glorify the LORD in the place You’ve scattered me… enduring faithfully until You return or bring me home. I pray this in King Jesus’ holy and precious name, Amen.
Click the following link for a short video version:
Blessings & love,
Kevin M. Kelley
Pastor
Check out this awesome praise song from Building 429: >>VIDEO<<
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