This evening we sat down to finish watching The Hobbit. My son and I started a few days ago and decided to resume from where we started. Spoiler alert. If you haven’t seen the movie, you might want to skip this paragraph. We started when Bilbo was getting ready to leave the company of Thorin Oakenshield, whilst they were staying in a cave in the mountains. When asked why he was leaving he said “I don’t belong here”. Immediately that caught my attention.

What does belong mean? According to the dictionary it means to have an affinity for a specified place or situation. It means to fit in, be suited to, to have a rightful place, to have a home, to be part of. In the movie, Bilbo didn’t feel he belonged with the Dwarves because he was very different and was used to his home and his comforts. The Dwarves on the other hand had experienced loss and hardship and wars. They had lost their riches and their home. At least they had the comfort of one another and the same customs. In the Unexpected Journey Bilbo was the only Hobbit.

As Christians we do not belong here in this world. We are citizens of heaven. We have been bought with a great price. We are not supposed to fit in with this world. With the culture around us. We were once enemies of God. Ephesians chapter 2 reminds us that we were foreigners, strangers and separated from Christ. We were brought near by His blood.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. Ephesians 2:11-13

We now belong. We are now citizens and belong to His household. We have a home.

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone”. Ephesians 2:19-20

Interestingly, it is harder than it seems to live every day as people who don’t belong here. We are bombarded from all sides to conform and we are constantly trying to fit in. No one likes to stand out. A Christian woman who lives to please God and keeps her eyes focused on things from above (Colossians 3:1-3) stands out from the crowd. The way she talks, what she wears, how she relates to her family and her friends, what she thinks, what she pursues is different because her main goal is to bring glory to God.

In Romans 12:1-2 we read:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”. (emphasis mine)

We mustn’t try to fit in with this world or conform to it. We are told we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We must be reminded that our home is in Heaven. We do that by constantly coming back to God’s word and learning from it. It contains everything we need to live here in a way that pleases our God (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

As I write this post I feel peace in my heart because I know that my Saviour has bought me and has promised that He is preparing a home for me where He is. I know that one day I will be home. At the same time, I tremble because I know it is hard. I know tomorrow I will meet people that are on a different journey and the pressures of the world will be screaming loudly and the enemy will continue to prowl and accuse. He will throw all the distractions and will make me feel awkward, as if I am being watched all the time. As if to say why do you want to be alone? Different than anybody else? Swimming against the tide. It is so hard. Turn around.

So let’s take courage. We belong to God’s family. We are not alone. We are secure in Christ and we have brothers and sisters everywhere walking in the same direction. Standing out like a sore thumb in this world. Be encouraged by Jesus’ own words:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:18-19 (emphasis mine)

and take heart when you think you can’t do it anymore. Jesus prayed for each one of us that we would be protected whilst in this world living for Him.

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.  For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.  All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.  While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (emphasis mine)

Happy standing out!

God bless.

_{Photo by Juliana Kozoski on Unsplash}