Becoming Peculiar

A Peculiar People “We are a peculiar people. There is a wholesomeness about you that is beautiful and wonderful. We don’t smoke, we don’t drink, we don’t even take tea or coffee. That is strange for a lot of people. We do vicarious work for the dead. We teach that marriage in the house of the Lord is for time and for all eternity, that families can actually be forever. We are a peculiar people, and thank heavens we are. If the world continues to go in the direction it is going, families breaking up, pornography everywhere, drugs and things of that kind, we will become an even more peculiar people. God has blessed us generously and kindly and greatly. How thankful we ought to be” . (fireside, Sydney, Australia, 14 May 1997)

Peter of old made a great and prophetic statement: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).

I know of no other statement which more aptly describes you, nor which sets before you a higher ideal by which to shape and guide your lives.

Some time ago I read a letter to a newspaper editor which was highly critical of the Church. It included a question something like this: “When are the Mormons going to stop being different and become part of mainstream America?”
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I often recall a talk I gave at the University West Stake conference a year before I became a member of the Church. It was a courageous stake president (Lemonte Peterson) who dared ask a nonmember to address his stake in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Yet, President Peterson was inspired, because that talk was a message to myself and it was well received. In it I suggested that the trouble with the Saints was not that they were a peculiar people, but that they were not peculiar enough!LINK

Why are the Latter-day Saints a peculiar people? LINK

What, then, is a peculiar people? The term itself is found only in the Bible. The Revised Standard Bible’s rendering, “my own possession,” reflects its true sense. A peculiar people is one whose relationship to God is out of the ordinary, who partake of his divine nature in a very special way. Jehovah said not only that Israel would be distinct from all other nations, but also that that distinction would lie in their moral and spiritual superiority. In other words, they would be a peculiar people because they were a holy people.

Later, back at the U.S. Department of State, I related some of these experiences to a young Jewish attorney in the legal adviser’s office. He said that it had always been his understanding that those portions of the Mosaic law dealing with food had been given to perform precisely the same function for his people: namely, to prevent the unconscious assimilation of the Jews into the gentile world. LINK

• While the children of Israel were camped at Mount Sinai, what did the Lord promise if they would be obedient? (See Exodus 19:3–6. He would make them “a peculiar treasure, … a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”) What do these promises mean? How do these promises apply to us today?

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These promises mean that Israel would become the Lord’s covenant people, favored above all others and chosen to bear the priesthood and the gospel to all people (see also Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:1–2; 1 Peter 2:9). Note that in this context, peculiar carries the meaning of “being the Lord’s own special people or treasure,” not the meaning of “odd or eccentric” (Bible Dictionary, “Peculiar,” 748).
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Peter used uplifting terms in a prophecy regarding our day. He identified members of the Church as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” 29 The adjectives chosen, royal, and holy we recognize as elevating. But what about peculiar? A modern dictionary defines peculiar as “unusual,” “eccentric,” or “strange.” 30 What kind of compliment is that?

But the term peculiar as used in the scriptures is quite different. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew term from which peculiar was translated is segullah, which means “valued property,” or “treasure.” 31 In the New Testament, the Greek term from which peculiar was translated is peripoiesis, which means “possession,” or “an obtaining.” 32

Thus, we see that the scriptural term peculiar signifies “valued treasure,” “made” or “selected by God.” 33 For us to be identified by servants of the Lord as his peculiar people is a compliment of the highest order. LINK

It is the ethos of those who keep the Lord’s commandments, walk in His ways, and “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (D&C 84:44). If that makes us peculiar, so be it.

The Message:
You Are DifferentLINK

I would also like to say that it was unthinkable for us to go to school in sloppy attire. The first pair of long trousers I wore was for graduation from junior high school. Prior to that, like my friends, I wore short pants and long, black cotton socks. But they were neat and they were tidy. The mending of socks was a great chore, but it was an important chore.

We attended the public schools. My elementary school was named after American statesman Alexander Hamilton. My junior high school was named for United States president Theodore Roosevelt. We learned about these men. On February 12 we had a holiday for President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. On February 22 we had another holiday to honor President George Washington. Just before these holidays we had school programs in which we learned about “Honest Abe” and the boy George who admitted to chopping down his father’s cherry tree. Maybe there was little historical substance to some of those stories, but there was something of substance that came into our lives. We developed an appreciation for the principle of honesty. Today we have Presidents’ Day in the United States, but for many it has become primarily a play day.LINK