1 Peter - 2. Keep Christians Weird (Jody Garner)

Peter refers to the Christians in Northwest Asia as "exiles" multiple times (or "strangers," "foreigners," "aliens," or even older translations "sojourners.").  Why does Peter call them this, what significance did it have then? How might this apply to us today in the twenty-first century? 

1 Peter 1:1; 17; 2:11-12; 5:13