Our citizenship

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, - Philippians 3v20


As a citizen of one country living in another this passage always jumps out at me. While an American citizen living in Ireland I find myself under two sets of laws. While I am obligated to obey all of the laws of my “home country” I also must obey the laws of my “host” country. I need to do all the paperwork, pay the taxes, have the right visa and other paperwork, and respect and obey the local laws. Sometimes one feels like a man without a country.

I think there is a picture here for us. While out citizenship is in heaven we still have to live somewhere else. While they we are taught to submit to the proper authorities, to obey the laws, and to conduct ourselves properly. We have something of a dual citizenship while we are here.

Paul gives us a vital reminder here that goes deeper. As long as I carry my American passport I will never be Irish. In the same regard as long as we carry our Heavenly passport, we are not of this world. As an American I hold my citizenship in high regard. Paul, as a Roman citizen, did the same. Sometimes however there is a temptation to think that my American passport makes be special, or better, than others. Sometimes being an American Christian supplants being a Christian American.

I love politics. I really, really love politics. If I am not careful I can be consumed by it. This is an election year in the United States. It is tragic when politics divides believers. Bothers and sisters in Christ will sadly “bite and devour one another” over earthly political issues. I have seen Christians say things like, “You can’t be saved if you support _________________.” Since when did political choices supplant “grace alone, by faith alone?”

We need to be honest, responsible citizens where ever God allows us to be. But we err when that citizenship becomes more important than our heavenly citizenship.