Our Higher Citizenship
For most of us reading this who live in the United States, we may sigh at the way so many things get so political. Seems a person can hardly say or do anything without someone else politicizing it and getting upset, or commenting on it. And we wonder, What have we come to? And where are we going?
Our nation, or any nation, does not need more conservatives, and we certainly don’t need more liberals. Our nation needs more Kingdom of God People. Every nation does. Jesus’ entire life on earth is the best example of this. Yet at the end, his arrest and crucifixion were, in the minds of those who did it, primarily political. In John 18 the Roman governor questioned him about political motives. Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Governor Pilate didn’t know how to take that.
It’s the same with people today, and we need to keep following Jesus’ example. The main point flows from Philippians 3:20, which affirms, “our citizenship is in heaven.” We have an identity, a purpose, a moral code, and an ultimate destination that is heavenly, not earthly. And that is what makes us—or should make us—a different kind of people here on earth.
Christian should be the best citizens of any given country. If I am an American, as a Christian I should be the best kind of American citizen. If I’m Canadian or Mexican or Korean or Filipino or German or Tanzanian—any country—the fact that I have my primary identity in the Kingdom of God, as a follower of Christ, will influence me to live in ways that benefit the nation and live and act as a blessing to its people.
Our nation needs people who will rise above politics in pursuit of kingdom purposes. Yes, as we do this some things will get political, and people may politicize what we say or do. Yet that’s even more reason to keep focusing on the Kingdom of God, not politics.
Will you live by a higher citizenship?
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Photo credit: ChurchoftheLakes.org
