Citizenship

     I was talking with a friend who has US citizenship and in recent years has gained Canadian citizenship as well. I envy her a little bit because it gives her the right to free access to most of North America. I do have Canadian citizenship, and I even found that, through my grandfather, I could also gain Irish citizenship, or at least an Irish passport.

       Citizenship is a big thing in the Bible too. The Roman commander in Jerusalem when Paul was first arrested, Claudius Lysias, admitted that he had to pay “a lot of money” to get his citizenship. Paul countered that he was born with his. And it was his Roman citizenship that saved him from “interrogation” (that is, a beating, see Acts 22:24-28), and got him out of prison in other places (for example, Philippi in Acts 16:37-38). In fact, it was his Roman citizenship that got him his hearing before the emperor himself. Without Roman citizenship, he might never have even gotten out of Jerusalem alive.

        But, in fact, my friend really has treble citizenship, and even I have dual citizenship. We have common citizenship with the Apostle Paul in another country. In fact, 2000 years before Paul, even Abraham had citizenship in that country. Heb.11:10 tells us that “he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Paul told the believers in Philippi (3:20) that “our citizenship is in heaven”

        One of the biggest responsibilities of a citizen is to support the government by paying taxes. I pay my taxes in Canada, and I’m grateful for the freedom and protection I get in return. What about our heavenly citizenship? In the first instance, the Lord Himself said about the children of the kingdom, that they don’t really owe taxes (Mat.17:26). But there may be other things our citizenship requires of us…patriotism—we love our country and its Ruler; defense—or at least explanation of why we’re in this new country; justice to fellow-citizens (and non-citizens), love for fellow-citizens…love for oppressed citizens of “the other country”—we really want them to immigrate!

        The basic principle of how we Christians should treat one another, heavenly citizen or not, is the same as the Jews treating foreigners in their midst. God says, in Leviticus 19:33-34, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

        There is another great advantage to our citizenship. We don’t ever want to meet the ruler of this present world (Eph.2:2). But Paul tells us that “we eagerly await a Saviour” from heaven, who will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Our citizenship in the old country we came out of has nothing like this to offer us. One day we will meet our new Ruler—and be like Him.