I have recently become a foreigner. I am a “born and
raised Texan” (yes, I’m aware we can be a bit obnoxious about our state), but I
now live in Colorado. I will soon need to trade in my Texas driver’s license (today,
I think!) and Texas license plates for Colorado versions. I have crossed the
border into a new territory, which has made me think about citizenship and how
to live where you aren’t really at home.
I have only changed states right now, but if I went
to live in a foreign country, I would have much different expectations of the
government than when I’m in my own country. I could not expect them to make changes to accommodate my preferences or convictions. For
example, I could not go to China and expect them to adopt Capitalism, nor could
I go to south France and expect them to ban topless beaches.
Just as I have a form of dual citizenship right now
as a born Texan residing in Colorado, I also hold another dual citizenship. I
am a resident of America, but like all who follow Jesus, I was born into the Kingdom
of God. The Apostle Peter writes that God’s people are “a holy nation,” and he describes us as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:9, 11 NIV). The
words he uses here mean “sojourners, literally, settlers having a house in a
city without being citizens in respect to the rights of citizenship.”[1]
Sounds a bit like an American citizen living in another country…or a citizen of
a foreign country living here. (No, this blog is not about immigration policy!)
If this is case, we have a great deal in common with
the Israelites while they were in exile in Babylon. What were God’s instructions
to them? Were they to fight the government, try to overthrow the king, change
the laws, or complain because the Babylonians did not wish to follow the
Israelites’ God-given moral code? No. The prophet Jeremiah gave them the
following instructions:
“Build
houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have
sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in
marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number
there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to
which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it
prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer. 29:5-7 NIV)
God instructed them to live honorable, productive lives
and to pray for the prosperity of the host country. This translates into our being instructed to pray “God Bless America.” Peter gives similar instructions when he says to “Live honorably among the outsiders
so that, even when some may be inclined to call you criminals, when they see
your good works, they might give glory to God…” (1 Pet 2:12 VOI).
What would this country look like if all followers
of Jesus who are living here as “foreigners and exiles” lived productive, exemplary lives that demonstrated
the love of Jesus to our unbelieving neighbors, which in turn made them take note and give
glory to God? Could the way to truly transform our country of residence be getting our neighbors to transfer
their true citizenship to the Kingdom of God, instead of criticizing, attacking, and fighting? Pray for this country, be an example to your neighbors, and remember that we are “citizens
of heaven, exiles on earth, waiting eagerly for a Liberator, our Lord Jesus the
Anointed, to come and transform these humble, earthly bodies into the form of
His glorious body by the same power that brings all things under His control”
(Phil 3:20-21 VOI).
