Citizens of Heaven

            “Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we look for the Savior” (Phil. 3:20 NKJV)

            For two decades we have had the privilege of living and serving on the foreign field. Many are the lessons learned abroad, and one of them in particular is our subject, that of citizenship. When you live and work in a foreign country, you are, of course, a foreigner. Foreigners must have special permission to enter the country, that is, a passport and in many cases a visa. In some countries their banking privileges are restricted. As foreigners they are not allowed to vote nor to participate in politics or government. Those are the exclusive privileges of citizens.

            There are parallels, of course, in the Christian life, and the Apostle Paul tells us that “our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven” (KJV).  This is the Greek word “politeuma,” which is related to our word “politics.” It refers to the administration of civil affairs or of a commonwealth of citizens. Thus a marginal rendering of this verse is, “we live or conduct ourselves as citizens of heaven”. In Luke 10:20 we are told to rejoice because our names are written in heaven. That is our inscription in the heavenly register of spiritual births, the Lamb’s book of life. Ephesians 2:19 tells us that we are no longer strangers (foreigners), but “members of the household of God.” Because we belong to the Lord Jesus, we are looking for and waiting for the Savior, who will come from heaven for us. Our heavenly citizenship produces a heavenly hope in us. We should look up, and set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth (Col. 3:1-4).

            In Hebrews 11:9-16, we learn that we have a wonderful heavenly homeland. There is a city whose architect and builder is God. It far surpasses all earthly dreams about “utopia,” the “new world,” the “great society”, etc. There are no elections in heaven, no referendums, and no political parties. There is no police force, no fire department, no sanitary department, and no public health department. The water works are driven by the pure river of life. The illumination is provided by a Source much better than our electric generators, by the Son Himself!

            The Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:17 that we are pilgrims in this world , that is, sojourners, just passing through. After insisting that as believers we should be obedient to God and holy in all manner of life, he says, “pass the time of your sojourning here in fear”. On the foreign mission field we have a residence permit. It must be periodically renewed with a government agency, and we must carry it with us at all times for identification. It reminds us that we are foreigners in this land. Isn’t that the way it really is with all Christians? In a sense we are all foreign missionaries, living in the world but not of the world (Jn. 17:14-18). Therefore, we should reverence and obey our heavenly Father. We should be holy in our personal lives, and separated from the world. When we remember our heavenly calling and citizenship, we should not be afraid to be different, nor to teach our children to be different. No need to go along with the world or imitate it. Like Israel of old, the church is a people who belong to God. In passages like Deuteronomy 18:9 and Jeremiah 10:2 Israel was warned not to learn the ways of the heathen. There was to be separation then, and passages like Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 instruct us in the same way today. Psalm 1 blesses the one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but rather delights in the law of the Lord. These are practical aspects of heavenly citizenship. We should  remember the Scriptural exhortation to not become entangled in the affairs of this life (2 Tim. 2:4). As believers in Christ and heavenly citizens, we should represent the Lord and His interests.

            Our assemblies should be congregations of saints, those who are set apart for the Lord, saved by His precious blood, and heaven-bound. We meet to learn from His Word, to encourage one another, express our love and worship for Him and to implore His help through prayer. The churches should be heavenly, not worldly. Assembly meetings are not supposed to be attractive to the people of the world, but to the Lord and to spiritually minded, heavenly minded people. This, of course, does not mean that we shouldn’t be friendly to newcomers and visitors. They should receive a warm welcome, but we should not let concerns about their likes and dislikes, or concerns about current trends in society dictate how the church should be. In the assembly we should be reminded of our heavenly citizenship. Years ago we used to sing hymns like this, “Earth is a desert drear, heaven is my home,” but these have been neglected and forgotten to the point where many young adults have never heard of them at all. It is symptomatic of the loss of heavenly orientation.

            As citizens of heaven we should “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). The word “first” indicates order, priority. It means, “before other things.” If we make a “to do” list, prioritized and numerically ordered, then the first thing on the list should be “the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” This is not a text only for missionaries, but also for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Since heaven is our “homeland,” and will be our eternal abode, Christ exhorts us to be careful about our banking. We should lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth (Matt. 6:19-21). Why hoard money in a place where you’d have to leave it all behind? And the inevitable result of laying up treasures on earth is that the heart is not in heaven. It means that people who lay up treasures on earth don’t have their hearts on heaven or heavenly things. Yet as far as many people are concerned, these verses might as well not even be in the Bible. Their investments are tragically earth-bound. Certainly contributing to political parties and campaigns shows spiritual shortsightedness. How is your heavenly investment portfolio?

            Our Lord said, “my kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight” (Jn. 18:36 ). He did not want His servants to fight and struggle with political, military and religious powers in search of prominence for Christ or advantage for His kingdom. His kingdom is heavenly, in origin and nature. When it is time for it to be installed on earth, Revelation 19 tells us that the Lord will come to fight and the armies of heaven will accompany Him. Until then, we have plenty of work to do, but it does not include political parties, lobby groups, social work or involvement in government. Why would an assembly of heavenly minded followers of Christ want to be known as “republicans” or “democrats”? Why would an assembly spend hundreds of man-hours registering voter, forming or maintaining “coalitions”, or lobbying for certain laws, instead of doing evangelistic work? Tract distribution and evangelistic visitation are being replaced by work to serve a political party. J. N. Darby said, “the Christian cannot set the world right.” Nor should he try! God declares that the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up and lost forever. That certainly includes the works of politicians and their entourage, along with all the vanity, self-advertisement and hero-worship that they include. The world is a condemned building about to be destroyed. It is time to warn the inhabitants, not to paint the building or campaign for better management. The world system is a sinking ship, doomed to be captained by the best of politicians, the Beast! Who wants to arrange the deck-chairs on the Titanic when we could be getting people into the life-boats? Yes, early Christians were accused of turning the world upside down, but remember, their activities were spiritual and evangelistic, not political. Doubtless they would be shocked at the political fervor of some professing Christians today, and even ashamed to associate with them. We should remember what we were taught by faithful brethren who have gone on to their reward. They said,

                        Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.

            By what incredible stretch of the imagination can a person claim that his constant occupation with politics and party business is doing work for Christ? Christ has spelled out what He wants us to do in His Word, and it does not include political activism. The fact that God ordains human government (Romans 13) cannot be rightly used as a proof text for involvement in politics. In fact, God ordains all governments, not just the so-called “democratic” ones. There were many things wrong with the world in which the Apostle Paul and his coworkers lived, but they had an unswerving commitment to heaven’s priorities. Paul describes his plan for Corinth in these words:

 “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified...And my speech and my preaching was not with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:2-5).

            Corinth, a corrupt city, was not to be saved by political reform, but through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Think about what Paul said, “not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” That excluded politics. Not Jesus Christ plus the party platform, but rather, nothing but Jesus Christ!  The Christian’s work is to speak out for Christ, to hold fast to the Word of God and testify for the Lord. At this time Heaven’s approach to the problems of this world is that all men everywhere repent and believe the Gospel. Until the King comes, we each have the privilege of proclaiming that message. The ecumenical-minded “Christians” in political parties, bent on forming unions and alliances and seeking consensuses will never be able to stand clearly for the pure Gospel nor proclaim God’s Word with clarity and power. Their message has been altered by party goals and the “wider context” of the political scenario. They need to be “politically correct,” but that is not on God’s agenda.

            May the Lord help us to meditate on and appreciate our heavenly citizenship. May we behave like citizens of that wonderful and eternal city, seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, and avoiding entanglements in the affairs of this life. May we liquidate any treasures laid up on earth and invest them in the “bank of heaven”, not in doomed political and social movements (see Phil. 4:17). May we like Paul determine that our message will only be Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and may the Lord use us to see others added to the Lamb’s book of life and thus changed into citizens of heaven.

            Carl Knott