Citizenship

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Philippians 3:20 says, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:’ 

     I once had a passport.  We went to Spain in the 1980’s  and had to naturally possess a valid passport.  Upon arriving in Spain, we checked in at the American embassy.  While in the U. S. Navy, I didn’t need a passport as my military Identification was sufficient to travel around in various ports.  Missionaries are sometimes warned to not be overly zealous about their nationality as not all people in the world have the same regard for your home country.  You wouldn’t want to get  too excited when you saw your country’s flag somewhere.

     The above passage has an unusual word in it  and it is the word “conversation.”   It is translated that way in the King  James Version but has the meaning of “citizenship.”  The most common usage might be “community.”   This word along  with the passage in Second Corinthians 5 which reminds us that we are ambassadors of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, emphasizes the fact of our real citizenship, which is in heaven rather than here on earth.  There may come a time when you will have to make a choice as to whom you should obey such as was the case with some of the apostles.   Acts 5:30-32 says, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”  The Scriptures do exhort us to be obedient to those in authority over us until it violates God’s authority.  Song  writers have written hymns that  also reflect  our real citizenship  such as, “ This earth is not my home, I’m just a passin through.”  The lesson from Philippians needs to be seen also with the Second Corinthians passage as we want to have a good example to those around us.  Unfortunately, this not always the case.  Arguments  and hur t feelings are often found within church walls and leave many a non-believer with a poor example and quite often discourages them from further church attendance.  Since our citizenship is in heaven and we are “ambassadors” we ought to act  accordingly.  If you are in doubt  as to how that might be, just consider the “one another” commands in the New  Testament.  We are to “love another, pray for  one another, bear one another’s burdens, and to exhort one another,” just  to name a few.  Praise God today for our  citizenship in heaven.