Listen

Our citizenship is in heaven. We look forward to a savior that comes from there—the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our humble bodies so that they are like his glorious body, by the power that also makes him able to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters whom I love and miss, who are my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.

Philippians 3:20-4:1a

Think

United States citizenship is available to anybody, no matter your ethnicity, religion, or country of origin. Therefore, there’s only one thing that really makes a person “American”: the Constitution. Everybody agrees on the set of laws that govern their lives.

In Philippians 3, Paul gets political and introduces us to a new kind of citizenship, a heavenly kind. Throughout the New Testament, the word “body” refers to a society or citizenry of people. The church had a heavenly citizenship, and that came with a radically different set of laws. The pressure from Jewish citizenship, based on circumcision, and Roman citizenship, based on allegiance to Caesar, didn’t make it easy to trust in their heavenly citizenship. Yet, Paul inspires them to “stand firm”!

Trust in your heavenly citizenship. Trust that loving your enemies is better than hating them. Trust that the poor and outcast are indeed blessed. Trust that a life of simple service far exceeds a life of wealthy gain.

Ultimately, trust that Christ will return to redeem our poor attempts at society and make us all true citizens of heaven.

Blake Tommey

Pray

Radical God, empower me to live as a citizen of heaven. There’s a lot of pressure on me to place my citizenship elsewhere, so I need help trusting in your set of laws. Where there is hate, let me choose love; where there is oppression, let me bring your justice; where there is nothing but profit, let me give my life away. Amen.

Go

Act. Laugh. Breathe. Stand. Free. Doubt. Root. Trust.