We have the privilege of knowing people from many different backgrounds. Some have been in the UK for a long time and have become British Citizens. Most of these have nevertheless retained citizenship of their original country. They have dual-citizenship. It makes sense of course. It means they don't have to apply for visas when they want to visit family, they still have the right to vote in elections and so on. They get extra opportunities to celebrate; their own national day as well as those of their new residence. As far a s possible, they get the best of both worlds.
As believers, the temptation is to do the same. Yes, we have chosen the Kingdom of God as our 'home'. We have adopted heaven as our new country. We love it, love the culture, the people, the language, the new traditions, the hospitality, the value placed on relationship, the hope and security it provides. But we hold on to the citizenship that the world offers too. We don't want to let go of the rights that gives us. The access to all that the world offers. We have stepped into the new, embracing it and enjoying it, but we haven't stepped fully out of the old.
The truth is, in Biblical terms, it doesn't work. You can't have dual citizenship. If you try, you actually end up with no citizenship. You don't feel fully at home in either, you become some sort of hybrid, fitting in nowhere. The culture of the world is at odds with the culture of the Kingdom. You can't mix and match, you will simply end up confused, dissatisfied wherever you put your feet.
God told Abraham to “Go to a land that I will reveal”, Jesus told his followers to “Go.” Both required a leaving, a process that often involves a change of geography, but which always requires a change of mind. A choosing to live in the place of destiny, of promise. A choosing to let go of all that is familiar and calls back.
Ruth typifies this. “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” She chooses to let go of everything she has known, the comforts and seeming security of the familiar. Instead she commits her future to a land she has seen in Naomi, a land she has glimpsed in faith, but to which she has never been. The result is more than she could ever have dreamed of. Welcome, acceptance, intimacy, security, fulfilment. In her legacy would be David, and through him, an even greater King.
So too for us. Stay as a citizen of the world, enjoy all it has to offer and die with its promise of decay and finality. Attempt dual citizenship and be dissatisfied with both, torn between two conflicting worlds, never giving yourself wholly to either, ending up confused and miserable. Or tear up the old passport. Renounce the old country. Give it up and go, with every fibre of your being, into the new country, risking everything for what you have glimpsed.
And enjoy it forever.
As believers, the temptation is to do the same. Yes, we have chosen the Kingdom of God as our 'home'. We have adopted heaven as our new country. We love it, love the culture, the people, the language, the new traditions, the hospitality, the value placed on relationship, the hope and security it provides. But we hold on to the citizenship that the world offers too. We don't want to let go of the rights that gives us. The access to all that the world offers. We have stepped into the new, embracing it and enjoying it, but we haven't stepped fully out of the old.
The truth is, in Biblical terms, it doesn't work. You can't have dual citizenship. If you try, you actually end up with no citizenship. You don't feel fully at home in either, you become some sort of hybrid, fitting in nowhere. The culture of the world is at odds with the culture of the Kingdom. You can't mix and match, you will simply end up confused, dissatisfied wherever you put your feet.
God told Abraham to “Go to a land that I will reveal”, Jesus told his followers to “Go.” Both required a leaving, a process that often involves a change of geography, but which always requires a change of mind. A choosing to live in the place of destiny, of promise. A choosing to let go of all that is familiar and calls back.
Ruth typifies this. “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” She chooses to let go of everything she has known, the comforts and seeming security of the familiar. Instead she commits her future to a land she has seen in Naomi, a land she has glimpsed in faith, but to which she has never been. The result is more than she could ever have dreamed of. Welcome, acceptance, intimacy, security, fulfilment. In her legacy would be David, and through him, an even greater King.
So too for us. Stay as a citizen of the world, enjoy all it has to offer and die with its promise of decay and finality. Attempt dual citizenship and be dissatisfied with both, torn between two conflicting worlds, never giving yourself wholly to either, ending up confused and miserable. Or tear up the old passport. Renounce the old country. Give it up and go, with every fibre of your being, into the new country, risking everything for what you have glimpsed.
And enjoy it forever.
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