That got me to thinking. Are we dual citizens? If so, then what about the verses that talk about being sojourners? I BlueLetterBible'd the verses that refer to sojourners and found out that for the most part, the term only comes up in the OT and it primarily refers to strangers that are living among the Israelites. But there is a verse in the Psalms that's intriguing:
Hear my prayer, LORD,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger (sojourner), as all my ancestors were. (Psalm 39:12)
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger (sojourner), as all my ancestors were. (Psalm 39:12)
I don't know that that verse says a whole lot to the topic, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see what you all think. Are we sojourners here on earth? If so, what does that say to our local citizenship?
"Art thou ... a Roman?"
ReplyDelete"Yea."
"With a great price obtained this citizenship..."
"But I was free-born."
It's Not That Simple.
Paul was a Jew. He was also a Roman. And he was also most definitely a citizen of Heaven.
Oh, and I think you mean, "Dual", not "Duel".
But then again, the flesh and the spirit are always at war, yeah?
yes, we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and that means that our life in this world is that of temporary dwellers - sojourners - people who live here for now and carry a passport of a totally different country... a different kingdom...
ReplyDelete(btw, I had a peep at that psalm and it looks like he's talking very much about the temporariness of his life on this earth, and the mention of being a sojourner seems to fit in that context.)
bwa ha ha! good catch.
ReplyDeleteEphesians 2:19 - the word for alien means "sojourner"
ReplyDelete1 Peter 2:11 - pilgrim, sojourner, alien
Hebrews 11:9 - refers to OT saints as sojourners just like we are
That's the theme of our adult study on Sunday morning, but specifically, how we live as kingdom citizens while living as alien-sojourners here.
Once, I was discipling a Chinese Christian who was a strong believer, actually. I was surprised how much we were alike spiritually speaking. Yet one time she mentioned that if the U.S. ever went to war with China, of course, she would be on China's side. That really surprised me. She would fight me, her Christian sister because we were from different countries!. It made me rethink nationalism. So I now think it is better for Christians to see themselves as Christians first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to one of my favorite songs. I think it sums up the question quite nicely.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFLGOBvE_q4
I've always thought it was weird when we sing songs like God Bless America in church services around the 4th of July. We have a family in our congregation from South Africa and I've always wondered what they think of that. It seems really incongruous to me to sing a song about an earthly nation when we're in a service that distinctly belongs to a heavenly kingdom and not an earthly one at all. I always sit the song out.
ReplyDelete