This morning I am continuing my reading from 1 Peter. These next verses seemed quite appropriate - 1 Peter 2:11-17 NIV:
[11] "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. [12] Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
[13] "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, [14] or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. [15] For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. [16] Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. [17] Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor."
Recently, I have had several conversations about how, as Christians, we should respond to all that is swirling around us here in the US. Peter's encouragement is to live in such a way that our lives should stand out from the lives of those around us, not for our judgments, religion, or right beliefs, but rather by our good deeds. He goes on to urge his fellow followers of Christ, to submit themselves to whatever human authority they find themselves under, and to even honor them! That is a pretty bold statement, and one that is easy to follow when you approve of the present government, but definitely challenging when you don't approve, like or agree with your government. Peter wrote that during the time when the Roman Emporer` was Nero. Regardless of our situation, this is our encouragement, as Christians. As bad as some of our governing individuals seem, we are called to honor them, and show proper respect for them.
As I reflect further on this, I am reminded of several verses where we are told our citizenship is really in Heaven (Philippians 3:20), and that we are part of the Kingdom of God, first and foremost. I wrote a blog entry on this several years ago (See - https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2015/05/our-identity-and-nationality-in-christ.html). I am reminded here of another bit that I quoted in the blog entry above. One of the earliest apologists of the Christian faith, in his letter to Diognetus wrote the following -
[1] "For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or customs. [2] For nowhere do they live in cities of there own, nor do they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric lifestyle. [3] This teaching of theirs has not been discovered by the thought and reflection of ingenious men, nor do they promote any human doctrine, as some do. [4] But while they live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one's lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life, at the same time they demonstrate the remarkable and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship. [5] They live in their own countries, but only as aliens, they participate in in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign....[9]They live on the earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. [10] They obey the established laws; indeed in their private lives they transcend the laws." (Epistle to Diognetus 5:1-6, 9-10)
We are called to transcend our earthly existence, and to instead embrace our citizenship in Heaven. Christ came to establish His Kingdom, and this He did successfully. However it is not an earthly Kingdom, nor is it even a redeemed nation! The United States is not, nor will it ever be God's chosen nation. He love's all peoples and all nations, and the only Nation that He has ever chosen as His own is Israel, but that was the Old Testament revelation. Jesus came and gave us further revelation and directed the Apostles to go to all Nations, and to make disciples of all peoples (Matt 28:19-20). The Holy Spirit further encouraged the Apostles, when they were limiting the revelation of salvation to Jews, to go to the gentile peoples (See Acts 10 & 11) God's Kingdom and favor is no longer linked to any one nation, but rather to each of us individually, wherever we live, as His sons and daughters. We are His Kingdom, His daughters and sons, in whatever country or city we live in. We are citizens of Heaven, and that is where we should place our hope. While our hearts are towards heaven, we are called to live godly lives, here on earth, in whatever country we live, to respect and honor the governments that we are under.
Oh Lord, help us to live our lives in such a way that those who look at us may see our good deeds and glorify God!
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment