Heavenly Citizenship

their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
-Philippians 3:19b-20
 
What does it mean to be a citizen of heaven?
Does it mean that we stop caring about the earth?
Does it mean that we are just waiting to leave this place and go home to heaven?
 
The Greek word for citizenship is politeuma. You might not know Greek, but it does not take much of an imagination to see the roots of the word politics. Our current culture treats politics as a bad or divisive word.  Just uttering it will often bring up an audible sigh or groan. I don’t think it was much different for the first century church in Philippi, which is why Paul writes to them encouraging them to relocate their citizenship and their politics to heaven. 
 
When we make this shift it doesn’t mean we stop caring about our current place, rather it means we care even more about the places we are located in. Heavenly citizenship gathers us around the teachings of Jesus and his politics of love. Instead of self-centered thinking and organizing for the benefit of a group we are encouraged to love our neighbors no matter where they are from, and to love our enemies even when it’s hard and dangerous. This is what it means to be a citizen of heaven.
 
May you walk in this world with Jesus as your king.
May you be able to see beyond the false dichotomies of popular politics.
And may you practice the politics of love wherever you are.

Matt+