Acts 16
When the magistrates of Philippi had
Paul and Silas beaten and jailed they had no idea that they, themselves, were
breaking the law. They thought they were
dealing with a couple of foreigners who were agitators and troublemakers. Little did they know that Paul and Silas were
Roman citizens who had to receive due process before they could be punished for
any crime; if indeed they had committed one.
The city officials had put themselves in danger of (at a minimum) being
removed from office, or even beatings, jailing, or execution.
Paul’s dual citizenship came in handy
across his career. Later, before he was
beaten, he would casually mention that he was a Roman. He was released and even aided at that
point.
As U.S. American Christians we find
ourselves in a similar situation as Paul.
We are citizens of two kingdoms.
On the one hand we are citizens of the
Kingdom of God. By our baptism and
through faith in Jesus we are made citizens by God’s grace. In this Kingdom we are free from sin, guilt,
and any accusation the world may hurl at us.
What is more, we are free to be the people God created us to be, and to
live as He designed us.
On the other hand we are citizens of the
world – particularly the United States of America. In this kingdom we are governed by laws and
regulations. We have a kind of freedom
as long as we live within the boundaries of the law; a pretty wide freedom in
our country.
Sometimes there is pressure for citizens
of the Kingdom of God to keep their spiritual business to themselves. The idea of the separation of church and state
has been pushed to the point that people seem to think that private faith
should have no impact on public discourse or political decision. It is in this situation that we citizens of
the Kingdom of God must feel free to confidently take hold of our rights as
citizens of the United States. It is
good and right for God’s people to insist our good and just leadership from our
government. Yet this is not our main
task: We keep sharing Jesus, and leading
people into God’s Kingdom.
Father, help me to represent You well as an
ambassador of Your Kingdom to my neighbors in this world for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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