A Good Citizen

by Dale Beaver

Citizen: A citizen is a person who, by place of birth, nationality of one or both parents, or naturalization is granted full rights and responsibilities as a member of a nation or political community.

Every human being is born into the spiritual and material reality of our planet -- the kingdom of this world, in which Satan rules. Our current culture (in many ways, thankfully not all) denies the existence of God and therefore denies His spiritual adversary. It is strange that considering this denial, print and film media have consistently maintained a fascination with angels and demons, with a chief emphasis on Lucifer, the Head Devil. As we will see, Ephesians 6 is very clear in giving us not only the very real and personal scheme of Satan for believers in Jesus, but also our strategy as Christ’s followers to combat him.

Always remember that this warfare is engaged on our part from a position “in Christ.” We as the church operate together in this battle from that position of “in Christ.” As Paul makes clear, we live as citizens of the USA from the perspective of life in the Kingdom of Heaven. He says it this way: “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” Philippians 3:20

As I stated last weekend, the message we proclaim is the Gospel. Our mandate is not to rant at the culture or the political system like a news analyst but to offer the hope of the Gospel for those deceived by Satan and firmly planted in the temporary culture of his kingdom. This does not mean that we ignore our responsibility as dual citizens in the here and now. How do we function as both temporary citizens of Evansville and Indiana and the United States, as well as citizens of heaven, which is our guiding citizenship for this world?

Our responsibility in society is to not only recognize the scheme of our adversary but to pray against its destructive work, to speak the truth as we are taught biblically, and to live obediently to what the Lord commands. Our first concern is to recognize the destructive forces at work against the church—usually from within. We have lot to keep us busy there, and Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6 is to pay attention and keep watch in the church.

Part of that obedience is to stay informed about what is going on in our culture and to respond as representatives of Christ—primarily so that it does not infect the church. Those who follow the scheme of Satan will never understand or agree with a church guided by its first citizenship. We won’t reform this culture socially or politically--only the mercy of God through the offering and reception of the Gospel will do that. But we must remember our dual citizenship. We have rights and responsibilities in the here and now. Sometimes those rights give us pause to say “Thank You” for the freedom to worship Jesus and declare Him Lord. Sometimes those responsibilities require our vote, voice, or vocation. What rights and responsibilities of your dual citizenship are most important to you?

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