Citizens of THE Kingdom

In Philippians 1:27, Paul tells the Christians in Phillipi that no matter what happens, they are to '...conduct [themselves]  in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.'

What the original Greek is saying is that the Philippians who follow Christ should see themselves as citizens of heaven, not Rome.

This was a pretty big idea then and a pretty big one now. 

What would you do, if I told you to behave as if you were already living in heaven? For some of us, it would be a reprimand. For some of us, it might be a simple reminder of who we are as Christ followers. For all of us, I hope it would cause a shift in how we looked at our choices in this world. 

It's hard to participate in this world's 'eat or be eaten' attitude if you think of yourself  as a citizen of heaven.

I think most of us can agree that when we look at our world, our neighborhoods, even our families, much of the time we don't conduct ourselves as if we were citizens of heaven.

If we did, then we would truly see a bit of heaven here on Earth.

I, for one, would like to be a part of making that happen  more often.

Chesney Szaniszlo

'Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.'

(Philippians 1:27 NIV)