We’ve all the seen it in the movies, the place where the authorities stop the main
character and say, “show us your identification papers.” Anyone who has gone through
passport control while entering a foreign country knows the feeling as well. What is in
one’s papers determines what follows. One’s experience can change drastically,
depending on what’s written in that document.
This is true of the Christian as well. Of course we don’t carry a passport that says,
“Christian” or “Follower of Christ,” but we do have a citizenship, and what happens to us, especially in the long run, is revealed by our citizenship.
Writing to the church in Philippi, the apostle Paul said, For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now exactly what
does that mean, to have citizenship in heaven?
The word Paul used here is politevma. It is unique in that this is the only place in
Scripture where it is used. To understand it we look at its root, polis. Polis is very
common in the Bible. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew, a translation very
commonly used in Jesus’ day and no doubt familiar to our Lord, polis is found more than 1,600 times. In most of these cases it simply means “city.” Its most important use is in reference to Jerusalem. Many times the Text just says, “the city” and the understanding was that it meant Jerusalem.
The New Testament picks up that trend and frequently uses polis to refer to Jerusalem.
It is still “the city.” But it refers to other cities as well.
The real importance of polis though, is seen in the exchange between the apostle Paul
and a Roman officer in Jerusalem. It is recorded in Acts 21. Paul has been arrested
and is about to be taken into the barracks to be interrogated. Paul tells the Roman, “I
am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to
speak to the people.” The course of events changes radically.
Here Paul’s citizenship, specifically of Tarsus, is of great importance. It keeps him from
what may have been a very brutal questioning at Roman hands. Paul’s citizenship
determined how he should be treated. It means he will be able to speak to the crowd.
It means the Gospel will be preached.
There is a marvelous truth here for us. Citizenship carries more than just rights and
privileges. It brings an identity. It means one is part of a specific community. Paul
wasn’t just a Roman citizen, but a citizen of a particular Roman city.
One of the greatest benefits of citizenship is protection. That is what Paul had. It is
interesting that the earliest meaning of polis was “to fill.” Linguists think the word’s
development came from the practice in antiquity of building an outer wall which was then backfilled with earth. This “full wall” offered protection and security. Ancient cities were defined by their walls.
As followers of Christ we don’t live behind a wall, but we do live with the benefits of our
polis. We are members of a community. We have an identity that binds us together.
And we have a very real security.
After telling the Philippian church that they had citizenship in heaven, Paul added, from
which we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So for now we live as aliens,
foreigners. The communities in which we live, even the country in which we live, is a
temporary home. So we remain here, living in such a way as to represent the One Who
placed us here. And He did place us here, and did so in order that we may speak His
Words and live His truth.
Maybe we should carry passports.
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