Heavenly Citizen, Living In The World

¶I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2

It has come to my attention that there is a lack in Christian understanding as to where God draws the line when it comes to the world’s influences and our take on them. Before I go any further I would first like to say that I write this with caution and carefulness. I have found that when discussing Biblical doctrines one must use the scriptures to do so, or else ones thoughts and words have no foundation. With this though one must take very careful measure so as not to conform the scriptures to ones own views. I desire not to add nor take away from scripture. Lend me grace.

The subject of our citizenship being in heaven and not on earth has come to my attention recently. I have heard what would appear to be both sides of an argument and I have found myself trying to grasp the truth of both sides in light of the scripture. For in our American culture it is so easy to latch onto that which is pleasing to ones ears. Although I believe this is not only subject to American idealism but rather the mind of the lost soul of every man. Then on the other hand we find those who are so tired of the life they try to build, that they in turn run so radically to the opposing side and wind up running right past the very truth they so needed.

As previously shown Paul states in Romans that we must not be conformed to the world. This word simply means “to fashion alike.” Strongs G4964 Interestingly enough, Paul states that we are to rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds. He uses here a different word. From the Strongs the word transformed means “to change or transfigure.” When I just take his first exhortation at face value, it is easy to understand with a potter in mind. Outside of Christ being the Potter of our lives, we ourselves are the potters. Apart from the will of the Father we fashion ourselves to look like the world. The interesting thing about most Christians is that we either state this as being a physical forming, leaving us to worry about looking conservative yet lacking spiritual growth or we write it off as a spiritual change so that we do not have to change our outward likes and dislikes. But, as I will go into more depth on, I believe that we to often choose between two extremes and miss the liberty and the ground to which we should stand upon.
Now if Christ is our Potter, if it is he who molds us and transforms us, then we really need to be seeking Him as to what we should do and how we should live. If not, then we are only creating our own religion. Either a religion of physical pleasure or a religion of false spiritual desires. Now I would hope that we all agree that God is the same. He is the same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. The only difference is we have a far greater covenant through Christ Jesus, in our relationship with the Father. But if God is the same then we must be open to both Old and New Testament passages. I would like for us to take a look at one from both halves of the Bible.

¶The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. Hosea 1:2

Hosea is given a command like no other we have ever been given, and yet it is for the purpose to which God has for it. If we look back at the law of God in the Old Testament we will find that this would appear to go against many lawful commands. For instance, if an adulterous woman were to be found she was to be put to death, as commanded in Leviticus 21:9 and many other passages. So did God go against His previous command when He commanded Hosea to marry? No. We must realize that God has His plan that He works His way. The laws to which we must abide to, God is not held captive to. Yet in all He does He never sins. God needed to illustrate to Israel their abominations and what better way then to have His prophet marry a harlot who would be unfaithful to him.
Now moving to the other half of your Bible you will find in Acts 16:1-3 our next passage.

¶Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. Acts 16:1-3

In this passage we find Paul meeting up with Timotheus, a young man who loved the Lord. Now we see in Galatians, Paul is dealing with Peter over the Peter’s flip floppy ways. He says,

¶But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. Galatians 2:11-12

Peter had a major issue; he was trying to please those around him due to his fear of man. That is a key point in this; it was due to his fear that he pleased them. It was neither wrong for Peter to eat with the Gentiles nor was it wrong for him to draw himself away from them. But that is only true if he was doing such due to a command by the Lord. This is why Paul was upset with Peter over pleasing man, when he himself went and circumcised Timotheous. John Piper puts it this way,

“In Timothy’s case, what was at stake was how unbelieving Jews might best be won to Christ.”(For more on John Piper’s thoughts go to: www.desiringgod.org/resourcelibrary//tasteandsee/bydate/1983/3005_why_was_timothy_circumcised/)

If Paul planned on taking Timothy with him as his companion in evangelism, Timothy would need to be equipped in certain areas. No Jew would even dare listen to an uncircumcised man when it comes to God and His holiness. Timothy was not circumcised due to the fear of man, but rather for the better ability to spread the gospel.

But this seems to go against Paul’s exhortation that we be not conformed to the world. Scripture even amplifies it by saying that we are not of this earthly kingdom but of a heavenly one. I believe Paul clears a lot of this up when he said in Colossians,

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Colossians 2:20-22

The moment we state something as being a “touch not; taste not; handle not object” without any scripture that confirms such a stand, we must take it as what the Lord has set for our life for His purpose. Many might look at the scripture and say, “The early church met in homes, hence they were not like the world.” Some one else might say the contrary, “The early church road donkeys, and in this they were like the world.” Both are true and both are wrong. Just because one might physically do something that an unbeliever does just as well, does not mean the believer is seeking to look like the world. In America, it is true that we see the Christian’s tendency is to run after that which will make him more expectable to man and man’s ways. But if we are dressing and living not based upon pleasing man’s ways, but rather wholly for the purpose to which God has called us to, then we have no reason to question ourselves. It is like when a believer, (or as many prefer to call him,) a missionary goes into a different country his desire is to save that which was lost. In many countries one must take upon him the same garb of the culture to which he is dwelling in. Whether it is for the sake of the climate or the cultural acceptance to even speak of such matters as eternal as the scripture, as exemplified by Paul in Acts 16.

Our real problem in American Christianity, which I cringe putting those two together, is that we do not seek after the Father’s will in our lives for His eternal purpose. We lay aside our discernment and grab a hold of men’s ways, and in turn seek after that which is but for a moment. Peter has a pretty good handle as to describing the man who walks after the flesh.

¶But chiefly them that walk after the flesh…………………These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 2 Peter. 2:10a, 17

I believe Paul in all his writings over how the Church is to be separate from the world, boils down to being focused on the will of God, rather then the ways of man. With this we must be cautious that we do not despise another man’s walk if it is not a direct disobedience to scripture. If we do despise such, we have created within our own minds a religion apart from God. Sometimes we might find a believer standing on something that sounds so strange to our own calling. Let us once again use the Old Testament for an example. In 1 Kings 13 a young prophet is commanded by God to give a message and then to return home. He was not to eat nor drink until he returned to his home.

¶Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. ¶And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 1 Kings 13:11-24

In this story we are dealing with two prophets of God. Was it a sin for the first prophet to drink and eat? Yes. Is it a sin for man to drink and eat? No. It is not a sin unless God in His great plan relays to you that it is. Now for those, as the older prophet did, who find it hard to understand why a man would not eat or drink, they must focus on the will of God and not hinder or cause doubt to enter the mind of the fellow brother.

Both sides of the argument are at fault. If we say wearing clothes that look like the world but have a different color is wrong, then we may have erased the words that God so desired to write in our lives pages. If we say it is not wrong to wear clothes that look like the world for the purpose of looking like the world, then we have caused a major wall to be built between us, and the working of God in our lives.
God has given us discernment; let us base that discernment on His plans and not our own presumption of what is right and what is wrong. Can a believer be a citizen of Heaven yet dressed like a citizen of earth? Yes. If it is for the purpose God has given him to fulfill. It does not matter whether he is in the heart of an American city or the remote villages of Africa, one can have just as much fleshly desires to look like the world as the other. It is when both set their eyes on eternal things and take no thought for what they shall wear or what they shall eat, but rather wear and eat what God gives them. It is when the believer tries to provide for himself, instead of grasping what God has already provided for him.

I have heard the phrase “life in America is not normal” far to often. It is a statement to which I agree with and yet have some reserve. Life outside of Christ is not normal. It does not matter where one resides, it is easy to see that without Christ, one lives a life apart from the eternal Giver of Life. I know of many who would think that to understand normal living one must leave the shores of America and land on some foreign idol worshipping jungle where men and woman die of sickness and children of starvation. Ask yourself honestly, is the other side of the sea normal living? Did Paul go out into the world to understand “normal living?” Whether it is in riches or in an idol made up of dirt, the fallen man lives off of the material things of this world. We as believers must realize where ever we are that those around us are not living a normal life. We need to surrender the terms that the fallen man deems life and realize that Jesus is life. (John 14:6) Anything apart from Christ is truly not living. So let us not go into another country based upon wanting to see “normal living” unless of course God commands us to do so. Our purpose for going into the world is to make disciples of men. And even that may call for what would appear as material work to do so. Take caution that we do not diminish what God might desire to use for His purpose.

Once again I would ask that you lend me grace. John Calvin upon his deathbed stated that he would not take back one thing that he wrote in all the years of his ministry. I find this rather foolish of a statement. So please understand that I do not say I have a perfect handle on this matter, this is just some thoughts to throw into the minds of the believer for the purpose that we all might understand our citizenship better. Iron sharpens iron. There is so much more I need to say and will, but I will leave it with this.

In Christ Our Perfect Redeemer,
Nathaniel Chapman