This story begins when we are born the first time. We are all, along with David the Psalmist, “brought forth into iniquity.” David continues on with the confession, “. . . in sin my mother conceived me.” When we join those verses with ones like this one in Ephesians 2 – “. . . were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest,” we must come to the conclusion that due to the sin of Adam in the garden, the entire human race, save one Person, is born into a state of sin; we are by nature sinful and separate from God. The apostle Paul even declares in his letter to the Romans that “. . . while we were enemies . . .” We who are now reconciled to the Father through the death and victory of Jesus the Son were once described as His enemies. We were far away from Him due to our being sons of disobedience but now have been brought near by the blood of Jesus and the atonement wrought by Him.

Romans 11 teaches us that we were grafted into the vine of promise which emanates from the bosom of Abraham, the father of promise, remembering that according to Galatians 3:29, “. . . if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.” When we are born again, we are not just saved and receive our ticket to Heaven in the hereafter, but we become part of a larger society that began with the promise of Abraham and culminated with the coming of Jesus to seal forever our access to this great salvation spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. As a wild plant, we are then grafted into the root of Jesse, the vine of blessing and supply, and become part of the promise even though we were once alienated from the Father, but have now been reconciled.

It is at this point that the difficulty arises. Are we a part of this great commonwealth of the kingdom or are we citizens of the society in which we live? The answer is yes. Some people I know have dual citizenship, in that they are actually citizens of two countries at the same time. This is not dissimilar to the state we are each residing in when we come into this relationship with the King. While most reading this (we do have one reader in Canada) are citizens of the United States and remain so for the duration of our lives, we are also and primarily citizens of a heavenly kingdom. Recall with me Philippians 3:20 – “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” As we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we now have a new king, new value system, and new set of by-laws. Lest you get the wrong impression, the by-laws of this kingdom are summed up in these verses in Matthew 22, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND . . . The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” The question we must ask is how shall we then live if we are first and foremost a citizen of God’s kingdom and yet we still maintain residency in the society or country in which we live geographically? Maybe the Scripture can help us with this.

Allow me to allay a deception that might creep into our thoughts (it has others) concerning this matter. Being primarily a citizen of a heavenly kingdom does not absolve us of our responsibilities as a citizen of whatever country or municipality in which we reside. As a matter of fact we are given very specific directions from the Word of God concerning this matter. When the people of God found themselves in captivity to the Babylonian king, the Lord had some clear, concise, unquestionable instructions for them and I believe they will apply to us equally. In many ways, we find ourselves strangers in a foreign land because the values, goals, and direction of our culture are increasingly going away from the direction we are headed rather than closer. The nation where the people of Israel found themselves was an unequivocally godless society; one which was not only godless, but even despised the Lord God. This is how God addressed their situation and therefore ours as well in Jeremiah 29. “Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.” Instead of asking the Father to remove us from this society on its way to being labeled “godless,” following the precedent God set with the people in Babylon, we should become a part of the community (build houses and live in them); participate in the commerce of the community (plant gardens and eat the produce); procreate and infiltrate the civilization with people who are bearers of the seed of the kingdom (take wives . . . multiply there and do not increase); and pray for the city or community in which we live (seek the welfare . . . and pray to the Lord on its behalf). It is not about getting out, but about getting in and bringing the kingdom message with us. Yes we are strangers in a foreign land, but we are in the foreign land nonetheless and I think our instructions are exceedingly clear. One day we will be delivered from the current culture, much like the people of God were delivered from Babylon, but rather than pining away for that event, maybe we should set down roots where God has planted us and function as good citizens of the world in which we now live. We sometimes call this being salt and light in a place of tastelessness and darkness.

Now we come to what could be a prickly subject as it pertains to our involvement in our society. That is one of the upcoming election for President of the United States as well as many local elections that are equally important. I have heard down through the years of many believers in Christ who have abandoned any involvement in the political process because they felt a part of another culture, and as we have covered, that is absolutely true. I have even heard statements like, “let the devil have the political process; I will focus on spiritual things.” Neither approach is consistent with the instruction in Jeremiah we have just dealt with. Questions arise; “Does God even care? Have we gone so far from Him that our actions aren’t even relevant to His plan anymore? Is God really involved with such a secular society?” I recall the words of Benjamin Franklin in the 1787 Constitution Convention, “The longer I live, sir, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.” This is not limited to our great country, but any society that attempts to become a gathered group of people on the planet.

Paul clearly addresses this matter in his letter to the Romans in the thirteenth chapter. “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” I said recently that I already knew who was going to be our next president; whomever God chooses to establish in that place of authority. If God is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords, and therefore He is Lord of all and He is the Lord of any elections in our future. What should we then do?

First of all, we should recognize those in office now as those who have been established by the Father Himself. We may not like them, their values, their history, nor their decisions, but if I believe the Scripture above anything else (and I do), I must embrace the truth that they are in office because God Almighty placed them there. This is no reflection on anyone current, past, or future, but sometimes God gives us the leaders we deserve, and thereby issues judgment upon a nation. So, we might not understand, but we must embrace. We must also pray for those in leadership, regardless of our party affiliation or political bent. Look again at the words of Paul in his letter to his spiritual son, Timothy – “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority . . .” That is sometimes difficult to do, especially when the leader is particularly immoral or decadent in their behavior; but the admonition is there nonetheless. Thirdly, we should participate in the process. By that I don’t necessarily mean that we should all become campaign headquarter vagabonds, but that we should do our part as identified by the society in which we dwell as foreigners. We should examine all the candidates, gather as much information as possible, pray for God’s guidance in the voting process, and then do our part in the voting booth. Lastly, after we have done all these things, we must be able to place the whole process in the hands of the God who “governs in the affairs of men.” We must trust that He is truly in control and He truly determines and establishes those in authority in our nation and communities.

I must say at this point that one thing that concerns me is when believers in Christ become more involved in a particular party than they do in the kingdom of God. I realize and encourage the fact that God calls some to become more involved in that arena, but when the kingdom takes a backseat to the party, we have a problem.

We are certainly foreigners in a strange land with our citizenship residing in another place and commonwealth. I must point out something to you that is probably quite obvious to you; you are still alive, which means you are still here. And if you are still here, then the admonition remains that you and I are to continue being an active, functioning part of this world. We are truly to be salt and light where we are planted so that the kingdom of God can reach every corner of the earth with the message of God’s love and salvation. We must at the same time be good citizens of the society in which we dwell, thus representing a righteous kingdom with a life of righteousness and holiness. Our first allegiance is to our heavenly kingdom, but we also have a duty to our earthly residence. Jeremiah wrote “multiply and do not increase” and I think that is the word of the hour. The writer of Hebrews wrote that we are “not of those who shrink back.” While we are still here, let us aggressively bring the gospel of the kingdom with us, participating in this foreign land, until that day when God brings us home or returns to rearrange everything to His ultimate intention.

I leave you with the words of Jesus recorded in John 17, and may they ring clear and true to our hearts. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world . . . They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world . . . As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” Truer words could not have been spoken and these from the ultimate Stranger in a Foreign Land.