January 2 – Philippians 3:20-21

For our discussion this week we’ll read 3:17-4:1 (you’ll notice chapter 4 starts in the middle of a paragraph anyway), and this will give us a bit more context for what Paul is talking about here. Keep in mind, though, that we’re parachuting right into the middle of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, so there’s even more context before and after this passage that we’re missing. Citizenship is a primary theme of the whole book, and Paul introduces the concept in 1:27 when he talks about our “manner of life,” which in Greek is a related word to “citizenship” in 3:20. Several translations render that phrase in 1:27, “conduct yourselves,” so Paul has in mind a comprehensive view of the way we walk through our lives, the way we carry ourselves, the things we fight for and don’t fight for, and the way we relate to others. In all of this we are called to live “worthy of the gospel of Christ.”(1:27)

But Paul also uses citizenship language to be quite pointed. Philippi was a Roman colony in what is now northern Greece, so Roman loyalty and Roman citizenship were prized commodities. In general, folks were striving to be good Roman citizens for a number of reasons, so Paul’s statement in 3:20 that “our citizenship is in heaven” is meant not only to remind the Philippians of their great hope in Jesus but to also reorganize all their lesser hopes. Note that he doesn’t say “our spiritual citizenship is in heaven” or “we are dual citizens of heaven and earth.” He doesn’t even mention earthly citizenship—heavenly citizenship is so important to the life of a follower, so central, that all other sources of belonging or identity must take a backseat to our belonging to Christ (I should add, though, that they aren’t emptied of their significance or possibility for goodness—ex. citizenship in any particular country can be important and used for good, but it must first be entirely oriented to Christ).

This, of course, created tension for the Philippians, as it does for us today. Whether out of national citizenship, or any belonging to any other group of people, we will find that our citizenship in heaven will inevitably leave us off beat in some regard, not neatly fitting into prescribed molds, sometimes being able to participate and other times having to object. For example, Christians in Paul’s day were called to respect Roman authority (ex. Romans 13), but to never go so far as to worship Caesar as a god, which in the Roman world was a thing “good citizens” did. They were in the world but not of it (John 17:14-16), able to participate and even be a blessing to the watching world, but always looking to a higher authority in Jesus, which was often costly.