Tony Evans - God and Citizenship
What we have today is secularism, humanism, and all forms of idolatry that have invaded our culture and our world. And God has called his people not to sit on the sidelines, but to get in the game. This goes beyond a candidate or a group of candidates. This has to do with the role of Christians in the culture. No matter how you voted, whether you are happy or sad about which candidate won or lost, God is still calling you to be Christian. In fact, he's calling you to something even higher. I love the way Philippians chapter 3, verse 20 puts it, which says, "For our citizenship is in heaven".
So I wanna talk to you about now being a kingdom citizen. Now that we can push all of the bantering behind us, it's time for Christians to decide that you're gonna be Christian no matter whether your party won, your candidate won. It's time now for there to be kingdom citizens. "For your citizenship is in heaven". Luke 16:16, Jesus says, "My Father gave me a kingdom and I give you a kingdom" because he calls his followers to be kingdom citizens. Now what is a kingdom citizen? A kingdom citizen is a visible, verbal follower of Christ who seeks to bring the perspective of heaven and deposit them into the concerns of the culture. Let me say that again. A kingdom citizen is a citizen who visibly and verbally follows Christ in such a way that they draw down the concerns or the perspective of heaven and injects them into the chaos, the problem, the conflicts, and the concerns of the culture.
You see, far too many Christians are too earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. They know more about politics than they do about the Lord. They know more about political parties than they know about the Word of God. And they will often argue like secularists while naming the name of Jesus Christ. In fact, if you bring up what God thinks about a subject, they'll get mad at you even though it can be defended by the Word of God because they are so aligned with the culture that they've lost sight that their citizenship is not first here. I love the way 1 Peter 2:11 says, it says, "You are aliens and strangers". That your citizenship is not first on these shores.
Now, you are a resident here, but your ultimate allegiance is to another King, another kingdom, and another location. When you have a passport, it allows you to enter foreign countries, but you enter foreign countries as a citizen of the homeland. You don't enter foreign countries as a citizen of that country unless you're trying to give up your citizenship in the homeland. Far too many Christians have surrendered their passports. Some have surrendered their passports to the Democratic Party. Others have surrendered their passports to the Republican Party. Some have surrendered their passports to no party. They just surrendered their passport. No, you are a citizen of heaven. You belong to another kingdom. He says clearly, verse 20 of Philippians 3, "For our citizenship is in heaven".
Now Paul is writing to the city of Philippi. Philippi was located 800 miles from the city of Rome. So, what Paul does is he uses the principle of citizenship of Philippi to make a principle to Christians. Philippians, even though you're located 800 miles from Rome, your citizenship is in Rome in terms of your earthly allegiance. So they were informed by Roman customs. They were informed by Roman laws. They were informed by Roman influence even though they were 800 miles from Rome. I know we are a long way from heaven, but our citizenship is to be connected there. You and I are to be informed by heaven's customs, heaven's laws. Just like Philippi was informed by Caesar, you and I are to be informed by the Lord. And that's why we have no full allegiance here.
This is a time to lovingly and responsibly take your stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring the values of heaven where your citizenship is into the earthly realm. That's why God has left us here to influence our surroundings as salt and light. Matthew 5:13 to 16, "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world". You're not the salt of the shaker. You're not the light of the bulb. Your job is to infiltrate every sphere of your influence as a full-time disciple, not a part-time Christian. Everybody ought to know where you stand because you're not an undecided voter. Why? Because you have made your declaration clear which kingdom you are a part of.
As Colossians 1:13 says, "You've been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son". You're in another kingdom now. You are a resident here, which means that you're not gonna act like this is defining you anymore. You take your stand. If somebody asks you, are you a Democrat? You say, "Which issue are you talking about? 'Cause I'm gonna take that issue, I'm gonna put it against the Word of God, and then I'll tell you whether I'm Democrat right now". Somebody tells you you're Republican, "Which issue are you talking about? I'm gonna take the Bible, look at the Bible based on that issue and say, well I'm a Republican right now". Why? 'Cause I'm a kingdom all the time. I'm 24/7 kingdom. That's why you must be a kingdom independent and you must roll forward now, whether you are happy or sad today, you must roll forward as a representation of heaven. Why? 'Cause government belongs to God.
So, he got something to say, and what he's saying is, since you are citizens of heaven, why don't you find out what I say first? Why you're going to everybody else and every party and every candidate find out what they think, how they feel, and what they say, and you never check with me. No, we need some kingdom citizens. We need some citizens who understand that they are to think heavenly, not earthly, not man's wisdom. James 3 says, there's a wisdom that comes from above and then there's a wisdom that comes from demons. And he calls that earthly wisdom. Did you know earthly wisdom is demonic thought? Whenever what you think, what you say, what you hear that you agree with that disagrees with what God says, don't you know that you have just become demonized?
So we got a lot of demonized Christians 'cause James was writing to Christians. He's, they say, you've been demonized, secularized. In fact, you playing for the wrong team. We got too many Christians playing for the wrong team 'cause they're agreeing with things that God doesn't agree on, and that's true no matter who you identify with. He says you are now citizens of heaven. You are to get your instructions. What goes into your mind and informs your decision is no longer earth. It's on earth. It relates to earth. I love John 18 because in John 18, they asked Jesus a question. They asked Jesus, "Are you a King"? He says in verse 33, "Are you the King of the Jews"?
Okay, everybody talking about you a king. Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answers in verse 36, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting". So, if you out there fighting, if you out there inappropriately expressing how you are frustrated, he said, you're not part of my kingdom 'cause my kingdom doesn't roll like that. "Or my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm". Then he says in verse 37, "You say correctly, I am a King. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who's of the truth hears my voice".
You know why we're not hearing from heaven? 'Cause we don't want the truth. He says, "My kingdom is not of this world, but I have come into this world". So, he's not talking about pie in the sky kingdom. He's talking about a kingdom that starts up there of that world, but it comes down here in this world. So, in this world, we should be talking and defending that world. So, your first question as a kingdom citizen is: What does God say? How does he feel? What does he think? What does he want? And if I don't know it, I'm gonna find somebody who does know it, who can validate it by the Word of God. And if the Word of God contradicts it, then I got to reframe my thinking because I'm no longer an earthling. You're a full-time citizen and happen to be a resident down here.
So you think as a resident, you vote as a resident, you appeal to policies as a resident because you now are a kingdom citizen. God has a problem. He's got too many Benedict Arnolds. Yeah, he does. We no longer need double-minded Christians. I love the way Gideon said it in Judges chapter 8 verses 22 and 23. When they called on Gideon, Gideon, we want you to be our political leader. We want you to lead us 'cause we need a great leader here. Gideon said, you better check on the Lord. You need the Lord to lead you. And the mess that our society is in, our culture is in, our country is in, and our world is in, when we look at one problem, after another problem, after another problem, we better get the Lord back in this, and that's the church's job, to bring God back in it, to do it with the right spirit, with the right attitude, to do it with legitimate unity, to do it based on truth, but to do it.
Until we kind of get that kind of church that takes its stand because we're citizens of heaven, and he says if you're a citizen of heaven in Philippians chapter 3, he says, "From which we also eagerly wait for a Savior that is the Lord Jesus Christ". You hear that? He said, look, you're gonna have to get Jesus in his proper role here. Jesus made it plain, "All authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth". Matthew chapter 28:16 through 20. He said, look, I'm in charge here now. But Christians don't believe that. We believe the world's in charge. The president is in charge. The Congress is in charge. No, no, no. Jesus is in charge. Remember God's philosophy of history?
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10. God's goal is to summarize all things. All things, he says, ought to be summarized in Jesus Christ. He concludes verse 22 and 23 of Ephesians chapter 1. He is the head of all things, but he's only been given to the church. So God is going to decide what he does in this country. He's gonna decide what he's going to do in any country based on what the church does. So as you've heard me say many times, if we don't fix the church house, we can forget the White House. If we don't fix the church house, we can forget the House of Congress. Why? Because God works through the church to the principalities and the powers and the authorities in the culture. Galatians 1:4, "He has delivered us from this present age". You don't have a loyalty here. You have a responsibility here. You are to be in the world, but not of the world, but your ultimate loyalty is not here.
You know, Spain had what was known as fifth columnist. Let me tell you about fifth columnist. When they were going to invade a country, a year before the invasion, they would send in people to become part of the culture. So doctors would become doctors in the culture that would be invaded sometime later. Lawyers would become lawyers, teachers would become teachers. Families would set up shop in the culture. Business people would set up shop in the culture. You see, they would set up shop in the culture. You know what they were? They were saboteurs. They invaded the culture, but they represented Spain. So they were setting things up for the big invasion. They were called fifth columnists because Spain marched in four columns. But the fifth columnists who were sent in early were to set things up for the big invasion.
That's what's gonna happen when Jesus comes back. But he has some fifth columnists. Folks, he's set in ahead of time. You and me, your family, and my family, your church, my church. He sent us in ahead of time to set it up. We are his fifth columnists who've been sent in to set things up for the big invasion. When he comes to set up his earthly kingdom called his Millennial Reign, you and I are here to set it up. Are you setting it up or have you become part of the culture and lost sight of your true citizenship back in Spain or in this case as part of the kingdom of heaven? You know, I'm in Cowboy country, and we got different kind of fans, you know. We got the casual fan. They watch some games sometimes or parts of games sometimes and if the game is not going well, they'll turn off the television 'cause they're fair weather, casual fans. But then you got committed fans.
I mean, they buy tickets. They're gonna watch the game win or lose, because they're committed to the Cowboys. Then you got fanatics. These are the fanatics. You know, these are season ticket holders. These are come rain or shine, they're going to defend the Cowboys because they're all in all the time. They read the stats, you know. They do all the fan gaming. They are all in 'cause they didn't become fanatical. That's what God's got. He's got casual followers. They go to church, maybe. Then you got some committed ones. These are the ones that they're gonna make church most of the time. They're gonna bring their Bibles. And they have learned Christianese to the max because there is a level of commitment. Then there's those fanatical Christians.
These are committed disciples. Jesus is all up in there. It's Jesus in the morning, Jesus at noontime, and Jesus when the sun goes down. When life is good, it's Jesus. When life is collapsed, it's Jesus. During the good times, they're following Jesus. And when tears are rolling down their face, they're following Jesus. Because they don't care what the culture says about their team. They don't care about what the culture says about who they're following. They are going to be unmistakable followers of Christ. When it comes to taking your stand in the culture, you must understand Jesus's name is always on the ballot.
You say, "But I don't know who to vote for. Jesus' name is not on the ballot". Oh, no, wrong. His name is always on the ballot. 'Cause remember, you're a kingdom independent. You're a kingdom citizen. So that means Jesus goes in with you. And you're taking Jesus into consideration not only when you vote, but how you roll after the vote is over and the decision is made on who won and who didn't win 'cause Jesus was on the ballot, you're only going to live for the kingdom anyway. So, there's no Jesus is not on the ballot. Your allegiance is to him and your vote for him must be clear. There is no undecided voter when it comes to a Christian. No, I'm voting Jesus. That means I can go this way or that way depending on what the issue is 'cause I have taken my stand with him because I'm a radical follower of Christ because my citizenship is not here. He says your citizenship is in heaven.
And so now, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna take your stand or are you gonna play church? You're just gonna go through the motions. Am I just gonna go through the motions, preach because it's Sunday? I'm gonna take my stand and challenge the flock to take their stand with the right heart and the right spirit, but with clarity that this is God's perspective on whatever the issue happens to be and that's how we roll. That's what we do. I do it, my life, my family, my church, and my civic duty. That's how I roll. So, what are you gonna do? What am I gonna do? What are we gonna do? First of all, you're gonna be publicly known as a citizen of heaven. You don't mind. You don't mind saying, in the right way, with the right heart, my first allegiance is to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't even say God 'cause that's vague. Let's get specific. My first allegiance is to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we know which God you're talking about. The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. So you're gonna be unapologetic about your commitment and allegiance to what he says in verse 20, the Lord Jesus Christ 'cause that will get Jesus's attention. Then you're not only gonna be a good churchgoer, you're gonna gauge the culture. You're gonna bring a Christian influence to the sphere of your influence. You're gonna be concerned about what the school is reading your children and whether those books are consistent with a Christian worldview, or whether they're trying to force unrighteousness down the throat of your children. You're not gonna back away from that 'cause you are a Christian parent and you are responsible for the education of your child. They're on loan to that school. They don't own them. You own them.
So you wanna make sure that it is consistent with your worldview and not in competition or in conflict with it. You're gonna challenge the evolutionary theory when it challenges Creation. Yeah, you are. You're gonna make sure that God is not dismissed because you represent another kingdom. You're going to go to the city council meetings. You wanna hear what's happening in your community and whether there are unjust practices that are not being addressed in your community, whether there's evil happenings that need to be reversed. You wanna make sure that the police are handling things in the right way, but that the citizens are also responding in the right way because you don't play favorites, you play kingdom.
And so, you take your stand as a citizen of heaven, bringing it, drawing it down to earth. And you vote based on the will and the Word of God. You take your stand. Churches don't just preach pie-in-the-sky sermons as though they don't have anything to do with the world in which we live. We challenge people how not to be doctors, but to be God's representative in the medical field so the medical field sees what God looks like when God helps hurting people. That lawyers are not just lawyers that God's representative in the Bar Association.
So the Bar Association gets to see what God looks like when God tries a case. That teachers are not just teachers, they're God's representative in the educational field so the educational field sees what God looks like when God teaches a lesson. Where business people are not just business people, but they're God's representative in business so that the business world sees what God looks like when God cuts a deal. When housewives and homemakers are not just homemakers, they're God's representative in the home to make sure that the home reflects the character of God, where men have defined their malehood not by the culture, but by what God says a man ought to be and the responsibility of a man spiritually and how he ought to lead his family and relate to his mate and raise his children.
We are trying to create kingdom people who are citizens of heaven and not mimics of the culture. When we do that, when we go that way, let's get this straight. There's no salvation in politics. We've been acting like politics is the Savior. Boy, if we get the right person in, we're going to be saved. You don't get it. We don't get it. If God is not postured properly, it doesn't matter who you elect. It is the absence or presence of God in an environment. That is why the more secular you become, the less God you will see. The less God you will see, the more chaos you will deal with. So the church better shake up, wake up, and get up so that we can see what God can do if Christ be not come through a church where the citizens understand where our true citizenship lies.
We are visitors on earth. This is not our final home. We're passing through. We have an assignment as people who represent our homeland of heaven in this location temporarily on earth. And we will be measured by how much of heaven we brought into history. So let's not become so comfortable on Earth that we forget this is a temporary dwelling location on assignment from our homeland to fulfill his purpose in history. And as his representatives assigned by him to this earth, we are to be bringing his governmental rule, its principles, policies, and influence to a world desperately in need of the government of heaven to guide the politics of the earth.