On Giving Up Our Rights As Foreigners

     The topic of this blog post has been swirling around in my head for years. YEARS. My worldview has been formed based on my personal experiences and how they interact with the God I see in the Bible. And now I need to put these thoughts into words. 

    I have had the distinct privilege of living as a foreigner - many times. And while traveling/living abroad, I never once expected the country, the people, the culture, to change for my sake. Sure, I'd prefer if most countries had better Tex-Mex than they probably do. I wish certain places saw the value of self-check-out, or paying bills online. I wish quality healthcare wasn't only for the wealthy and that return policies always existed and were as easy as Amazon. But I've never expected a culture to change their values so I would feel more at home. I knew it wasn't my home. I knew my value system was different. 

I knew I was visiting.

    This is the part I love most about living abroad: I am constantly reminded that I am not home. My value system doesn't match the values of the world around me, and I must give up certain rights from my culture because I'm not home. And even when I am back in the US, I've changed enough to feel not-quite-at-home there either. I'm thankful God has pushed me out of my comfort zone enough to feel this. 

    But I struggle to understand when I see many of my Christian brothers and sisters (often in the US) fearfully fighting so hard to make society match their values and beliefs. Fighting to make laws comfortable for their belief system and to outlaw the things God calls sin - sin - even for those who don't believe in their God. But why? How confusing is it for the world around us to hear us claim that "this world is not our eternal home," but then fight tooth and nail to make it as comfortable for us and for our children as possible. Is this really our mission on this foreign planet? When I do live in the US, I feel like this is a heavy hinderance in sharing the Gospel with those around me, how to be bold when I see firsthand how this image problem with American Christianity has confused so many.

    The danger in being so comfortable in world is that we will forget we are foreigners who have given up our rights because we are not yet home. As we share stories of God's faithfulness with the next generation, are we also reminding them of their true citizenship? As we instill God's eternal value system into our children, are we also teaching them that there will always be tension in this world until we are home? Or are we more focused on trying to change our world for them? Do we bring our children into this world having fully accepted that they will never be home? They will always be foreigners. This shouldn't cause fear, but a renewed purpose - to teach them how to be light. 

    In living as foreigners, we follow the example of Jesus who gave up his heavenly rights to come to our home (Philippians 2:5-8). The goal cannot be a perfect world and government that makes us feel comfortable and safe in our value system. Otherwise, we won't long for home (Hebrews 12:13-16). The American Evangelical image problem that the world sees is when we claim to look forward to a "better place, a heavenly homeland" while also seeming to take personal offense at the laws and changes in our world based on a different value system. Why are we known for being fearful and going to battle for a "culture war" in a land not our own? 

    Here's my favorite silly example of this idea: Chick-fil-a. It's definitely been in the hot seat over the past decade for pretty strict Biblical beliefs. And yet most people (Christian or not) still regularly consume Chick-fil-a. Why? I certainly haven't not studied this in depth, but I think it might be because Chick-fil-a is very good at what it is made to be good at: consistently quality food, reasonable prices, and considerate customer service. People like this, even if they adamantly disagree with their philosophy and beliefs. Yes, the Gospel is offensive and should not be watered down to excuse what the Bible calls sin. But how many times are we as Christians offensive, and not the Gospel itself? How can we take a page out of Chick-fil-a's book and be so good at representing Jesus that non-believers may choose to reject him, but they cannot deny they are deeply loved by their Christian friend? As we share the good news of Jesus, they may choose to believe Christianity is a farce, but cannot deny the dedication in which we pursue our Savior as we love our neighbor. How would that change the way the world sees us, if we can rest in the knowledge that this world is not our home? What if weren't afraid for the world to see us as the foreigners we are? 

We don't have to move to another country to live as a foreigner (although it certainly helps!). How can we all be content to sit in a space that wasn't created for us? Maybe we can:

• visit a church that worships in a different language or custom 
• serve the homeless population by really sitting and sharing a meal with them and asking them their story 
• visit a local prison and serve the prison community (there's lot of ministries that do this)
• adopt or foster a child, or put yourself in situations to care for those who do, to see a different perspective of the "traditional family"
• make friends (real friends) with people not at all like you - immigrants, people in the LGBTQ+ community, people experiencing poverty etc. 
• have a meal with a close believing friend you know votes differently than you (gulp!) and ask them why they believe and value what they do
• switch jobs to an environment where the other employees or clientele might all believe differently than you do 

I can't imagine how this would change the world's perspective on Jesus and the Church if we were known for regularly doing the things above, and not living in fear of the "other." And it's not a gimmick, it's what Jesus modeled and it's his purpose for his children. Here's some other passages:

Matthew 17:24-27 - Jesus gives up his right as a free citizen, but submits to the law by paying the temple tax so as not to offend anyone (and he is literally God) 

1 Corinthians 9 - Paul talks about the rights he gives up to find common ground with everyone, for the purpose of winning anyone to Christ

1 Peter 2:13-25 - Doing good, showing respect to all, fearing God not man, loving other believers, and submitting to the authority is what silences the talk of foolish people

I'll close with a scene from season 2 of the TV series The Chosen. Jesus tells Matthew that his Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (aka the "blessed are the ____" phrases) are really a map. Jesus says "if someone wants to find me, those are the groups they should look for"

In order to find these groups, we have to give up our rights as Jesus did. 

Friends, are we living as visitors?