Citizens of Heaven

Live every day like this.

"The spirit of devotion pervades the saints in heaven and characterizes the worship of heaven's angelic intelligences.  No devotionless creatures are in that heavenly world.  God is there, and His very presence begets the spirit of reverence, of awe, and of filial fear.  If we would be partakers with them after death, we must first learn the spirit of devotion on earth before we get there."

                                                                                                  - E.M. Bounds


We were created to be part of heaven's culture, not earth's.  We need a shift in our mindset.  It is not our job to bring earth's culture into the church, but heaven's culture into the world.  Most Christians seem to have that twisted up a bit.  Instead of allowing the Spirit of God in them to change the world around them so it becomes more like heaven, they allow the spirit of the world to change them, making them look just like everyone else.

We are citizens of heaven!  Hallelujah!

When I first moved to Panama about eight years ago, I was considered nothing more than a tourist gringo; an annoyance to the common people who didn't know the language and seemed to cause prices to be driven up wherever I went.  To the bad guys I was seen as an easy target, I didn't even know a fifteen dollar taxi ride should have only been three.

Yeah, that guy.

But then, as I started learning the culture and customs around me, I started to adapt.  I learned that not greeting every single person you pass by is considered flat out rude.  I learned that if you marry a Latina/Latino person, you should expect to never ever have another moment alone again in your life, because why would you ever want one?  That's crazy!  I learned that a meal without rice is not a meal at all, it is an appetizer for the rice.

After a handful of years I started to take on the mentality and conform to the culture I am so enveloped in, until I started to see most gringo tourists (any foreigner) as rude, overbearing, proud, prejudice (even though they would never admit it) and selfish brats.  Most of them are to be frank.

I should clarify that I'm not talking about the missionaries and volunteers who come down here with God's heart to serve, that is very different from tourists and retirees who care nothing about God, His Kingdom, or Panama.

Now, eight years later, even though my skin is still the same color, and I still have a goatee which most Latinos can only stare in awe at, I have become so like this culture that if it weren't for those two things most people here would never know I grew up in the States.  When I speak on the phone with strangers, they are always shocked to find I am a gringo when  they meet me in person.  Often times I have even been told by Latinos from other countries that I even have a Panamanian accent, rather than a gringo accent.

Not only have I become one with the culture, but I am no longer a tourist with limited rights.  I am now completely immigrated into Panama, having a Panamanian equivalent of a U.S. social security number, permanent legal residence, and all the rights of a Panamanian citizen.  As a matter of fact, when I get stopped at police check points now, all I have to do is flash my Panamanian ID, and even though my skin says otherwise, the police always say, "Oh, he's Panamanian, let him go."

Me blending in.

What is my point with all of this?  Just like I and tens of thousands of other missionaries have done in becoming one with our new culture to the point that people can't tell the difference, we should become one with our heavenly culture.

When a North American comes to Panama as a missionary, if they refuse to become like the culture, and refuse to change their ways and habits, they are always failures as missionaries and usually end up quitting.  You were once a citizen of earth, but then you got born again you became a citizen of heaven.  Now it is your job to become like the place of your citizenship, not the place of your origin.  Your origin is gone, you are never going back, so let it go!  Run to heaven!

I always feel entirely awkward when I go back to the States, because my mindset has changed so much that I don't know how to act anymore.  We shouldn't be uncomfortable around people of the world, but we shouldn't fit in either.

Jesus was a friend of sinners, just like we should be, but he never joined in on their lifestyles.  He had dinner with them, he would talk to them about the Kingdom of Heaven, and being born again, but He always stood out.  If you are so much like the world around you that you blend in to the point of nobody knowing you are any different, you need to repent.  You do not belong to them.  You do not belong to this world.  You belong to the Kingdom of Heaven, so start acting like a citizen of our home instead of a citizen of the fallen one.

"Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."

                          -C.S.Lewis