Citizenship in Heaven: Why Christians Answer to Another King
“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 3:20 (CSB)
Joshua Asked the Wrong Question
Joshua had just led the people of Israel across the Jordan River. Behind them was forty years of wandering in the wilderness. In front of them stood Jericho, a heavily fortified city that looked impossible to conquer. Joshua knew a battle was coming, but he had no idea what would happen next.
As Joshua approached the city, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword. Not knowing whether this mysterious warrior was friend or foe, Joshua did exactly what most military leaders would have done. He confronted the stranger and asked a simple, logical question:
“Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13, CSB)
If we’re honest, most of us would have expected the answer to be, “I’m on your side, Joshua.” After all, Joshua was leading God’s chosen people into the Promised Land. Surely the Commander of the Lord’s army had come to help Israel defeat its enemies.
But that’s not what happened.
Instead, the Commander replied:
“‘Neither,’ he replied. ‘I have now come as commander of the LORD’s army.'” (Joshua 5:14, CSB)
That answer has always fascinated me because it completely changes the conversation. If I could express it in plain language, it might sound something like this:
“Joshua, I didn’t come here to choose sides. I came to take over.”
Those aren’t the words Scripture records, and we should never replace God’s Word with our own. But I do think that simple statement captures the point of the passage. The Commander wasn’t asking Joshua to recruit God to Israel’s side. He was calling Joshua to recognize who was truly in charge.
Whose Side Are You On?
The question was never whether God was on Joshua’s side.
The question was whether Joshua was on God’s side.
Once Joshua understood that, his response changed immediately.
Scripture tells us:
“Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in worship and asked him, ‘What does my lord want to say to his servant?'” (Joshua 5:14, CSB)
Notice how different Joshua’s second question is from his first.
He began by asking, “Whose side are You on?”
He ended by asking, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
That is one of the greatest shifts a follower of God can ever make. Joshua stopped asking God to bless his plans and instead submitted himself to God’s plans. He stopped viewing himself as the leader asking for divine assistance and recognized that he was a servant standing before his King.
Are We Still Asking Joshua’s Question?
Thousands of years have passed since Joshua stood outside the walls of Jericho, but I wonder if we still ask the same question.
Every election season, Christians find themselves asking some version of it. We hear people ask whether God is on the side of one political party or another. Others argue that their candidate has God’s blessing or that their movement is the one Christians should support. While the names and issues change from one generation to the next, the underlying question remains remarkably similar.
“Whose side is God on?”
It’s an understandable question.
The problem is that Scripture never encourages us to begin there.
The Bible doesn’t teach us to recruit God onto our side. Instead, it repeatedly calls us to align ourselves with Him. That may sound like a small distinction, but it changes everything. When we begin by asking God to support our opinions, we’ve already placed ourselves at the center of the conversation. When we begin by asking what God has already said, we place Him at the center instead.
That is the difference between following Jesus and simply asking Him to endorse our preferences.
As Christians, our highest allegiance has never been to a political party, a platform, or even an earthly nation. Those things matter, and we’ll talk about them later in this series. But before we think about elections, policies, or governments, we have to answer a much more important question.
Who is our King?
The apostle Paul answers that question with one remarkable sentence, and it changes the way Christians should think about every earthly kingdom.
Our Citizenship Is in Heaven
After Joshua’s encounter with the Commander of the Lord’s army, it’s easier to understand why Paul wrote these words to the believers in Philippi:
“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20, CSB)
That’s a beautiful verse, but it’s even more powerful when we understand who first read it.
Philippi was a Roman colony. Many of its citizens were retired Roman soldiers who had been granted Roman citizenship because of their military service. They dressed like Romans, spoke like Romans, lived under Roman law, and took great pride in belonging to the Roman Empire. Even though they lived hundreds of miles from Rome, they considered themselves citizens of Rome first.
Paul intentionally used that picture to teach a spiritual truth.
In effect, he was saying, “Just as you think of yourselves as citizens of Rome, never forget that your true citizenship is in heaven.” While they lived in Philippi, their ultimate identity wasn’t tied to the city around them. It was tied to the kingdom they belonged to.
The same is true for every Christian today.
Most of us are thankful for the country where God has placed us. We should pray for our leaders, obey the laws that honor God, and work for the good of our communities. Scripture encourages us to be good citizens because government is one of the institutions God established for our good.
But no matter where we live, our primary identity isn’t found in our passport.
It’s found in our King.
That perspective changes how we see everything else. We don’t evaluate God’s Word through the lens of our politics. We evaluate our politics through the lens of God’s Word. Our opinions, priorities, and loyalties should always be shaped by the kingdom we belong to rather than by the culture around us.
Jesus Never Came to Build an Earthly Kingdom
If anyone could have built a political movement, it was Jesus.
The crowds followed Him wherever He went. Thousands gathered to hear Him teach. Many expected Him to overthrow Rome and restore Israel’s national greatness. They were looking for a political Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom by force.
Jesus had something much greater in mind.
Standing before Pontius Pilate, Jesus declared:
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36, CSB)
Jesus wasn’t saying His kingdom had nothing to do with this world. His kingdom transforms lives every day. It changes marriages, restores families, strengthens churches, and gives hope to people who have none. What Jesus was saying is that His kingdom does not originate from earthly power or operate according to worldly methods.
Rome ruled through military strength.
Jesus reigns through truth.
Earthly kingdoms rise and fall throughout history. Nations are founded, governments change, and empires eventually disappear. Yet through every generation, the Kingdom of God continues advancing because its King has never changed.
That’s why Christians can love their country without confusing it with the Kingdom of God.
Our nation deserves our gratitude.
Our King deserves our worship.
Those two ideas are not the same, and confusing them has caused a great deal of misunderstanding both inside and outside the church.
As followers of Christ, we should be known first for our faithfulness to Him. Our political opinions, while important, should always remain secondary to our obedience to the One who sits on the throne.
That brings us to a practical question every believer eventually has to answer.
What happens when the values of an earthly kingdom conflict with the values of God’s Kingdom?
Living in Two Kingdoms
One of the challenges every Christian faces is learning to live faithfully in two kingdoms at the same time.
On one hand, we are citizens of an earthly nation. We have families to care for, jobs to do, taxes to pay, and communities to serve. The Bible never tells Christians to withdraw from society or ignore the world around them. In fact, Scripture encourages us to be responsible citizens who pray for our leaders and seek the good of the places where God has planted us.
On the other hand, our ultimate citizenship is in heaven.
Those two truths are not in conflict most of the time. We can love our country, appreciate its blessings, and be thankful for the freedoms God has given us. We can vote, participate in our communities, and work to make our neighborhoods better places to live. None of those things compete with our faith when they remain in their proper place.
The challenge comes when an earthly kingdom asks us to value something that God’s Kingdom rejects.
At that moment, every Christian has to answer the same question Joshua faced outside the walls of Jericho.
Who is really King?
The apostles faced that question in the early days of the church. When they were commanded to stop preaching about Jesus, they respectfully refused. Their explanation was simple:
“We must obey God rather than people.” (Acts 5:29, CSB)
Notice what they didn’t say.
- They didn’t organize a rebellion.
- They didn’t encourage violence.
- They didn’t deny that government had legitimate authority.
They simply recognized that every earthly authority is ultimately subject to a higher authority. When those authorities come into conflict, the follower of Christ already knows where his allegiance belongs.
That principle has guided Christians for two thousand years. It reminds us that while governments deserve respect, only Jesus deserves absolute obedience.
A Better Way to Think About Politics
By now, you may have noticed that this article hasn’t told you which political party Christians should support.
That’s intentional.
The Bible doesn’t call us to filter Scripture through the platform of a political party. It calls us to evaluate every political idea through the truth of God’s Word.
That is a very different approach.
Too often, we begin with a party, a candidate, or a political philosophy and then look for Bible verses to support what we’ve already decided to believe. Joshua’s encounter with the Commander reminds us that followers of God approach life from the opposite direction. We begin with God’s Word, allow it to shape our thinking, and then evaluate everything else in light of what He has already said.
That doesn’t mean Christians will always agree on every policy or every practical solution. Faithful believers sometimes reach different conclusions about the best way to address complicated issues.
What should never change, however, is the standard we use to evaluate them.
The question isn’t whether an idea is conservative or progressive.
The question isn’t whether Republicans or Democrats support it.
The question is:
Does it align with God’s Word?
That’s the question we’ll continue asking throughout this series.
As we examine God’s design for the family, the church, and government, we won’t begin with headlines or political platforms. We’ll begin with Scripture because God’s Word—not public opinion—is the final authority for every follower of Jesus Christ.
That approach may challenge assumptions on every side of the political spectrum.
That’s okay.
Our goal isn’t to defend a political movement.
Our goal is to faithfully follow our King.
Following the King
Joshua approached the Commander of the Lord’s army looking for an ally.
He walked away having met his King.
That encounter transformed the way he viewed the battle ahead. Jericho was no longer Joshua’s fight with God standing beside him. It was God’s battle, and Joshua had been invited to participate in what the Lord was already doing.
I believe that’s one of the greatest lessons Christians need to rediscover today.
Before we ask what our political party believes, we should ask what God has already said.
Before we defend our opinions, we should allow Scripture to shape them.
Before we ask God to bless our plans, we should ask Him to reveal His.
That is what it means to acknowledge Jesus as King.
It’s easy to call Jesus our Savior because we gladly receive His forgiveness. Calling Him our King is different because a king has the authority to tell us how to live. His Word shapes our priorities, our relationships, our decisions, and yes, even the way we think about the issues facing our culture.
Following Jesus has never been about inviting Him onto our side.
It’s about stepping onto His.
It Starts at Home
Over the past five articles, we’ve established an important foundation.
We’ve seen that our hope is found in Christ, not our circumstances. We’ve looked honestly at how our culture has drifted from God’s design and recognized that Satan has been executing the same strategy since the Garden of Eden. We’ve also discovered that God established the family, the church, and government with distinct purposes, each intended to work according to His blueprint.
Now we’ve added one more foundational truth.
Before we can understand God’s blueprint, we have to recognize God’s authority.
The blueprint belongs to the King.
That realization changes the rest of this series.
As we begin examining the family, the church, and government in greater detail, we won’t be asking what our culture thinks, what a political party proposes, or what happens to be popular at the moment.
We’ll keep asking one simple question:
What has the King already said?
If our citizenship is truly in heaven, that question becomes the starting point for every area of life.
- It shapes how we lead our families.
- It shapes how we serve our churches.
- It shapes how we think about government.
It even shapes the way we love our neighbors, because every person we meet is someone made in the image of the King we serve.
That’s why rebuilding always starts at home.
Not because home is the only place that matters, but because faithful discipleship begins with ordinary people choosing to live under the authority of King Jesus in the ordinary moments of everyday life.
The world may tell us to pick a side.
Jesus calls us to follow a King.
And that changes everything.
Start at Home
This article is part of the Start at Home series, exploring God’s design for rebuilding faith, family, and society from the inside out.
Published Articles
- ✓ Post 01: When You Can’t Feel God’s Hope, Start Here
https://discipleblueprint.com/when-you-cant-feel-gods-hope-start-here/ - ✓ Post 02: How America Turned from God (And I Watched It Happen)
https://discipleblueprint.com/how-america-turned-from-god-and-i-watched-it-happen/ - ✓ Post 03: The Enemy Has a Playbook: Spiritual Warfare in America
https://discipleblueprint.com/the-enemy-has-a-playbook-spiritual-warfare-in-america/ - ✓ Post 04: Why Society Is Broken: God’s Blueprint
https://discipleblueprint.com/why-society-is-broken-gods-blueprint/ - ➜ Post 05: Citizenship in Heaven: Why Christians Answer to Another King (Current Article)
Continue following the series:
https://www.discipleblueprint.com/startathome
Free Resource
If this article encouraged you to keep your eyes fixed on Christ instead of the chaos around you, I’d like to share a free resource that reminds us where lasting hope is found.
I Know God Has Hope
https://discipleblueprint.com/form/sah-i-know-god-has-hope
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