Alien Invasion

I've been thinking all day about Philippians 3.10. 

But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ.

As a Christian, I'm an alien.  I'm an alien on this planet.  I'm a citizen of heaven posing as a resident of earth.  My theology agrees. I just wonder how often my life values do. 

If our citizenship is in heaven, then there are some surprising things about far too many of us who identify with Christ. 

I'm surprised we become so attached to earthly things. 

I'm surprised we work so hard to accumulate material things.

I'm surprised we don't rejoice more when someone who knows Jesus passes away. 

I participated in a funeral service yesterday that was really more of a praise party.  The family actually called it a homegoing celebration.  If the person who has passed was a Christian, homegoing celebration is a fantastic name for a funeral.  I understand that it is painful for those who loved and are left behind, but the sense of loss is because of something we have lossed, not something our loved one has lost.  They have gained access to their real residence. 

Being an alien is not an excuse for being irrelevant.  As long as we live in the world we're called to love the world.  But my fear is not that we will be too heavenly minded that we're of no earthly good.  It is that we'll be too earthly minded that we're of no heavenly good.  The more we think of eternity, the more it should cause us to maximize every day of life on this earth. 

I just wonder if we lived like we were just passinig through, like earth was not our real home, and like eternity matters most, if more of our friends would long for heaven as well. 

Comments

[Paul Podraza]

Here's a deeper question, what if you lived on Earth, experiencing heaven and eternity now, not just looking forward to it sometime down the road?

[Crysti Wallace]

In response to what Paul Podraza wrote, Ted Dekker has written an entire book on that subject entitled "The Slumber of Christianity." In it he confronts the fact that today's Christians do not seem to enjoy living life. He proposes that we only believe we can enjoy life in heaven, therefore we are (and I am summarizing) a bunch of grumpy, boring people on earth. When, if we would just open our eyes, we would see glimpses of that eternity in the things around us. It's all about perspective. Not searching for fulfillment in our lives here, but seeing that this is an exciting prelude of what's to come...now that might be a contagious way to live!