Think It Not Strange...
"For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God....These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." Hebrews 11:10, 13-16
One of the more prevalent falsehoods in Christianity today is that Christians should be a "
nice" people working to make the world a "
nice" place. How do we do that? By preaching how God loves all people no matter their beliefs or lifestyles. By downplaying the word of God so that we do not make people feel uncomfortable or estranged from God in talking about sin. Present day Christianity would have the Christian striving to "
be nice", "
act nice", and "
make nice" with the world. Yet, this message is in direct conflict with the Scriptures.
Back in the day, you would often hear Christians say, "
This world is not my home." This statement was an acknowledgement that we are
ambassadors in the earth (
II Corinthians 5:20). That means our citizenship (identity, duties, authority, etc.) comes from
above, and not here below.
ambassador: a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative
We are to be representatives of God - having been first equipped, empowered, and sent
by Him - to those here in the earth.
Consider the text above in Hebrews Chapter 11. The cloud of witnesses who went on before us had something in common: they were seeking a city
not of this world. They recognized that citizenship in this Heavenly place meant that they
no longer belonged to this world, but were
strangers to it. Not only does faith in Jesus Christ
prevent us from fitting into this world, but it is precisely this "not fitting in" which makes it possible for us to represent Him!