Living as an Expat

Living as an Expat

Monday, June 20, 2016
Jeff Lampl

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, 

the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything 

under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like 

his glorious body. “   Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)

“An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing, as an immigrant, in a country other than that of their citizenship”. 

Kathy, when inquiring about a certain person, will often ask . . . (read more)

“Who is she/he?”

I find that to be a very, very difficult question to answer.   Do I try to describe his physical appearance, her career, his marital status, where she sits in church, how many children he has, her role in the church or community?   I think it’s really hard to assign an identity to someone.

One of the greatest things I have ever read comes from a book in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series (seven children’s books which contain the entire Gospel without readers realizing it – which means the books are for adults too).   The Book is  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  In it there is this exchange between a hard to like boy named Eustace and Aslan the Lion (representing Jesus)

“In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."

“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”

What is a person, any person?   Is a person what his context, culture, ethnicity, family of origin, and genes, have made him to be or is he something else?

The answer is outrageous, incredible, implausible, improbable, even preposterous and scandalous,  but if we believe the answer it changes everything.  The answer is this.

Each and every human being is created by God, chosen to be a son or daughter of God, loved by God, forgiven by God for their sin at the cost of the life of God in Jesus Christ on the cross.   That’s who every human being is.   That’s their identity.  They are God’s son or God’s daughter.  “See Joe over there?  That’s God’s son.  That’s who he is.  He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Every person is born as a “citizen of Heaven” with full rights to the Kingdom of Heaven and to full acceptance ad participation in God’s family God’s sons and daughters and Jesus’ brothers and sisters.   As child of God with God given DNA each person is also given the dignity of freedom, the freedom to accept this identity or to choose another one.

Jesus will return one day, heaven and earth will be merged, and God’s family will be united in a New Creation.   Every person who has accepted his identity will receive a new body and live a full, vibrant, flourishing life, participating with God in reigning lovingly and joyfully over God’s good creation.

For now we are expats.  But only for a little while.  Here’s the apostle Paul’s advice to expats like he,

“Only let us live up to what we have already attained”.   Philippians 3:16 (NIV)

“Lord, as a citizen of both Heaven and earth, I am so susceptible to allowing my identity to be coopted by the wrong citizenship.  Forgive me for so often not living up to what you have so freely given me.  Forgive me for confusing my citizenships sometimes even mistaking the one for the other.  But most of all, Lord, thank you making even all of that right in your eyes by what you did for me on the cross, Amen”