Heavenly Minded And Earthly Good

Karen

Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

—Philippians 1:27 CSB

Once when I was a teenager playing softball on our church’s team, I overheard a conversation describing another church member. Our left-fielder had declared, “Oh, she is almost so heavenly minded that she’s no earthly good!” It made me wonder, is this old saying in fact true?

It reminds me of my friend, Thida. She’s a natural-born citizen of Cambodia who relocated to the United States when she married Keith, an American. I had the pleasure of not only attending their wedding reception, held here in the States, but later writing a recommendation letter for her when she applied for US citizenship.

To officially become a citizen, Thida had to study diligently to become well versed in American history and the laws of the country. Once she’d passed the exam and the committee had reviewed her recommendation letters, she was ready to make it official. Thida’s smile stretched wider than the Golden Gate Bridge when she became a full-fledged citizen of the US. However, even though legally she’s now American, she remains a natural-born citizen of Cambodia too.

We Christians are also dual citizens. Though we dwell here on earth, we should be ever cognizant of the fact that most importantly we are citizens of heaven. What we think and how we act should reflect this direction: “As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).

We are celestial citizens inhabiting earth. As dual citizens, our practice should be to study God’s Word to make sure we take our heavenly citizenship seriously. Will others be able to vouch for us, confident that we are believers who represent the kingdom well?

As we share Jesus’ love and carry out the commands of Scripture, it makes us more compassionate, helpful, encouraging—more concerned about justice and caring for the poor, marginalized, and ostracized.

Let’s remember today that our aim is to live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ—ones that draw others to Him when they see our loving behavior.

May we be both heavenly minded and do earthly good.

Dear God, I am living here on earth as a foreigner. Help me not become too wrapped up in the ways the world does things. Help me continually place my treasure and hope in heaven as I reflect the gospel to a watching world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

In what ways are the world’s ways of thinking and doing things foreign to you? How have you gotten too comfortable here? How can you fix your eyes back on heaven, your one true home?