Where We Belong

Today, I had to retrieve my passport from a safe-deposit box. It reminded me of something I wrote years ago about our eternal citizenship. I made a few tweaks to it, but most of this is from my book, Standing Firm: Are You Ready for the Battle? 

Between 1975 and 1979, a communist group known as the Khmer Rouge controlled the government of the small country of Cambodia in Southeast Asia. To maintain control and to institute a new, highly controlled way of life, the Khmer Rouge outlawed anything to do with the Cambodians’ former way of life. They banished schools, churches, banks, hospitals—even families. Children were taken away from their parents and raised in the new thinking of the Khmer Rouge. Anyone who disagreed with the government, or anyone who could be considered a threat to its stability, was brutally murdered. 

Around two million Cambodians—almost one third of the population—died, either at the hands of the Khmer Rouge or as a result of the terrible living conditions which resulted. A great many were taken to large fields where they were killed and buried in shallow graves. Those fields came to be known as “the killing fields.”

In 1984, a major motion picture was released to document some small portion of the terrible events in Cambodia. In that story we see the horrors of war and hate. We see death, brutality, and destruction, and all without any reason we can comprehend. We see evil in human form, the fullest expression of sin and its consequences. 

The Killing Fields tells the story of an American journalist in Cambodia during the takeover of the Khmer Rouge. As bad as things got there, with bombings, random killings in the streets, and a lack of food and other necessities, the American never completely despaired. Like other foreigners in the land, he could go to an embassy for help, hop on a helicopter, or take a truck offering safe passage out of the country. The passports they held in their hands proved their citizenship to another country and their right to walk away and leave Cambodia before their worst fears became reality.

The American’s friend and interpreter, a Cambodian national, was not so lucky. It was not until the American had to leave his friend behind that he finally realized the full horror of the situation his friend faced.

As Christians, we also have citizenship in another kingdom, and our names are on a list guaranteeing us safe passage out of this war zone when the time is right. We live in this world, and we might be very attached to it and not want to leave, but this is not out our home.

​Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The New Testament calls us “foreigners” or “aliens,” “exiles,” and “strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13 and 1 Peter 2:11). Jesus also said, “the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21). It is a spiritual kingdom made up of people all over the world—from every tribe and language, people group and nationality—all who acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
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The heavenly passport we hold can be a source of hope in a war-torn world. Or we can leave the passport in a safe-deposit box and forget about our true citizenship while we bicker over things that have no eternal significance.

Ask yourself today, where do you belong? Which Lord will you follow? For which kingdom will you fight?