Some nations allow dual citizenship. Citizens can enjoy all the rights and privileges of their nation while pledging allegiance to another nation as well, so long as they keep up their obligations (and pay taxes, I suppose). The United States does not prohibit dual citizenship, but if you want to enter the country, you must use your U.S. passport.
Christians have understood this concept since biblical times. The call of Abraham is rooted in the quest for a place to call home. No longer a resident of Ur, Abraham left for a far country, and beyond that he believed in the fulfillment of God’s promises in a land that gave him his new identity, though he had not yet seen it.
Paul was a Roman citizen, in addition to being a “Jew of the Jews.” More important, he identified as a citizen of heaven. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).
For the Christian today, we are citizens of God’s Kingdom. We yearn for fulfillment of God’s promises to make heaven on earth. It is happening now within the church and through the church, but it extends beyond the church. And we have one King, Jesus the Christ, and we wait for his return.
One King, One Kingdom.
So how do we balance our citizenship on earth, specifically as U.S. citizens, when our greater allegiance is to our heavenly King? These three articles in the Baptist Faith and Message address this relationship with its inherent tension between actions of the nation and God’s standards.
The current debate over Christian nationalism makes this discussion both difficult and necessary. Our denominational statement of faith certainly supports the concept that God is bringing his will to bear in the world. And as believers, we want to see his purposes fulfilled in and through our country. But this charge is not America’s alone. Because we are also citizens of a larger Kingdom, establishing one earthly nation as God’s Kingdom would limit his global intent.
For Baptists, separation of church and state is foundational. Roger Williams, first governor of Rhode Island, was a Baptist minister. His teachings that the state should not establish an official religion influenced the constitutional writings of Thomas Jefferson a century later: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
As Baptists, we insist on freedom of religion for everyone because we also want it for ourselves.
And yet, we want our nation to honor Godly principles and encourage Godly lifestyles. In the articles on Social Order, Peace and War, and Religious Liberty, Southern Baptists take the position that we will encourage the upholding of such tenets as they foster a just society.
This article on Social Order adopted in 2000 is broader and yet more specific than earlier versions in naming the current ills of our society. It also holds up Jesus’ teachings on compassion which at times get lost in political debate.
The same is true of the article on war which, while short, calls on the church to support its government in geopolitical actions, but doing so by Jesus’ value of peace. The articles recognize that Baptists aren’t the only people in the mix, and to think we could have everything our own way would be misguided. Article 15 says, “Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause…”
Article 17 on Religious Freedom was the final word on the statement of faith, until 2000 when messengers to the convention added the Family article. As an underscore for all that was stated above it, Article 17 emphasizes the dual nature of our citizenship by advocating our protection as believers to practice our faith. “A free church in a free nation is the ideal,” the BF&M states, so the state should not interfere with our exercise of religion.
This “separation” does not mean that people of faith would not have influence on the laws, morays, culture, and societal standards of the nation. For people driven by the gospel with salvation that impacts every area of their lives starting at the heart, the natural outworking of that faith will change who we are and where we live and the rules and alliances that govern our earthly home.
We have one King, and we are citizens of his kingdom.
We also bear responsibility to represent him well in this, our temporary home.
