Citizens of Heaven (on Earth)

What Does It Mean to Be "Of" the World?

In the two weeks since the surprising (and devastating) outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election I have noticed an interesting response from some Christians who opposed Donald Trump’s reelection. The response, paraphrased here, goes something like this:

“Yeah, I am definitely disappointed and worried, but this is just a really good reminder that Jesus said his kingdom isn’t from this world, and that our citizenship is in heaven. So, our focus is on helping people spiritually and not on temporary power.”

Again, this isn’t a direct quote, but it captures the essence and sentiment of what I’ve heard no small number of folks saying. While this is clearly a coping mechanism, and we do need those, this particular one is really problematic. In order to see why I believe this to be the case, we first need to take a look at the relevant passage that is being referenced from the Gospel of John.¹ This episode takes place as Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from 26-36 CE, interrogates Jesus before his execution.

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” John 18:33-36, NRSVue

Notice the phrases that are highlighted above that also cut to the core of this post:

1. My kingdom does not belong to this world.

2. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over…

3. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.

Many readers of this text make the assumption, because it’s how this text has been interpreted for them their entire lives, that Jesus is saying that his kingdom isn’t an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly one. It’s not about politics, but spirituality. It’s not about bodies or bread, but about spirit and soul. It’s not a kingdom to be entered on earth, but a heavenly reality we can experience after death.

To put it bluntly, that is not what this passage is about. If the rest of the stories found in the Gospels teach us anything it’s that Jesus was concerned with debt, bread, and a kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. So, what do we make of this passage in light of the rest of Jesus’s life and teaching?

My friend and fellow Appalachian Brad Davis is a UMC pastor who lives and does such good work in my home region. Brad will often say that we are not just from that particular place, but we are also of those hollers and hills. What this means is that the place is in us, it has shaped us and will continue to do so throughout our lives. To be of a place means you belong to that place and that place belongs to you. It’s about how the place shapes our values and the way we show up in the world. That’s what Jesus is saying to Pilate in John 18. He asserts that his kingdom isn’t of the world, meaning his kingdom does not share the values of the system/empire that is carving up the world. Practically, in John 18, it means that Jesus and his disciples will not resort to violence to bring said kingdom to bear on the world—that Jesus, as he did in the temptation episodes in Matthew and Luke, will reject any attempt to advance God’s kingdom with the means of empire. And, friends, the means of empire are always violence and exploitation of and against the many to benefit the few.

For Jesus, the kingdom he envisioned and embodied could not be a carbon copy of empire with a different ruler at the head. It must be a fundamental break with the values and vices of empire, and an embrace of the values and virtue of God’s just and generous dream for the world.

With that in mind, I do understand the need to maintain a clarity and distinction about how we seek to implement that vision. Many Christian Nationalists would no doubt claim that this is what they are trying to do—bring the kingdom on earth. The problem is that they seek a kingdom and engage methods that have far more in common with Caesar than with Jesus. They take Caesar’s method and seek to impose their narrow, bigoted (mis)understanding of Jesus’s message onto everyone. This is a vision and goal that must be resisted and rejected. It is an anti-Christ vision.

But that doesn’t mean that Christians should just imagine and rehearse for some spiritual reality someday while the earth burns and God’s image bearers suffer under injustice and inequality. Far from it. Jesus’s message was not of the world, but it is for the world. A truly Christlike vision would not focus on the religious label, or lack thereof, of people. Instead, it would seek, like Jesus did, the feeding, healing, and inclusion of all humans. In short, it would be a vision that would work for the flourishing of all of humans and creation. This vision is not Christian Nationalism, but a human project that seeks to realize God’s dream of a world of justice, generosity, compassion, peace, and, to use the word that sums up everything this vision is about, love.

The call of the Christian tradition is not to escape or abandon the world, but to join with other humans, of all labels or no labels, to work for a more just world. Jesus’s kingdom was not and is not of this world, but thank God it is for it.

1. The “citizens of heaven” reference comes from Philippians 3, and while I won’t treat it directly in this post, what I say about the text from John is also applicable to the Philippians reference as well.