So, Where Are You From?

I have a fond memory of a conversation I had one morning years ago with two friends, one of whom was born and raised in India, and the other of whom was born and raised in Great Britain. We somehow got to discussing the seemingly innocuous, yet often painful question, "So, where are you from?" I understand why this can be so disconcerting for people who live, let’s say, elsewhere. I was born at a hospital near a Navy base, during one of many stops my parents made throughout their tenure in the military. I was born there, we lived there for a while, I even still have a few good friends from there, but am I from there? Alas, no.

That morning, the three of us discussed how strange it feels not to be from where you live. Everyone who lives where they are really from feels so confident, so comfortable, and so much a part of the fabric of that place and those people. When you are not really from there, you cannot help but feel the opposite of all of those things - not a part of the people, not a part of the fabric of the place. Your accent gives you away, your weird idioms give you away, even the way you dress can give you away. For example, there are entirely different words and names for things in different places; people in California and Texas do not call sub sandwiches grinders like they do in Connecticut - ask me how I know! It can be so strange to live in a place you aren’t really from.

I think the apostle Paul deeply understood this concept. This man, Saul as he was formerly known, had quite a pedigree: as he put it, "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless." On top of all of that, he was born and raised in Tarsus, which gave him highly coveted Roman citizenship. He was well-educated, and was a rising leader among his generation - he even had the honor to hold everyone's coats while the elders stoned that heretic Stephen to death for his ridiculous blasphemy. Saul was a man very comfortable in the time and place his birth and heritage afforded to him, and very sure of his place in the world.

​But one day as he was hot on the heels of some of those vile Christ-followers that he was committed to eradicate, Jesus came and knocked Saul to the ground, both literally and spiritually. With one perfect question (see Acts 9), Jesus revolutionized Saul's entire life, and immediately Saul realized that he wasn’t from around here at all. He had become Paul, the Lord's sent one to the gentiles, and spent the rest of his life explaining how this world and all of its rules and regulations and systems and structures are so other than the place we all really belong.


Sometimes people try to say that the Kingdom of God is upside down from this world, but I’m pretty sure it is the other way around. The world, as beautiful as it was created to be, has been corrupted by sin, which has wormed its way into everything -  every human heart, and every atom of this beautiful creation, which means it is full of corrupted relationships, systems, structures, institutions, and nations. 


The entire point of our faith is grateful recognition and acceptance that Jesus came to demolish sin and its curse, and to usher in His own perfect kingdom. We read all throughout scripture that the Lord had so much to say about what this new, beautiful, incorruptible, lasting kingdom is like. In His kingdom, to be last means to be first, to live means to die, and to love means to lay your life down for someone else. In Jesus' kingdom, the people reflect Him, and are full of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. The people of his kingdom are meek and merciful and makers of peace.


In the upside-down world that we all live in right now, the locals are altogether different from those of Jesus' kingdom. They live only for today, and what they can get out of it. They do not believe in Jesus or His Kingdom, and instead believe that this is is all there is, so it makes perfect sense to take what you can get no matter what it might cost yourself or anyone else. You might as well eat more, and drink more, dull your pain more, get more pleasure, and grasp what you can, because when you die, that’s it. This world tells you that you had better look out for number one because nobody else will. They do not reflect Jesus, and instead become gradually more full of restlessness and fits of rage, anger and despair, and have no self-control at all. They are proud and boastful, stirring up strife and dissension wherever they go, and have no mercy; rather, they are ruthless. The Bible is clear that people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5, 1 Cor 6)


People of Jesus' Kingdom know that this is not our home, and that here-and-now is not all there is to life. The longer we walk with Jesus, the more we stick out like a sore thumb and feel uncomfortable here; the more we realize like Paul did that we're not from around here, after all. Rather, what comes next is the most real and lasting part of life, where there will be no more death, and every tear will be wiped away. The only way to get there is through Jesus, and to be washed clean by His sacrifice. And that place is perfect, untouched by sin, which means that all of us from here must experience tremendous change between now and then, if we are to live there someday. This process is called sanctification, and the Holy Spirit works tirelessly at this in each of our lives. Even more, He invites us to participate in this work through our daily choices. 

All this means that between now and then, there is going to be a lot of culture clash in all of our hearts and lives. Just like my friends and I who had to learn to be Texan, we all have to learn to be fit citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven: we must learn to speak, act, and think like Jesus. We are going to have a lifetime of choices as to whether we are going to live for this world, or for the beautiful world to come. Once we realize that this life is a launching pad for forever, it helps make more sense of what we walk through every day… 

-Single or married, at home or at work or school, face-to-face or online, every one of our relationships involves at least two naturally sinful people, and therefore provides plenty of opportunity for learning to treat one another as we would like to be treated, to forgive as we hope to be forgiven, to choose to believe the best about one another, and to absorb offense, just as Jesus does.

-Every day we have plentiful opportunity to take what we can get, or to give generously so that other people can be blessed. 

-We have ample time to invest in what we think is the most important thing -  this place, or the one to come. It isn’t hard to see which place we count home, if we just look at our calendars and bank balances to see where the bulk of our time and money is spent.

-Every marriage is made up of one incredibly selfish husband, and one equally selfish wife. This is how so many of us can learn to squash that terrible thing within that says, "don’t tell me what to do" and "my way or the highway." Marriages thrive when we each actually stop to think how our spouse also has feelings, desires, needs and wants, and act to lay our own preferences for one another. 

-When we get a little used to this, along come children, who are born in such a helpless state that they literally can’t survive unless someone tends them. They cannot perfectly thrive unless both mother and father lay down their own ambitions and desires, and give preference to the child for a season. How often we sleep, what we eat, listen to, watch, and do is radically impacted by this tiny person, and we gladly lay our lives down for them. 

-Then, in the sunset of life, the roles are reversed, and we all have opportunity to lay our lives down for our parents when the time comes that they need us.

God uses every bit of this broken world and its broken relationships to help us be fitted for His kingdom. We all have ample opportunity to purge ourselves of our selfish, cowardly, scheming, conniving, wrathful ways, and participate with the Spirit in His work of making us men and women of God.

So, where are you from? It is so important to honestly ask and answer this question every now and then. Is my life growing to reflect the goodness of Jesus more and more, or am I becoming more dull and mean and jaded like this upside-down world? Are the people I spend time with, the things I spend time doing, and the things I am reading and digesting in my spirit helping me become more like Jesus? If not, some serious changes need to be made, as soon as possible.

 The older I get, my longing for eternity grows. It becomes easier every day to realize that I’m just not from around here, and that's because my real home is in Heaven. This week, may we make the most of every opportunity to truly love our families and neighbors, and to be more like Jesus and everything we say and do. May we not fall for the trap of feeling comfortable here. Instead, may we live like people who know exactly where we’re from and who can't wait to get there!