Tag: Kingdom Citizenship

“Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We are in the thick of college basketball’s conference season. Teams all over the country are playing their conference rivals in a quest to finish the season on top of that smaller contest so that when the time for March Madness finally arrives, they’ll be well positioned to secure their spot in the Big Dance, as they call it. In this effort, wins are what count most. You don’t get credit for anything other than that. Playing well but not outscoring the other team is meaningless. A loss is only a loss. But what if it wasn’t? What if a loss only seemed like a loss on paper, but what really mattered was how you played? As Paul points out here, in our efforts to advance God’s kingdom something entirely more like that is the case. Let’s explore these powerful verses.