Introduction: Christian Citizenship
Derek Poole

Comment
Priscilla Reid

From the Director
David Porter

Outside the Camp
Donald Watts

Citizenship
From 'For God and His Glory Alone'

Love: An attribute of Citizenship
Graham Cheesman

Memory and Redemption
David J Montgomery

Holy Nation
Lois Barrett

Grace Healed Eyes
Steve Stockman

Negotiating the Future
Deirdre Mullan

Book Reviews
Alwyn Thomson and Dorothy McMillan

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CITIZENSHIP
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

As citizens of heaven, our primary loyalty is to the Lord Jesus Christ. All other loyalties are secondary and must be judged by the values and priorities of this one. It is idolatry to equate God with any one culture or political ideal. It is quite wrong to require allegiance to any of them as evidence of allegiance to Him. There is no room, therefore, for the identification of either Unionism or Nationalism as being particularly expressive of Christian faith. For too long Ulster Protestantism has passed without question as biblical Christianity when, in many particulars, it owes as much to culture as it does to Scripture. Seldom is it admitted among us that one can be a true Evangelical and not be a Unionist.

There are Evangelical Christians living on this island whose culture is British and whose political preference is for a continued link with Britain. Equally there are those whose culture is Irish and whose political preference is for a united Ireland. From the biblical viewpoint both are legitimate preferences.

Although our true citizenship is in heaven, we are still commanded to be good citizens. Respect for and obedience to government and the law is our normal Christian duty. If we were commanded by the state to act in a manner contrary to the Word of God, non-violent disobedience would be necessary. But as this situation does not apply in the province at this time, our responsibility as citizens is to submit to the duly constituted government and rule of law.

Correspondingly, the government of any state has a responsibility to restrain and punish evildoers. In this it is entitled to the support and involvement of its citizens in the impartial enforcement of the law, in the administration of justice and in the encouragement of law-abiding behaviour and good citizenship.

From the following passages list the priorities and principles of Christian citizenship: Matthew 5:13-16; 22:15-22; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; Titus 3:1-2, 8; 1 Peter 2:13-14; 4:12-19.

This year [1998] ECONI celebrates its tenth anniversary as an organisation committed to engagement with God's word and the hurts facing our divided community. A decade of resourcing Christians to be agents of peace, justice and reconciliation has resulted in a considerable amount of material that individuals and churches have found helpful. We will be continuing to provide considered and relevant resources, and a brochure outlining ECONI's publications and events is available from the of office.

The birth of ECONI was accompanied by the first ECONI publication - For God and His Glory Alone . To date over 11,500 copies have been distributed and we are continually encouraged by the positive response we receive to the booklet. For God and His Glory Alone is a series of ten studies exploring the biblical themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, citizenship, repentance, etc. and their application to the Northern Ireland situation. A new edition will be available in the Autumn of this year (1998) but you can purchase a current copy from the ECONI office. The included study on Citizenship is taken from the series, and even after ten years it still seems appropriate to the challenges facing our community.

The following quote from Ronald Sider summarises well ECONI's ethos on the issue of citizenship and offers a helpful model for Christians to consider the nature of our engagement with society.

"Absolutising any political reality is idolatry. Since we know every socio-political order will be very imperfect until our Lord returns we must vigorously apply biblical norms to every social order, that will mean praising the good and denouncing the evil on the basis of biblical values rather than current national propaganda. When Christians do that successfully they offend all contending parties. Partisan politicians want our unqualified endorsement, not limited praise and prophetic criticism. Because the ultimate loyalty of Christians is Christ and his kingdom and because they insist on reconciliation with enemies rather than extermination even of oppressors they will at best fit only awkwardly with partisan political movements, but precisely in that disturbing prophetic presence lies their most significant contribution."