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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
CHRISTIAN
CITIZENSHIP
Christians are by definition a people motivated by a holy discontentment
for the future. Not just any future but one promised by God and proclaimed
in the life of Jesus. The hope of the gospel is therefore the hope of
new beginnings. It anticipates transformation in the life of the individual
oppressed by sin (2 Cor 5:17); in the power structures that govern our
world ( Lk 1:51-53); and in the very cosmos as it 'groans' for liberation
from decay (Rom 8:19-22). It is this vast redemptive vision that informs
Christian practice and witness in society and gives shape to the paradoxical
nature of our citizenship.
Paradoxical, because as Christians our national citizenship is relativised by the eternal perspective of the gospel. We are strangers, aliens and exiles in this world who live in faithful expectation of 'a city whose builder and maker is God'. Yet, biblical hope never allows this reality to degenerate into spiritual escapism and the avoidance of social and political concerns. On the contrary, radical ethical engagement in this world gives authenticity to our eternal hope. For Christian citizenship, fulfilled in acts of compassion and responsibility, is an expression of God's love and care for communities and their social environment. It is a faith assertion that the broken order of this age is to be replaced by a kingdom in which justice and peace reigns.
The Christian's ambiguous status as citizen of two realities is a precarious belonging with profound possibilities. The claim of the gospel puts the temporality of the world's systems into perspective. It saves us from over identification with our national identity and provides a prophetic distance from all cultural and political allegiances. Equally, our conviction that the world is the arena of God's redemptive love demands of us an incarnational engagement with the particular human struggles of our society. Therefore, living between promise and fulfilment, Christian citizens are uniquely motivated by a social vision that is not bound to political ideology nor dismissed by religious evasion.
Although biblical realism never underestimates the flaw at the heart of all our efforts neither does it diminish God's unrelenting love for the spiritual and social wellbeing of humankind. With such a world-view, our citizenship should be marked by courage, commitment and imagination. I trust this issue of Lion & Lamb will help to do just that.
ECONI WELCOMES the submission of unsolicited articles, but does not guarantee publication, and manuscripts cannot be returned. Opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECONI. Permission to reprint any original article in Lion & Lamb should be sought from the Editor.
Editor
Derek Poole
Asst Editor Ruth Hutchinson
Design Colin Maguire
Cover Spring Graphics
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