“For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.”
Philippians 3:18-20 (NIV)

It was our daughter who I first heard use the phrase “first world, white girl problems.” It made me laugh, and Wendy and I regularly conjure up the sentiment when catching ourselves getting bent out-of-shape by a simple annoyance in life that most of the inhabitants of this planet would love to have. As Wendy and I peruse the headlines and discuss current events, we often take a moment to recognize that it is our affluence that allows for the making of major issues of silly and/or trivial things.

Modern readers of Paul’s letters often have little or no knowledge of the historic location or circumstances of the people to whom Paul wrote and the cities in which they lived. But the history often provides important context that adds layers of new meaning to the words.

For example, the city of Philippi was a very affluent Roman city. The city had always enjoyed the prosperity that came from nearby gold mines. Gold mines needed heavy security, so it always had a strong military presence. The Romans treated Philippi as a colony for retired, highly influential military veterans. It was governed by two military officers appointed by Rome. For being a relatively small city, it was very affluent and patriotically Roman.

Of course, the culture of Rome was historically libertine. The Roman orgies rooted in the cult of Bacchus are the stuff of legend (see Bacchus in featured photo). Affluent Romans of high standing enjoyed prosperous lives and sensual indulgences. Roman citizenship (which was bought or bestowed to relative few) had its perks and privileges, and as military town full of retired veterans and Roman citizens, it strikes me as being kind of a gated community of its day.

Paul, by the way, was a citizen of Rome. Like everyone else, he understood its privileges. In fact, he commonly leveraged his citizenship and the privilege it carries. In one instance, Paul’s citizenship saved him from being scourged. Another privilege was that any Roman citizen who got in trouble with the law had the right to appeal their case to Caesar himself, which Paul did.

Followers of Jesus seeking to further Jesus’ teaching of moral constraint and generous care of societal outcasts didn’t exactly fit well in the culture of libertine Roman excess and affluence. At best, Romans made life difficult for followers of Jesus, at worst it outright persecuted them in heinous ways. It was into this cultural clash in Philippi that Paul was addressing to the believers there in his letter.

In today’s chapter, Paul reminds the believers in Philippi that their “Citizenship” was in heaven, and that both their minds and lives should be focused on things there. Every day they saw military retirees leveraging their Roman citizenship and affluence into a focus on making sure their waning days on earth were filled with an indulgence in earthly sensual appetites. Paul appeals to Jesus’ followers that their citizenship was in eternity, to which they would retire at the end of this earthly journey.

I can’t help but think of C.S. Lewis’ famous thoughts:

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself contemplating my own desires and appetites. The truth is that my reality is not unlike that of the followers of Jesus’ in Philippi. We are a culture that increasingly values and celebrates the indulgence of human appetites, even if our wholesale excesses fall short of Roman bacchanalia. What I find Paul pointing to is the same as Jesus when He urged His followers to invest earthly resources in heavenly treasure. Is my focus on earthly citizenship, appetites, and treasures, or my citizenship in heaven and treasures?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.