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For many foreigners, the United States of America used to be a dream country for immigration, due to its good living environment, well constructed educational systems, secure society and political freedom. In recent years, the benefits of possessing an US citizenship are however diminishing, as seen from many immigrants. Some quoted reasons are ranging from a lengthy and possible high price tag of the citizenship application to moral decay and national debts or, to tax implications to those who are living and doing business outside of US. Recent news on relinquishing the US green card and passport by wealthy businesspersons in China tips a sign of such perception. Regardless of the true reason behind the relinquishment, we are certain that the US citizenship may not be as favorable as it was in the previous years.

Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, or national community, according to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia. A citizen would therefore owing loyalty to and entitled to the protection of such community when he / she possess its citizenship. Hence, “good” citizens are perceived to be important in promoting the stability of the community. Last Friday night we had a gathering and some of us mentioned that back to old days, we used to have “Citizenship and Morality (公民與道德) and “Life and Ethics (生活與倫理)” classes in 1-12 years of school. These classes essentially taught us common principles of morality and ethics in our daily life. It is not the case today, however. As we mourn the decay of morality and ethics in today’s society, some suggests that the removal of those classes could have contributed to it. Then the question is “What is a good citizen?” From our discussions, I could ascertain some attributes of a good citizen – it should be a person who observes good morality and ethics and is law-abiding to the country / community.

As a Christian, we are supposed to have two types of citizenship. One is from this world and the other is from God’s kingdom. However, there should be no conflicts in between the two, in terms of being a “good citizen”. In Matthew 22:15-22, we learn from Jesus’ teaching to His disciples about paying imperial tax to Caesar.  His response, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” to the trap intentionally set by the Pharisees and the Herodians, is monumental. Jesus wants us submit to the authority of this world while still maintains a good citizenship in God’s kingdom. Apostle Peter also indicated to us that we should live godly lives in a pagan society. He wants us to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority. Yet, there is one aspect that we should not neglect – it is the priority between the two types of citizenship. As we are adopted to be God’s children because of His love, the citizenship of heavenly kingdom should take higher priority than the earthly citizenship. Apostle Peter said, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9)”. Consequently, we should live a life that is worthy of the calling from God – a true good citizen in His kingdom.

My dear brothers and sisters, are you a good citizen, especially in God’s eye? Hope your answer is “yes!”