Customs

How many of you have gone to a different country than the one you are from and thought "man, that's a strange custom." For example, Bulgarians nod when disagreeing with you, and shake their head when agreeing. And, using the American gesture for "OK" (the thumb and forefinger making a circle with the other fingers pointing up) can be embarrassing. In Brazil that gesture means "screw you": in Japan it means "money": in Southern France it means "zero" or "worthless".

The point is that many countries have different customs -- not right or wrong, just different. Some, in fact, mean exactly the opposite of what we would be communicating in the U.S., which brings me to the point of this message.

We are told that, "our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil 3:20) and that, "we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Cor. 5:20). And, Peter says, "dear friends, I urge you, live as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (1 Pet. 2:20).

You see, God wants us to remember whose customs we are to follow. He wants us to remember what country we are from. We are told that we are aliens here. Now, most of the time when a foreign national comes to the U.S. he retains his customs from his home country and the language of the home country. The same applies to us.

For those of us that are from the country called "Heaven," God tells us that we should have "such good lives [customs]" that others will actually glorify God when He comes. Even those they accused us of wrong doing. Let me ask you this, in your business deals and your workplace, are you so far from reproach that others make fun of you because you won't just turn a blind eye? Do they accuse you of being a "company man" in representing the interests of your employer? What customs -- principles -- did Jesus tell us to live by that would be "radical" from this country's customs?

Regarding the language of Heaven, does your speech give life? Is it peppered with Grace? Do you honor God when you have the opportunity?

We are aliens. We are ambassadors and wherever we set foot, we can claim that land as Heaven's soil. But, in doing so the customs and the language come too.