Acts 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
Dual Citizenship
On Sunday I was at Cracker Barrel, and one of the servers was very excited. She was just beside herself because there was a famous person at one of the tables. It was a reality television star. Incidentally, one thing I have found is that it is hard to impress people with how famous you are if they have never heard of you! So, I was able to keep my composure because I had never heard of this person.
That waitress impressed by the television star will probably be impressed by one other person: the one who left a memorable tip. Every day you are reminding people of who you are by your actions. You have a dual citizenship. If you leave a tract at Cracker Barrel, representing your heavenly citizenship, and you also leave an abysmal tip, you are dishonoring your heavenly citizenship by the way you are employing your earthly citizenship. We are to live the earthly citizenship in a way that honors our heavenly citizenship.
Paul was defending his life against the Jewish people who had tried to kill him. He was standing before a judge named Felix as an orator named Tertullus was accusing Paul of all kinds of mischief. Paul’s answer was essentially, “I have not been a rabble-rouser. I have not caused mischief in the synagogue or in the streets. They cannot prove the things of which they accuse me.”
Paul says, “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” He goes on to say, “And hath hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there should be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.” In short, he says, “I am innocent of these accusations.”
Would you rather be in big trouble for something you have not done, being falsely accused, or would you rather be in big trouble for something you have done? I Peter says, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: having a good conscience that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” I’d rather have a clean conscience and be mistreated.
Paul was innocent of any crime. What he was guilty of was an offensive message. The message of the gospel is, unbelievably, offensive to people. To acknowledge that we are sinners and there is only one way to God through His Son Jesus is offensive. We don’t need to make it offensive. It is offensive, and we can’t minimize or water down the exclusive nature of the gospel message.
So, the balance to that is that I had better not be living in such a way that I am offending people just because I am acting poorly. I need to represent the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that is honoring to Him. We possess dual citizenship. I need to honor my heavenly citizenship by the way I employ my earthly citizenship.
If I am doing business on Craig’s list, it is fine to get the best deal possible, but I do not need to dishonor my heavenly citizenship by being dishonest or manipulative. If I am say grace for a meal when I am eating out, I need to make sure that my following behavior is in keeping with my heavenly citizenship. When I am dealing with my kids at Walmart, I need to make sure that I am living in such a way as to honor the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” We have dual citizenship, and the one that is eternal and most important needs to be illustrated by the honorable life I live right here right now.