Foreign
Nicholas Chuan
The Sack of Rome happened in the year 410 AD , a key event in the fall of the Roman Empire . Christians then were worried about the fall of Christendom . Living under Roman rule with Christianity as the official religion was all they knew . In short , they feared living in a culture hostile to their own . Does that sentiment perhaps resonate today as America seems to be becoming less friendly to Christian beliefs ?
In many ways , I am an alien in this land . I didn ’ t grow up here , I speak with an accent that others often don ’ t understand , and I don ’ t relate to much of the culture here . But most saliently , whether here or in Singapore , I am an alien in this world because as Paul says , my citizenship is in heaven ( Phil 3:20 ). As the famous hymn goes , “ This world is not my home ; I ’ m just a-passing through .” Given that truth , alongside an increasingly adverse culture , how are we supposed to live while we remain in this world ?
To answer this question , we need to go back even further in history , to ancient Israel as revealed in Jeremiah 29:4-7 . Jeremiah was a prophet whose ministry extended from the reign of King Josiah through the Babylonian exile . In chapter 29 , Jeremiah writes a letter to the Israelites whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon before the final destruction in 586 BC . This follows Hananiah ’ s false prophecy of Babylon ’ s swift fall in chapter 28 , which Jeremiah rebuked by the word of God . Instead of holding onto false promises which Hananiah proclaimed , Jeremiah exhorts the dejected , discouraged , and downtrodden exiles to go obediently to Babylon with these words .
This is what the Lord of Hosts , the God of Israel , says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon : “ Build houses and live in them . Plant gardens and eat their produce . Take wives and have sons and daughters . Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters . Multiply there ; do not decrease . Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to . Pray to the Lord on its behalf , for when it has prosperity , you will prosper .” ( Jeremiah 29:4-7 , HCSB )
Verse 7 (“ Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to . Pray to the Lord on its behalf , for when it has prosperity , you will prosper ”) is the third of three commandments on how God wanted the exiles to live in Babylon , which comes before His promise to bring them back to Jerusalem . It exhorts us today to live faithfully and obediently as pilgrims in this foreign land by seeking its flourishing and praying for it .
First , seek the flourishing of the land . The first part of verse 7 reads , “ Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to .” The noun in various English Bibles ( welfare , peace , or prosperity ) is really a translation of the Hebrew word shalom . Although I have gone with the translation of “ flourishing ,” it falls short of the wholesome concept of shalom . Shalom does not simply refer to an absence of conflict ; it is also a state of prosperity and harmony . It is also used as a greeting in modern Hebrew and Arabic ( salaam ), connoting a blessing . Thus God , speaking through Jeremiah , is not merely exhorting the exiles to seek for Babylon to be without conflict — He wants them to seek the shalom of Babylon . Moreover , it is not the case that God has no power to bring them out of Babylon back to the land He gave to them . The words immediately following it are , “ the city I have deported you to .” God intended for Israel to be deported to Babylon , due to the sins of the King Manasseh ( 2 Ki 21 ). Clearly , the Babylonian exile was well within God ’ s sovereign control .
In fact , the Bible teaches that God does send His people , sometimes unwillingly , to a foreign land for His purposes . Think of Jonah to Nineveh , Joseph to Egypt , and Daniel to Babylon . We may not experience something to that extent , but we too are sent to uncomfortable circumstances . Whether it is a difficult rooming situation , a cold and harsh region of the country , or a “ liberal and secular ” school , God has a purpose for you to be right where you are , right now .
To be clear , this does not advocate a brand of fatalism that calls for the status quo ; God may indeed be working to change your life circumstances . However , instead of adopting the low tolerance of discomfort for which our society often advocates , we must first take heart that God is sovereign over our lives and is working through our circumstances . We may then ask God what He wants us to do in our current state . Maybe it means bravely sharing the Gospel with someone in your Orgo study group , or being there for a friend experiencing a panic attack the night before your midterm . We cannot stay in a holy huddle , untouched by the rest of the culture . Just as how God instructs the exiles to seek the flourishing of the city , we are to also contribute positively to the land we are called to .
So be faithful students to the glory of God . Get involved in various communities , serving and loving those in the school and the surrounding city . Be that beacon of hope amidst uncertainty , inviting others to that unshakeable hope you have in the Gospel . This is how we live faithfully and obediently as pilgrims in this foreign land .
16 Spring 2017