Disciple, Citizen
Those of you who have joined this year-long read-though of the book of Acts might remember this story. And even if you don’t, you might at least remember all the times that we noticed Paul calling attention to his citizenship. We read this one not all that long ago and we wondered together why on earth Paul would appeal to Caesar, why he so strongly identified as a Roman citizen. His citizenship was as much a part of his identity as his Jewishness.
We Mennonites have had a more complicated – or actually maybe it’s been a more simple – relationship with citizenship in our European history. We would move to other countries and instead of citizenship in that place being a part of our identities, we would create colonies or communities that would differentiate us from the citizens around us.
Historically in Mennonite theology has described a sort two column system – sometimes called The Two Kingdoms: The Kingdom of the World in column A and the Kingdom of God in a parallel column B. There is no interaction between the two and if I am a Christian, my sole citizenship is in the Reign of God. One might possibly imagine a venn diagram where the circles overlap where it requires commerce or services, or maybe more aptly different planes, rather than columns, since we Christians are higher and closer to God. There has always been an allegiance to God’s Reign vs. kingdom of this world. Mennonites are “in the world but not of the world.”
I think of the Mennonites in my history who fled to Russia from Prussia to escape the need to engage in warfare. They gained citizenship there but didn’t truly see themselves as citizens – again because they were outside national military conflict. Yet they had access to the privileges of land ownership, eduction and earned great wealth through those. The same is true when they arrived in Canada – new citizenship there as white European immigrants – land, wealth, access to healthcare. They saw themselves as outside the system of citizenship. They were the “quiet in the land.”
It is becoming increasingly apparent these days that in this country no one can take their belonging in this nation for granted. While we may feel ambiguously about our citizenship or residency in the United States, citizenship is a thing to claim, to use, to name. And that would be in line with how the early church – or certainly Paul – viewed the relationship to citizenship and nation.
For a long time I chose not to pursue citizenship in the US, although I’ve been living here more than two decades! I used non-citizenship as an excuse to not sign petitions, to not have to be as informed as I could be. After all, I couldn’t vote.
But all of that was by my own choice. More and more I’ve been recognizing what a privilege I have to be able to choose. I do not have to think about my safety, my belonging is not questioned, my children are unlikely to be taken from me or in danger from law enforcement. And for a long time I knew this yet I did not let it influence my willingness to advocate for those who do not have the choice/privilege.
When our kids have claimed that they are ‘half American, half Canadian,’ we respond that they are, in fact, 100% both. The Venn diagram fully overlaps. When I consider my own identity, I feel like I may hold American citizenship but I am Canadian. Truly, though, what I am is neither. I may have passports from two countries, but I am 100% a subject and citizen of the Reign of God.
Paul also had dual affiliations. He was ethnically and religiously Jewish. He was a member of the diaspora but deeply immersed in the culture and religious practice of Judaism. And he was a Roman citizen by virtue of his birth in the Roman-occupied city of Tarsus. He could also codeswitch – using the language and idiom and references of his audience to connect and communicate. Both his Roman citizenship and Jewishness are tools witnessing to the Gospel. For Paul all parts of his identity were a way into proclaiming the Good News.
Paul’s first stop in any new city was always the synagogue. That was his natural habitat. The place he shared a story and cultural understanding. But if either the Jews or the Roman occupiers of a city had doubts or questions, or he got himself into hot water, you better believe that if he was pulling out his Roman passport. Though citizenship was a legal status, Paul’s identity was in Christ. His privilege of citizenship was always and only in service of his discipleship of Jesus.
In his commentary on Acts, Willie James Jennings writes of the apostle, “Paul has not now, nor has he ever trusted the judicial process. His trust is in God. He is out maneuvering his enemies and living to fight another day.”
If Paul had stayed in Jerusalem and gone before Jewish authorities or even been led again in front of the Roman governors, he would probably have ended up dead. He knew how Jesus’ life had ended and he saw the way his own story could play out. But he calls on the privilege of his citizenship to essentially request a stay – and a transfer – and because he’s a citizen, it’s granted.
The way he leverages that system reminds me of the Apache Stronghold and their long fight to save Oak Flat, or the Duwamish here in the Seattle area and their ongoing petition to be granted tribal status. Neither of these indigenous groups necessarily feels affiliated with the government that colonized and continues to marginalize and exclude them on the land that is and has always been theirs. But because they have citizenship in this country and access to its courts they will use them as much as they can as tools for real justice to be enacted.
Or the recent lawsuit of MCUSA along with many other interfaith communities against Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protect places of worship as sanctuary – protected locations from abduction by enforcement agents. There has been some pushback within the church against taking this kind of legal action, saying that engaging in the legal system is a form of violence. And that has indeed been one of the ways that Mennonites have been in but not of the world throughout our history in the United States.
But I appreciated a letter in the Anabaptist World from earlier this month. (Reference) Mennonite lawyer Timothy Stolzfus, from Virginia, wrote:
When we sue an administration that is violating the Constitution, we are showing our allegiance to the principle that the United States is governed by laws, not by . We follow in the path of Paul, who insisted on his rights as a Roman citizen when arrested by the authorities.
Historically, Mennonites have discouraged lawsuits as a form of violence, arguing that judicial judgments must ultimately be enforced through law enforcement officers. When we sue the government, however, this is not the case. The courts do not use violence when they enforce laws against the executive. I applaud the actions of MC USA in calling on the courts to protect the freedom of churches to worship with and serve immigrants.
Jennings says, “Disciples of Jesus should be desperate citizens. The desperate citizen will press their citizenship as far as possible for the sake of thwarting death and its agents.”
Christian disciples of Jesus who are Black and the descendants of slaves, as Jennings is, have never had the luxury, as white, settler Mennonites have, of being able to ‘opt out’ of citizenship. Recognition of citizenship – even of full personhood – has been hard fought.
Jennings says, “we too often imagine citizenship from the privileged position of options – to become involved in politics or not, to concern ourselves with contentious issues or not, to claim our citizenship or not, or to speak out or remain silent.” But perhaps you’ve also seen this quote on social media or shared by activists: to say you are not political is to say you are for the politics of the status quo.
We individually in our congregation hold various levels of privilege. And as a church we have a great deal of privilege. Our respected position in the community at large; a level of education and skill within our own community; our connections to various businesses and community organizations; our majority whiteness. I’m sure you can think of more.
Meanwhile, many minoritized people in churches and nonprofits have to scramble and work multiple jobs and do advocacy in their small amount of spare time. And then they may be patronized or not taken seriously by people in power when they have the opportunity to make their case for their own worth and belonging.
Back in October, when a handful of us elder and middle-ish aged, white Mennonite ladies visited Adam Smith’s office a year or so ago to advocate for aid in Gaza, one of the aides commented on how cordial and polite everything was. Non emotional. And on the one hand, aw, how nice. On the other, he was implying that when ‘ethnic’ groups with similar concerns to ours advocated for themselves, they were clouded by their emotional attachment to the issues. They were taken less seriously.
“The purpose of citizenship for a disciple of Jesus,” says Willie James Jennings, “is to use the emperor’s gold to break the emperor’s hold on lives and to use the systems that construct pawns to shatter the chains of servitude.” Just as Mennonite theology has seen an evolution from passive non-resistance to active non-violence in it’s pacifism, I think the church is beginning to shift from “Quiet in the land” non-engagement to a Just Peace theology that actively engages in the empires systems in order to tear them down.
Just this week, Mennonite World Conference president César García wrote, inspired by the gathering of Anabaptists and Mennonites in Zurich:
Today, more than ever, we need Christian leaders who embody the clarity of Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397 CE), a pivotal figure in the early Christian church. He famously confronted Emperor Theodosius regarding a massacre in Thessalonica, demanding clear signs of repentance before permitting him to re-enter communion with the church…
García goes on:
…We do not gain power by having a Christian politician govern our country, by establishing constitutional laws based on the Bible, or by maintaining a close relationship with the president. The only power we require to accomplish our mission is the one provided through the Holy Spirit.
We do not need the affirmation, favour or support of human governments. Our call is to serve society and present God’s kingdom vision in reliance on the Holy Spirit.
Our role is not to cozy up to power but to speak truth to it. Not as the quiet or the meek in the land but as a prophetic witness. God is greater than the nation state but our citizenship within the state can be a tool to leverage for justice and for the Gospel. May we be disciples who are, in the words of Jennings, desperate citizens. In that desperation, may we seek not only survival but justice, shalom, a Just Peace for all of God’s creation.
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image: Beth Fitzpatrick on Unsplah
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