“In Philippians 3:20, Paul reminds these inhabitants of of the Roman colony that, as Christians, ‘we are citizens of a heavenly commonwealth [politeuma].’ We are citizens of a different empire. The church of Jesus Christ is an alternative city, a counter-empire. We are the ‘Messiah-people’ who pledge allegiance to the Lamb. We are subjects of a king who tells us to put away our swords. We are a peculiar people, ‘a royal priesthood and a holy nation’ (1 Peter 2:9), whose allegiance transcends the boundaries of states and nations — making us ‘strangers’ in every nation and state (1 Peter 2:11).”
James K. A. Smith, The Devil Reads Derrida and Other Essays on the University, the Church, Politics, and the Arts. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009, page 76.
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 