“For, as I have told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:18-20
The World Cup being held in the United States this month has not only brought many foreign visitors to our nation for the first time, but it has kindled an interest among Americans for the most popular sport in the world. While we Americans cherish baseball (our national pastime), American football and basketball as our national sports, the rest of the world are devoted football (soccer) fans – and by a big margin as well! Many people I have talked to watched every game they could as they were all televised here in the USA, and they got caught up in the drama and the excitement of this major global tournament held every 4 years.
I recently read an article regarding the large number of soccer players playing in the World Cup that have dual citizenship. According to one estimate, around 25% of all the players in this year’s World Cup have dual citizenship. With 48 teams in the tournament each having about 25 players, that’s 300 players with dual citizenship! More than half of the US team players have dual citizenship, and their star player, Folarin Balogun, was born in the USA but has never lived here. France is the country with the most nationals (citizens) playing in the World Cup – 23 on their team and 73 for other teams! And Cape Verde, the smallest nation that qualified for the world Cup, recruited almost all of its players from other countries. FIFA, the governing body of the World Cup, allows players with dual citizenship to choose which team they will play for. But FIFA only allows them to switch from one national team to another one time.
As an American, it bothers me a little to have a national team that represents our nation having players who have never lived in our country or who only lived here for a few years. Do these players truly want to represent our nation or are they just playing wherever they see the best opportunity for their careers? Would they wave the American flag or their other country’s flag? Where is their true allegiance? I don’t know and I don’t wish to judge those who take advantage of their dual citizenship.
But I do think dual citizenship can be a problem when a person’s real allegiance comes into question. In the World Cup for example, what happens when a player plays for one team, but his true heart is for the nation he is playing against? Will he play harder or perhaps with less zeal than he would otherwise? It’s a question we may never know the answer to but has the potential to affect the outcome of a match.
Outside of sports, what about other people who have dual citizenship? Is their allegiance to one nation greater than the other? Many people who have dual citizenship use it mostly for convenience and the ability to live and work where they choose, regardless of where they were born and raised. I recently learned that while naturalized Americans must take an oath of allegiance to our nation when they become a citizen, that allegiance cannot be enforced legally. They can also remain a citizen of their former nation. So, where does their true allegiance lie? This could result in some citizens choosing to support their other nation in the event of war. This actually happened in World War II when American citizens who were also citizens of Germany chose to go back to Germany and fight against our nation. The US also put Japanese Americans in internment camps to prevent them from fighting against us while remaining in our nation even though they never made that choice.
The problem of dual citizenship also applies to Christians. We are both citizens of our earthly world but also citizens of heaven. Where is our true allegiance? Is it to our world or is it to Jesus? Although we live in this world, we are primarily citizens of heaven according to the God’s Word (see Philippians 3:18-20 above). And John writes in John 15:18 that the world hates Jesus and those who follow Him. So, why would we want to be citizens of a world that hates us? Furthermore, in 1 John 2:15, John says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And James 4:4 says, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God?”
As Christians we should not try to live as dual citizens. We must choose between our world or God and declare our allegiance to God. In the Old Testament, Joshua told the Hebrew people they had to choose between God and the other idols they worshipped. He declared to Israel in Joshua 24:15 to “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” In the New Testament, Jesus said that we must choose either God or money (the world), but we can’t serve both (Matthew 6:24). Jesus also said in Matthew 12:25 that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”
God wants our total allegiance. In His first commandment to Moses in Exodus 20:3, He declares that “You shall have no other gods before me.” This also applies to us today. And how many times did Jesus call out the Pharisees for their divided allegiance to God and themselves and their own traditions and power? Jesus also warns all His followers to watch out for false prophets and that only those who “do the will of my Father” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21). He further says that to many who call him Lord “he will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers.” (Matthew 7:23)
As Christians, when we allow our hearts to be torn between our world and God, we risk drifting away from Him and towards a life of evil and hopelessness, a life that does not do good or bear fruit for God’s kingdom here on earth. If we desire eternal life with God and to be blessed in this life, Christians must declare that their sole allegiance is to God and His son Jesus Christ. Anything less will only lead to our destruction (Romans 6:23). There will be no dual citizenship in heaven!