"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

Christian Citizenship in a Globalized Society

Scarlata

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781621896616
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In a wide-ranging meditation on the Cain and Abel narrative, Mark Scarlata draws out theological motifs relevant to Christian discipleship in a modern Western context. Taking his cue from Augustine's City of God, Scarlata brings to light what it means for a Christian to be a citizen of the heavenly city in this midst of a twenty-first-century globalized society. He argues that Christians can no longer think of discipleship merely as a personal, individual undertaking, but must recognize their role and responsibility as citizens in a global community. Each chapter raises questions like: How do we offer our best in worship when we live in a world driven by consumerism? How can we love others through our participation in the global economy? Are our lifestyles treating the environment in a way that is pleasing to God? And, how do we authentically connect to each other in a digital age of social media and mobile technology? These and other issues are addressed in relation to scenes from the Cain and Abel story. Each discussion highlights ancient Jewish and Christian interpretation as well as how a particular topic is understood within the broader context of the Old and New Testaments. Scarlata then offers ways that Christians might respond to the cultural shifts experienced by this generation and encourages readers to rethink what it means to be a citizen of God's kingdom with a local and global awareness in every aspect of life.

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Introduction: Citizenship, Globalization, and Translation

The Roman Empire could arguably be considered one of the greatest civilizations in the Western world. It prided itself on technological innovation, cultural and educational superiority, and economic and military might. Rome was regarded as the eternal city and stood as the political and spiritual center of the empire. In 410 C.E., however, the city was sacked by the Visigoths, which many see as the critical point marking the decline, and ultimate fall, of the Roman Empire. It was not uncommon at the time to place the blame on Christianity—which had flourished since the reign of Constantine (c. 312–37 C.E.)—for its demise. The argument was that the abandonment of Roman deities for the Christian God angered the gods who allowed the barbarians to attack. In response to such accusations Augustine (354–430 C.E.), Bishop of Hippo, wrote one of his most valuable works on political and spiritual thought called The City of God.

In the light of Rome’s decay and faded glory, Augustine argued that Christianity was not to blame, but, rather, there existed a fundamental cleavage between what he calls the city of God and the earthly city. The two cities exist side-by-side in the world, but they are vastly different in their values, structure, and purpose.

And so the two cities were created by two loves: the earthly city by self-love reaching the point of contempt for God, the heavenly city by the love of God reaching the point of contempt for self. In fact, the earthly city glories in itself, the heavenly city in the Lord. While the one looks for glory from human beings, the greatest glory for the other lies in God, the witness of conscience. (City of God, 14.28)

According to Augustine each city is motivated by its “loves,” or, in other words, the desires and appetites that drive them. The citizens of the city of God—i.e., Christians—are marked by their enjoyment and love of Christ, which is the only thing capable of bringing true happiness and peace on this earth. Contrary to this is the earthly city, which is founded on the love of self. These citizens are prone to seek happiness in pleasures of the flesh, in the possession of material things, in self-glorification, and in power over others. Augustine argued that the loves—or desires—of each city represent the fundamental orientation of its citizens. In the city of God people are unified by their common orientation towards love, justice, and peace, whereas the earthly city is fractured and its citizens are inclined towards narcissism, greed, and dominion.

It should be noted that, in either city, Augustine was speaking about one’s orientation, or the direction in which they are heading, and not about their moral perfection. Those in the heavenly city are steering themselves towards God by trying to live in daily obedience to his commands and in submission to the Holy Spirit. They are, by no means, perfect, but they continue to alter the patterns of their lives in the hope that they will make manifest God’s kingdom on earth. In the earthly city, however, one’s orientation is primarily focused on the self. This does not mean that Augustine thought people in the earthly city were entirely wicked or could not perform good deeds. Rather, Augustine’s emphasis is on the direction of their lives, and, in the case of the earthly city, people are pointed away from God and travelling on a path toward self-satisfaction and ultimately destruction.

Augustine believed that these two cities represented all of humanity throughout space and time and so he was able to trace the founding of the earthly city first to the rebellious angels who were consumed by pride and then to Cain who followed the angelic precedent (City of God, 15.5, 7). Cain was so overwhelmed by envy, and so filled with pride, that he killed his brother in an effort to establish his own power and independence. This act of fratricide functions as the dominant metaphor for the earthly city and highlights the deepest desire of those who forsake the love of God for the love of self. Pride and the lust for domination is at the heart of Cain and the citizens of the earthly city who will not rest until they have put all others beneath their feet. Their appetite for power and autonomy creates a restlessness that is never satisfied, but only promotes a never-ending cycle of conflict, death, and destruction.

Though Augustine sometimes spoke of the city of God as the church (City of God, 13.6), he did not believe that the two cities were visibly separated. He contended that even inside the church people were mixed together from both cities and that, throughout society, citizens of the heavenly kingdom worked alongside those of the earthly kingdom. The distinction between the two cities was, therefore, based on the direction one was traveling. Citizens of the city of God orient their lives towards the love, forgiveness and peace of Christ, while citizens of the earthly city journey towards the self and seek only the fulfillment of their own desires.

Citizens of God’s kingdom, however, still struggle with sin and the temptations of power, pride, and self-absorption. Augustine spoke of sin as aversion a Deo—a turning away from God—whereas reconciliation and forgiveness come through conversio ad Deum—a turning to God. He knew that every human being has a divided will and, whether one was a Christian or not, he understood that the division and pull towards good and evil is present in every human being. The difference for citizens of the city of God is that, in Christ, they have been created anew through the Holy Spirit and now live to make his love present to all humanity through the church. Their conversion to Christ and new life within the church was not unlike the experience of changing their citizenship and devoting their allegiance to a new king. Just like Roman citizens—or converts to Roman citizenship—they would now live and act in accordance with the laws of their new country and leader. But rather than living according the lordship of Caesar, they lived according to the lordship of Christ.

The idea of citizenship in God’s kingdom would have been a compelling metaphor for those living in Augustine’s time. To be a citizen of Rome—particularly as a male—included a wide range of benefits from the state such as voting, owning property, having a legal marriage, the right to a trial, and the ability to preserve one’s citizenship when migrating to a Roman colony. A Roman citizen could not be tortured or receive the death penalty—unless found guilty of treason—and under no circumstances could they be sentenced to death on a cross. It is no wonder that the apostle Paul appeals to his Roman citizenship in Acts 22 before being flogged without a trial and that the guards respond with fear because they had bound him illegally. Citizenship was held in the highest regard and required one to live according the laws and principles of the state in order to bring about the greatest good in society. According to Aristotle, the end goal of every community—or city-state—was to ensure the good life and happiness of its citizens (Politics, I.1.8–9). Thus people were encouraged to think of their lives and work as a contribution to the larger community of the state in order to bring peace and happiness to its citizens.

With the sacking of Rome, however, citizenship no longer carried the same weight and probably caused many to question their identity amidst a state in decline. As the empire crumbled, Augustine’s metaphor of the city of God allowed Christians to identify the principles of citizenship with their new life and service to Christ. While still living in obedience to the laws of the state, they could shift their allegiance to live under the laws and principles of the gospel. This was not new idea, but can be heard in Paul’s exhortation to the believers in Philippi as he encourages them not to be like those enemies of Christ. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil 3:20–21).

The notion of citizenship carries with it a sense of legal obligation and one’s duty to the state for the good of all its inhabitants. A citizen has privileges and responsibilities when living in accordance with the laws of the state. Citizens cannot pick and choose which laws they would like to follow and which ones they would rather forget about. Instead, they are subject to all the laws of the land and to the authority of its ruler. Being a citizen requires one to engage in life-long practices, to change habits, and to subject oneself to the state for the benefit of the whole community. Citizenship is not about how you feel, but it is about doing what you are required to do—whether pleasant or unpleasant—as a member of a larger community. This does not mean blind, thoughtless obedience in all instances, but it does mean that, at times, one will be required to set aside personal ambitions and preferences for the sake of benefiting the whole.

There is a communal aspect to citizenship that compels one to look beyond personal needs or desires to one’s wider responsibilities to society. As a metaphor for the Christian life, therefore, it emphasizes the community (koinōnia) and the role—or duty—that each individual and household must play to ensure the peace and health of the wider society. Citizenship, as a model for conversion and obedience to a new Lord and a new kingdom, brings out certain nuances of the Christian life that can help us think about obedience to Christ as we live in the world today. Being a citizen in the heavenly city is not simply about reading our Bible and praying (though this is certainly critical), as if the primary goal of faith was merely nurturing our personal spirituality. Rather, it is about submitting our entire lives to the service of the king that we might usher in the peace that he desires at every level of society. This means discipleship involves not only reading Scripture and praying, but it also includes the food we eat, the clothes we buy, the investments we make, how we use our finances, the vacations we take, the way we use the Internet, the careers we choose, the time we spend with family, how we care for the poor, and so on. Far from the idea that faith is merely about an isolated personal salvation, the notion of Christian citizenship broadens the horizon of our commitment to transformation in all aspects of society and our responsibility to those in our surrounding communities, both locally and globally. Christian citizens, therefore, live not only in accordance with the laws of the state (Rom 13:1–7), but they also seek to live in obedience to the one, true king, in order to bring about the redemption and transformation of society as a whole.

Most Christians are familiar with the concept of “discipleship,” and, indeed, Jesus commands his followers to go and “make disciples” of all nations (Matt 28:19). The discipleship metaphor conveys a more intimate relationship between a student and teacher. The pupil sits at the feet of the master and engages in learning through instruction and practice. To be a disciple is to be a follower and to give up one’s life in order to become like one’s teacher. Discipleship brings out the intimacy we share with Christ who has become our mentor, our tutor, and even dwells within us through the Holy Spirit (Rom 8). This relational aspect of faith is critical to an understanding of how we live out a life of discipleship as a follower of Christ.

Both metaphors of citizenship and discipleship are important for how we understand the nature of our faith and what it means to participate in God’s kingdom. In the coming chapters, however, we shall focus on the notion of citizenship as we walk through the story of Cain and Abel. Augustine argues that Cain was the founder of the earthly city, and we shall see how the elder brother symbolizes the characteristics of its citizens. But we shall also consider the contrasting traits of those who belong to the heavenly city and, in particular, how those traits might be made manifest in Christians who live and work in today’s globalized society.

For followers of Christ in Augustine’s day citizenship carried distinct connotations within their local communities and within the context of a declining Roman empire. Christians today, however, are citizens in a vastly different world. Immense distances no longer separate us and we can connect with nearly anyone at any moment in time. Our personal actions no longer affect only our local communities, but they can have global consequences. Christians are now living in a global city-state and, as citizens of the heavenly city, are responsible to bring about a political, economic, and social order both at home and abroad.

To be a citizen of the city of God in today’s culture means that we take seriously the rights, privileges, duties, and commandments of the gospel so that we might usher in God’s promised peace—or shalom—to a global community that remains fraught with suffering, violence, and death. In his work on the ministry of the church in the modern world, Pope Paul VI exhorts Christians to recognize their citizenship in God’s kingdom as it is worked out here on earth. He commends all believers,

to strive to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities
. . .This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. (Gaudium et Spes, 43)

Though the citizen of the heavenly city awaits the final consummation of God’s kingdom, he or she works towards its establishment here on earth as it is in heaven.

Yet when we speak about being a citizen of God’s kingdom on earth in the following chapters, we shall speak primarily about one’s orientation. The object of this book is not to make people feel guilty about how little they are doing to address issues of faith and globaliz...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction: Citizenship, Globalization, and Translation
• Chapter 2: Hospitality and the Other
• Chapter 3: Worship and Consumerism
• Chapter 4: Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
• Chapter 5: The Open Mouth of the Earth
• Chapter 6: The Return from Nod
• Chapter 7: Conclusion
• Suggestions For Further Study
• Bibliography