A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Greg Dallimore is a member of St Giles Presbyterian Church, in Prince George, B.C.
Citizens of Another Kingdom: Living Now for the World to Come. John E. Balchin, Navpress, 1986, 141 pages, $4.95, paperback.
Doesn’t the title strike you as interesting, on first reading? Although, theologically, I understood the premise, I was, nevertheless, intrigued by the thought that we are living here on earth, but really belong to a kingdom of the future; that we should be alien to this “world” and set a new direction, one to be fulfilled in heaven.
John Balchin succeeds in tickling the reader’s interest with his story of being at a customs area in Taiwan and seeing a sign above one of the desks which read ALIENS. Balchin was confronted with the notion that indeed, he was an alien to the Taiwanese simply because he did not belong to their country. This concept of “not belonging” is then developed around the Christian life – that we are to seek a new direction and not love the world but be God’s children.
Balchin does a very good job of outlining the many forces that have impact on a Christian lifestyle and the Christian operating in the world. He discusses such things as how advertising teaches us to “covet things”; how we have learnt to trust “intellectual optimism”, that is, trusting in man and his abilities to progress and develop; and, how we should view ethics in a Christian context. Balchin sees that the world has adopted “Christian ethics without Christian Gospel” and that that belief has led to the “ethics of consensus” (“everybody’s doing it”). He also leads us through our slide into sexual laxity, how we love worldly status and the fact that many in the Christian faith have lost true Christian disciplines.
I must confess that I was disappointed at first that the book did not delve deeply into any one area. At times, Balchin’s writing is too simplistic, working with ideas that need more explanation and reflection. However, I realized that I had missed the basic reason why the book was written. A small postscript at the end of the book reads: “The Discipleship Today series is designed to call lay men and women to a Christ-centered, practical discipleship in our contemporary world.” I think Citizens of Another Kingdom does a very creditable job in describing the duties and the responsibilities of the Christian in the world. As a discipling study, this book guides the reader through many valuable insights related to his or her Christian walk.
This is not to say that the book does not challenge the reader. In fact, the mature Christian could well benefit from a fresh look at some basic issues, for example, this interesting section on the way we think today:
Most of the older generation, when they went to school, were taught to accept what they were told. The teacher had said it, and all they had to do was read, mark, learn and inwardly digest! That was the end of the matter.
The younger generation, by and large, have not been taught that way at all. We might even say they have been taught the very opposite: to doubt. They are encouraged to question things rather than merely to accept them. They are taught to weigh statements and arguments, and to come to their own conclusions, which may be different from those of their teachers.
This section leads into a discussion of why agnosticism is so prevalent these days and why people always say that they will keep an “open mind” about the things of God, not wanting to fully believe.
How is it, then, that we should be Christian citizens? Balchin still believes that there “. . . are Christians who give the impression that Christianity is a pretty grim affair. They regularly confess themselves to be miserable sinners – and they are!” He sees our task to be one of truly making ourselves ready as a “Pure Bride” and being separate from the world. Balchin continues: “The church has a message for the world and a ministry to it only when she is significantly different from the world.” This is the message for the true disciple – be alive in Christ and show oneself to be a citizen from another kingdom!