By Deron Peterson, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Deerfield Beach
After some discussion and searching for the perfect spot, my wife and I laid down the blanket, a beach towel really, and settled in for the evening’s fireworks. It was a typical 4th – cookout, parade and now fireworks – all the things that make the 4th so special. As we sat there, Beth asked me what was my favorite 4th of July. We talked about the first time we took the kids to celebrate in Schroon Lake, the small town where I grew up. We talked about the time in Dallas where the fireworks were spectacular and a local radio station had coordinated the music perfectly. Of course, we also talked about the summer we met 19 years ago. In hindsight, this should have easily been my top 4th of July but, unfortunately, it wasn’t. Seeing the error of my ways, I asked if we could talk about our Top 3 Independence Days. It might surprise you to discover that we both settled on a 4th in the most unlikely of places. During our 18 years of marriage, Beth and I have lived more than half of them in Argentina. We both agreed that July 4th, 2008 was probably our favorite.
In 2008, we moved to the city of Corrientes in Northern Argentina. If you are at all familiar with Argentines, you know they absolutely love cookouts, “asados” as they call them, and will accept any excuse to have one. We decided to have our 4th of July Asado. We invited some other American missionaries living in Corrientes and an Argentine family, who had spent many years living in the U.S., over to the house. Samuel, my son, and I went into the city and spent way too much money on fireworks.
We were U.S. citizens, celebrating our country’s Independence Day while living in Argentina; citizens living in a foreign land. Beth and I spent almost 10 years living in Argentina, even earning “permanent residence” status, but at no time did we stop being U.S. citizens. We worked very hard to learn the language, to adapt to their culture and, for the most part, were very successful. In the end, however, we were still foreigners living in a foreign land.
Reminds me of Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” When we put our faith in Christ alone for salvation, we become citizens of Heaven. Sometimes, we allow ourselves to become so wrapped up in the things of this world that we forget who we belong to, and where our home really is.
For however long we are left on Earth, we need to remember our citizenship is in heaven, and that is where our loyalties should lie. Our lifestyles should be based solely on Biblical principles. We need to know our culture, history, language and understand those we live with, but don’t need to worry about fitting in. When we stop trying to fit in, we can live our lives to the fullest, without worry, as God intended.
