79 Fragmentation and Subjectification 1 urge Christians to love Him and what is His, Christians live their lives as loyal citizens (Zerbe, 2012). Zerbe’s explanation of faith as loyalty, the close relation between discipleship and citizenship, as well as the politeuma of a worldwide messianic kingdom that motivates Christians to live as faithful citizens, are all informed by his own biography. Holding both Canadian and the US citizenship, Zerbe knew the true meaning of a double civic allegiance. Meditating as a Christian on this double earthly citizenship, he concluded: My ultimate allegiance goes to the great mother Jerusalem above, not to the great mother Queen of an earthly empire. My “truest allegiance” was declared in oath at the moment of my baptism into Christ, the Christian citizenship ceremony. And it is for this reason that balancing my two earthly citizenships is an insignificant matter, because of my primary commitment to Christ’s world-reconciling regime. (And note that, by contrast, no modern state sovereignty is interested in having its subjects or citizens making oaths to a global citizenship—whether construed theologically, politically or ecologically—that trumps narrow state or national interests. But the imperative for such a globally oriented citizenship—what the Stoics called cosmopolitanism—is becoming increasingly critical.) (Zerbe, 2012, p. 2) Zerbe’s personal example shows how a Christian approach to citizenship in a globalised world, with numerous interconnected societies and the respective allegiances, could work. Different civic or social group allegiances should be sound for individual citizens, providing them with security and a sense of belonging, but also for the larger whole. National citizenship should not compete with international or even global citizenship. Within the realm of society, different social groups should intend to live together peacefully and resolve joint problems. Within the wider world, nations should help each other to solve worldwide problems. Where Hannah Arendt (1977) proposed the concept of amor mundi, Christianity holds an even more cosmopolitan motivation. The Christian politeuma can inform and foster both the public and civic allegiances of Christians in the world. The amor Dei that composes God’s spiritual Kingdom in the world can lead to amor mundi in the good, Biblical and spiritual sense of the term. 1.3.3 Communicating frameworks: Beech If a Biblical approach to the person serves to (re)connect the person to others, and if the Biblical concept of politeuma helps communities to serve the needs of multiple civic allegiances, there still remains the problem of deep fragmentation over the frameworks, the basic life conceptions and the (lack of) a supporting ‘cosmic order’, as Taylor (1989) phrased it. If hearts are
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