Citizenship is a Story, Not a Relic
Take a look at the following graphic.

This is a snapshot, by state, showing what percentage of the population claims to have been BORN in that state. Now there are a lot of things you could glean from this bar graph. Maybe people REALLY like it there. Maybe people are terrified of change. Maybe the population is insulated. There are any number of things these numbers tell us. I wanted to explore one that may not be as apparent when looking at these numbers: how are the people treated who are not from one of the listed states?
All of us who have committed to a community, whether it’s the home town we were born in, our place of employment, church, social club, ALL OF US can tell the newbie. They are the ones who don’t fit in. They don’t talk the same, look the same, act the same as us. Looking at this graph takes the idea of the outsider to a whole new level. In Portland, Oregon, the outsider is the one who carries an umbrella. In North Dakota it’s the person who complains how chilly it is, when the thermometer drops to 40 (above zero). In New York, it’s the Red Sox fan. The outsiders are the ones awkwardly standing on the fringes looking in, desperately hoping someone will ask them to join the inner circle, so they too can learn how to look and act like a native.
Transmuting an alien into a native makes some people uncomfortable. Homeboy’s are protective of their culture. Townies don’t want to show anyone what the cool kids do. The more entrenched our ideals the less willing we are to allow any outside influences…we become stiff necked and unbending, allowing our cultural pride to take precedence over human interaction. God leans into this idea in Leviticus 19:33–34. God knew how “stiff necked” His people could become. He wanted to nip this elitist attitude in the bud. He wanted them to understand, that while yes, they were “God’s chosen people”, they also had an obligation that went with this moniker. The obligation was to be a blessing and not a hindrance. And He even tells them why this is their obligation…because at some point they were no better off than the person who they view as an outsider. Being native is an issue of timing, not segregation.
Isn’t it usually the case? Don’t we find ourselves pronouncing a label long before we find common ground? How many times have you or I been humbled to learn that the person we looked down on, really had more in common with us then we allowed? Don’t get me wrong…I am not saying that there should not be a baseline understanding that WHO WE ARE is THIS and THIS is unchangeable. I am saying however, that we should be very open to people who find WHO WE ARE interesting and attractive. How different might our lives be if we viewed our citizenship as a story to be shared, not a relic to be held as sacred and unchangeable?