Citizens (Book Review)

Citizen: Your Role in the Alternative Kingdom begins with author Rob Peabody standing on a Balcony overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. In that moment, life seemed to become so much clearer – he came to a breakthrough…. He realized that the Christian life he had been experiencing had been quite anemic, he realized that he wanted more. Thus kicked off a process that led him all the way from Texas to the UK.

Throughout Citizen Rob Peabody challenges the reader to re-imagine their life, reposition what she values, re-identify who she is, and re-center life around the true King of the world…

Here is what he says about that sort of life:

“It will be hard at times, then sweetly exhilarating and right at others. In the end, you will find the life you were created to live: a life so extraordinary and full of joy that you cannot even fully comprehend it right now; a life not wasted, a life that goes beyond just you, a life that gives worship and glory to the One who is worthy. The Father is standing with open arms, inviting you in to experience all that he has created and called you to be. You have been saved for this…” (pp. 33-34)

As Peabody begins to stoke the reader’s imagination for what this sort of life looks like by using a “Citizen” metaphor throughout the book. Citizens have a particular identity, they have a particular community, they have certain allegiances, they represent certain sovereign bodies, etc. Each one of these aspects of citizenship get fleshed out in each chapter of the book. All in all, Peabody shows that as citizens of the Kingdom of God Christians will play a certain role in this world, and their roles will stretch across various spheres including home, church, work, and mission.

I absolutely loved this book, as I read it I was very encouraged and motivated to live out my identity as a citizen of the kingdom. As a minister I was especially encouraged to re-infuse the concept of citizenship into my sermons. Over the summer I had begun to stray a little bit from the Kingdom emphasis that I was regularly placing in my sermons, but this book reminded me that citizenship in the kingdom is a central aspect of our identity as Christians, so I can’t overlook that as I am preaching.

To sum things up, I really recommend this book, it challenged me and reminded me of some central truths that I had begun to overlook in my own ministry. (Pair this alongside of Scot McKnight’s Kingdom Conspiracy and you will be set on Kingdom & Ministry books for a while!)

As a special offer to you, the reader, you can now get Citizen: Your Role in the Alternative Kingdom on sale (this week only) by clicking the image below – at only $0.99 for the next few days an $1.99 for the rest of the week its a real steal.

(Note: I received this book courtesy of Kregel in exchange for an impartial review.)