Why it matters that Christians aren't exiles

I explained in the previous post why I don't think describing Christians as "exiles" is biblical. Here are two reasons why I think it matters:

1. The idea that we live in "exile" is sometimes used as a basis for applying to ourselves Jeremiah's advice to the Judean exiles in Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.... Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer 29:5, 7, NIV). But this ignores the context of these words, which were Jeremiah's response to false claims that the exile would be short. The reason for building houses and settling down was that, on the contrary, it would be a long time (Jer 29:28). Unlike those whom Jeremiah encouraged to make themselves at home in Babylon, Christians are instructed not to be at home in this world (1 Cor 7:29–31). Our model is Abraham, who lived in tents, not houses, because he was looking forward to the city to come (Heb 11:9–10).

2. The language of "exile" is sometimes used not of the universal experience of Christians as strangers and aliens in the world, but as a way of referring to a new situation where Christianity is no longer seen as culturally relevant or acceptable. I wonder whether there might be a danger here of seeing such cultural relevance, acceptability, or even dominance as a lost inheritance to yearn for, or of seeing our non-Christian neighbours as the aliens and strangers rather than ourselves. Perhaps understanding our situation as one of migrants and visitors in the surrounding culture rather than dispossessed "exiles" might point towards a different and more winsome mode of cultural engagement, and remind us that our hope is for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:11).