The answer
The Christian — whom the Holy Spirit prepares for heavenly citizenship — will inevitably be an outstandingly good example of citizenship. He is a shining image of the citizen who is full of love and sacrifice, motivated by the presence of God within him. Tertullian says, “Or when Christians are brought before you on the mere ground of their name, is there ever found among them an ill-doer of the sort? It is always with your folk [i.e., pagans] the prison is steaming, the mines are sighing, the wild beasts are fed.”900 He also says that any state that kills so many of its best citizens, namely the Christians, harms itself.901
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty
Notes
900 Tertullian, Apology 44 (ANF 3:50).
901 Tertullian, Apology 37 (ANF 3:45).