THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE

Listen Now

You may wonder why I even dare to compare such a sacred exercise as receiving Christ to an earthly activity such as applying or renewing of passport. But I shall contend that these two activities, no matter how far apart they may seem from each other, have a striking resemblance in many senses.

And for me, with the observation of a theological student, I can draw a beautiful line of correlation between them. The least I can say is that they are both required and intended for legal access to a place or places. For the Passport, you will at least be able or allowed legal entry into many countries around the world; whereas for Salvation through Christ, you have unlimited access to God’s treasury and ultimately to His eternal home, Heaven. And without each of these, accessibility will either be difficult or impossible.

One funny episode that occurred while we were in the queue was that an applicant was asked to go and shave off his goatee before he will be allowed to start the process. I don’t really know why he wasn’t allowed to proceed with his goatee, but that scenario stirred some amount of laughter. I wonder whether they will ask religious Muslims who have nurtured long goatees to do away with them before they are permitted to process their passport. Fast forwarding, when I was able to begin the process of renewing my passport I learned many lessons along the way. Would it be important to note the fact that my frustration and woes at the Passport office were far from over? It would have been a utopia to think that now that the process had begun it was going to be smooth sailing.