Our Nation
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Recently, on a Facebook page for alumni of Lincoln Christian University - there was a discussion of a topic I've mentioned recently. 'Should Christians feel comfortable with American flags in the Church?' As I look around at all the red, white and blue - I don't think it's a secret where I might stand... The question is based on our call out of this world to be higher citizens of God's Kingdom from Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)...
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
The question, 'Can you be patriotic AND a Christian?' sets up a false dichotomy. It assumes that one thing is perhaps bad and the other is good. Let me ask you this, "Can you be a Green Bay Packers fan and be a Christian...?" Sure! The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Many forget that the Apostle Paul, who wrote that very verse in Philippians, also asserted his rights as a Roman citizen in the book of Acts. Paul wasn't worshipping Rome but rather acknowledging the reality of this world. By celebrating the 4th of July - we're not worshipping America or claiming that America is God's chosen people. But I will recognize and celebrate the religious freedoms and the Biblical ideas and concepts that have led to this amazing, unique nation.
The Facebook post I mentioned was taken down by the group administrator because it was becoming 'too divisive.' Even among a group of Bible college graduates - strong opinions were dividing us.
As a preacher I don't particularly care if you're patriotic - it's not my goal to persuade anyone to celebrate the 4th of July today... But there are many things that can divide us - and there are many individuals who would seek to divide us. But through Jesus, we can be...
I. United
In our nation, and even in our Churches, we're fractured along political lines, racial lines, social issues - all sorts of things upon which to disagree. But I don't want to look to 'manmade solutions' for this division. Let's look at Paul's words again, this time from Galatians 3:22-29 (NIV)...
But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. (23) Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. (24) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (25) Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
(26) You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, (27) for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
When a person accepts Jesus - all of those artificial separations fade away! We are all brothers and sisters in Christ - despite our opinions or differences - we all have the same Father! And what we have in Christ is greater than any differences we might have! Many in the world want to divide us - Christ came to unite us in Him! And no matter who you are, your nationality or race, your political party, your background, your economic status - in Christ - we are all called to...
A. Love one another
We know the scripture verse from Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)...
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (37) Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' (38) This is the first and greatest commandment. (39) And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (40) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And I also want to look back to the Old Testament command to which Jesus was referring. Jesus was very familiar with the passage in Leviticus 19:17-18 (NIV)...
"Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. (18) Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
There's something interesting here. Notice - under this law which Jesus taught is the 2nd greatest commandment - in context, I don't have to agree with you in order to love you. I am called to love you whether we agree or not - but notice also, disagreeing with you isn't being hateful to you. There's a distinction in scripture here. We are allowed to disagree - to 'rebuke' one another as long as we do it in love. AND as long as we also follow the first greatest commandment - love the Lord your God.
As we've had big disagreements in our nation - I've heard politicians who see culture rapidly moving away from religious values who say to Christians something like, "You're on the wrong side of history." But we already know how the story ends. God's Word has already spelled out...
B. The end of history
Nations will rise and nations will fall - but the Kingdom of God stands firm. We're given a glimpse of the future in Revelation 7:9-12 (NIV)...
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. (10) And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
(11) All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, (12) saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
God will call His people from every nation, tribe, skin color and language! There will be no more political parties or counter culture movements or hate or injustice of any kind, there will be no division in God's Kingdom! And some in the world might say, "That's all well and good - but what about divisions and oppression here and now? What you're talking about is not my experience, it's not my truth."
There is the idea that if you're not in the same circumstances as an individual - you don't have the right to speak to that person's concerns or situation. - 'Because I'm not a woman - I shouldn't speak to women's issues, such as abortion. Because I'm not black - I can't speak to African American issues.' If that were the case, I suppose I could only speak to issues concerning short, middle aged white guys... But truth is not determined by individuals or groups of people...
II. God owns truth
God is The Author of truth. Saying I can't speak truth to other's situations because I'm not (fill in the blank) - is a lie. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life! On my own - I need to be careful with my opinion - but when I speak God's truths - I can stand completely firm and confident on that ground. Jesus said of His disciples John 17:16-17 (NIV)...
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (17) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Many have tried to shift the center of truth away from objective standards to a subjective perspective. They claim truth is determined experientially by historically oppressed groups of people; thus, different groups of people can have different 'truths'. But that's not how truth works. Truth is outside of anyone's perspective. Two plus two equals four, regardless of your opinion or the color of your skin or gender or any of your past experiences.
Truth is not found through divisions into individual identities - into racial, social, sexual, income, or gender identities. All believers must remember from where truth comes - the Bible. God's Word is always true. It's the foundation for all truth claims. And even accepting or rejecting the Bible has no bearing on the truthfulness of biblical propositions. Because truth comes from outside any group's shared experience. Ultimately, truth resides in Jesus.
And it's when we acknowledge God as The Author of truth - it's only then that we understand that God is...
A. The source of blessing
When Christians celebrate the 4th of July - it's not that we're saying Americans are superior or that America is perfect. But we're thanking God as the source of our freedoms and liberty! We understand the blessing of living in this country, free to worship God! No leader, no general, no politician, no president, no one can give us what Jesus Christ can. Our only hope is, and always has been, in God and in His Word. In the Old Testament we find these words...
Psalms 33:10-12 (NIV)
The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. (11) But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (12) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
When penned, this was written specifically about the nation of Israel. I'm not implying that America is the new Israel, God's chosen nation. But since Jesus' death and resurrection it can now apply to any nation who chooses to follow God. And we, as God's Church, are to continue to loudly proclaim today - whether it's 'politically correct' or popular - Jesus came to die for the sins of the world and He is The One Way to Heaven. Jesus is The Only Way to the Father.
My patriotism is not about some form of Christian nationalism. My hope does not lie with any political party, or politician, or democratic system, or republic - but solely in Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that our personal faith in Jesus Christ must permeate everything we do, say and believe or it's not a genuine faith but merely a convenient philosophy.
Many Christians have removed their religious beliefs from their civic life to the point they don't even consider praying for God's guidance before entering a voting booth. And as Christians, one of the most important responsibilities we have to this nation is to pray for our country and its leaders.
"What has become an annual tradition of grilled hamburgers and fireworks began on July 4th, 1776, the day delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the now-famous letter informing King George III his British subjects were declaring their independence from his authority. Not only did the Second Continental Congress deliver a list of grievances to King George, they delivered the unheard-of claim that every man has individual rights and those "inalienable" rights are not granted by the British Crown, or by a country, but by their Creator who is described as the "Supreme Judge of the world."
God is mentioned throughout the historic document, which clearly states that government gets its authority from Him. As a nation, we need to reclaim...
B. Our nation's spiritual heritage
I celebrate America because of her history of faith in God, in Jesus Christ. This nation is still in its infancy compared to other nations - it's still an experiment in freedom. But it is only our nation's faith in God that has made it any different from any other nation. When you remove America's faith; when we move away from our founding as a Christian nation - America ceases to be good.
George Washington, our very first president said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
Our 2nd president, John Adams wrote, "The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity."
John Quincy Adams, our 6th president, said, "I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity."
Throughout our history, this nation's leaders have acknowledged our founding and our absolute dependence on God and His Word.
Ulysses S. Grant (R), our 18th president, said: "Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Woodrow Wilson (D), our 28th president said, "America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture. The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God, and the spiritual nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation."
Calvin Coolidge (R),our 30th president, "The strength of our country is the strength of its religious convictions. The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
Harry S. Truman (D), our 33rd president, "The fundamental basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul... If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!"
President Lincoln (R) warned the country in his proclamation call for a national day of prayer and fasting when he said, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven... But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
So What?
So how should the church respond to the divisions and injustice in our world? Instead of adopting secular answers to fix spiritual problems, we need to go to God's Word. God has given us real answers. Martin Luther King said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
We need to love one another regardless of our differences or political beliefs, skin color or nationality, or social status. The answer isn't found in 'equity' or manmade theories or government but in Jesus and in Him alone! He is the only hope we have as a nation. So it's up to believers to pray for grace and the power to love - and May God bless America!