What, to the Christian, is the 4th of July?
Happy Fifth of July everyone! I may be writing a day late for the festivities and fireworks, but there are leftover hotdogs in my refrigerator, so as far as I am concerned, we are still in holiday mode!
Yesterday, like most of you I’m sure, my family got together for Independence Day. We began at Galloway’s 4th of July parade and then filed back to our house down the street for hot dogs, potato chips, watermelon, and apple crisp: an American meal if ever there was one. Yet as I grilled and reflected on the events of the day, my mind couldn’t help but wander into the territory of questions and dilemmas. What should my relationship be with the fourth of July as a Christian? How should I talk about and behave and conduct myself on a day like today?
I love living in America. I am grateful for my freedom. I am glad that I can worship openly. I am glad for the opportunities I experience. I am grateful for the diversity of cultures I get to enjoy aspects of, and I am grateful for the natural beauty in my corner of the country.
I am also grateful for and love my parents. They raised me in a strong, consistent, Jesus-loving family, and yet, they are not perfect. They are not the standard by which I measure righteousness. When I was very, very young, loving my parents meant making them just that. They were perfect. My dad was better than your dad. Their way was right (even when I didn’t like it) and I would argue with you if you tried to tell me it wasn’t. Immature love thinks something needs to be perfect in order to be loved.
And yet as I grew up, I recognized flaws in them. They were humans, and thus subject to character defects. I imagine you had a similar experience. It would be absurd to expect perfection from our parents, and it would be equally absurd to suggest that seeing flaws in your parents means you don’t love them anymore. In fact, it would be backwards, as an ability to love and seek the good of someone in the midst of their flaws is arguably a more accurate picture of what Jesus modeled. A more difficult and more mature love.
I worry many of us evangelical Christians this time of year may make a similar mistake with our country. There is a lot to love here, and celebrating all of that this time of year may well be a good thing for your heart to participate in. That said though, we need to avoid doing it with immature love. Our nation is not the measure of all things. We can seek its good without making it that and engaging in a lesser form of love. In fact, I think we need to if we are to be faithful followers of Jesus. Let me offer three cautions in this vein.
Firstly, we must be careful not to let our country become our measure of all things. America is a deeply flawed nation. I know this because I believe sin has warped every part of humanity and its endeavors. Our country is not exempt. While I think there is plenty of good, and think that we ought to seek the good of the nation where God has placed us (In line with what Jeremiah suggested to the exiles in Babylon in Jer. 29), that has always included questioning its values and calling out its sins. We should not be content to let our country dictate to us what is good when it comes to economics, or war and violence, or resource consumption, or sexuality, or anything else. We must be willing to challenge our country’s narrative of what is right and what is wrong. The stone in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel 2 strikes EVERY nation and does away with all of them. That includes our own. We can love the country God has placed us in without baptizing it as perfect.
Secondly, we must be careful not to let our country become our hope. On patriotic holidays like these, it is not uncommon to hear sentiments that paint our nation as a beacon to all others that, if lost, spells the doom of the world at large. We sometimes imagine that God has specially chosen our nation above all others for his purposes. This is an idolatry that Christians should be wary of, and never give the impression that we have bought into. Philippians 3:20-21 reminds us that our citizenship is with Christ in the heavens, and that we await the fullness of the kingdom of God- the perfect country. Tim Keller famously defined idolatry as “making good things ultimate things”, and in this season of patriotism, we should be on our guard for such a behavior. Christ’s kingdom is the only true beacon we watch for and turn the nations toward.
Finally, as we love and celebrate our country, we ought to be careful not to do it at the expense of our neighbors. There is no “America first” in God’s economy, and the needs of our families do not come before the needs of others. It is tempting, as we celebrate with our fellow Americans, to think that this family is uniquely deserving of our love, but Jesus himself told stories of foreign Samaritan neighbors and asked the question “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers… Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt 12:46-50). As we celebrate our freedoms, we ought to use them for the good of our neighbors. Those who are fellow citizens, and those who are not.
I share all of this not to put a damper on your festivities, but so that we might all be on watch and seeking every way that we might become more like Christ. God has given us many gifts and it's worth expressing gratitude together this weekend, but as we express a love for our country, let us do it in a mature way, always seeking first and foremost the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Happy Independence day, church family!
Yesterday, like most of you I’m sure, my family got together for Independence Day. We began at Galloway’s 4th of July parade and then filed back to our house down the street for hot dogs, potato chips, watermelon, and apple crisp: an American meal if ever there was one. Yet as I grilled and reflected on the events of the day, my mind couldn’t help but wander into the territory of questions and dilemmas. What should my relationship be with the fourth of July as a Christian? How should I talk about and behave and conduct myself on a day like today?
I love living in America. I am grateful for my freedom. I am glad that I can worship openly. I am glad for the opportunities I experience. I am grateful for the diversity of cultures I get to enjoy aspects of, and I am grateful for the natural beauty in my corner of the country.
I am also grateful for and love my parents. They raised me in a strong, consistent, Jesus-loving family, and yet, they are not perfect. They are not the standard by which I measure righteousness. When I was very, very young, loving my parents meant making them just that. They were perfect. My dad was better than your dad. Their way was right (even when I didn’t like it) and I would argue with you if you tried to tell me it wasn’t. Immature love thinks something needs to be perfect in order to be loved.
And yet as I grew up, I recognized flaws in them. They were humans, and thus subject to character defects. I imagine you had a similar experience. It would be absurd to expect perfection from our parents, and it would be equally absurd to suggest that seeing flaws in your parents means you don’t love them anymore. In fact, it would be backwards, as an ability to love and seek the good of someone in the midst of their flaws is arguably a more accurate picture of what Jesus modeled. A more difficult and more mature love.
I worry many of us evangelical Christians this time of year may make a similar mistake with our country. There is a lot to love here, and celebrating all of that this time of year may well be a good thing for your heart to participate in. That said though, we need to avoid doing it with immature love. Our nation is not the measure of all things. We can seek its good without making it that and engaging in a lesser form of love. In fact, I think we need to if we are to be faithful followers of Jesus. Let me offer three cautions in this vein.
Firstly, we must be careful not to let our country become our measure of all things. America is a deeply flawed nation. I know this because I believe sin has warped every part of humanity and its endeavors. Our country is not exempt. While I think there is plenty of good, and think that we ought to seek the good of the nation where God has placed us (In line with what Jeremiah suggested to the exiles in Babylon in Jer. 29), that has always included questioning its values and calling out its sins. We should not be content to let our country dictate to us what is good when it comes to economics, or war and violence, or resource consumption, or sexuality, or anything else. We must be willing to challenge our country’s narrative of what is right and what is wrong. The stone in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel 2 strikes EVERY nation and does away with all of them. That includes our own. We can love the country God has placed us in without baptizing it as perfect.
Secondly, we must be careful not to let our country become our hope. On patriotic holidays like these, it is not uncommon to hear sentiments that paint our nation as a beacon to all others that, if lost, spells the doom of the world at large. We sometimes imagine that God has specially chosen our nation above all others for his purposes. This is an idolatry that Christians should be wary of, and never give the impression that we have bought into. Philippians 3:20-21 reminds us that our citizenship is with Christ in the heavens, and that we await the fullness of the kingdom of God- the perfect country. Tim Keller famously defined idolatry as “making good things ultimate things”, and in this season of patriotism, we should be on our guard for such a behavior. Christ’s kingdom is the only true beacon we watch for and turn the nations toward.
Finally, as we love and celebrate our country, we ought to be careful not to do it at the expense of our neighbors. There is no “America first” in God’s economy, and the needs of our families do not come before the needs of others. It is tempting, as we celebrate with our fellow Americans, to think that this family is uniquely deserving of our love, but Jesus himself told stories of foreign Samaritan neighbors and asked the question “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers… Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt 12:46-50). As we celebrate our freedoms, we ought to use them for the good of our neighbors. Those who are fellow citizens, and those who are not.
I share all of this not to put a damper on your festivities, but so that we might all be on watch and seeking every way that we might become more like Christ. God has given us many gifts and it's worth expressing gratitude together this weekend, but as we express a love for our country, let us do it in a mature way, always seeking first and foremost the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Happy Independence day, church family!
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