On Christianity and Patriotism

“God is not a Republican!” said the preacher. He was in the middle of a message in which he emphasized the greatness of God above human institutions. The statement was intended to shock his politically conservative audience. Then a voice rose up from the back of the room.

“Well, he is CERTAINLY not a Democrat!” The room erupted into laughter.

We do make an error in the way we often conflate our Christianity and patriotism. One error we make is to equate the two. If you are a patriot, you are a good Christian. This, of course, cannot be true. There are many atheist patriots, for instance. It is likewise wrong to say that if you are a Christian you have to be a patriot. Those are fighting words for some people—but in order to understand what I just said, we need to broaden our context. Americans tend fairly provincial in our patriotic thinking. In our present context, good Christianity demands a certain level of patriotism. However, is the same thing true in every context? Did being a good Christian mean that you had to be a good Nazi, or communist, or socialist?

We can go too far in the other direction as well. In some places in the world, being a good Christian meant that you could NOT be patriotic. We can be enthusiastic about government as it fulfills its Romans 13 purposes.

On this day, I think the big mistake many Christians are making is to let the events of the moment—of this past year—excessively color our patriotism. It is still a good thing to patriotic in a Christian sort of way.

Our Christianity supersedes our patriotism.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

We are Christians before and above being Americans (or in recognition of Canada Day on July 1 Canadians). There can be no doubt about our hierarchy of loyalties. We enjoy our national freedoms for a finite period of time. We will enjoy the presence of Christ and His Kingdom forever. When those our Christianity and our country place contradictory demands upon us, there is no doubt about which we must obey.

Patriotism should be built on Christian principles.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same. (Romans 13:3)

Americans today tend to be enthusiastic—patriotic—about the wrong things. In recent decades, we have often heard leaders speak of defending our “way of life.” I have no interest in defending the present way of life of most Americans. I am deeply committed to defending our Constitution and our Constitutional Republic that is based upon the rule of law and the rights of the individual. Patriotism should celebrate justice and the proper application of the law.

Patriotism is about love.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)

Jesus gave the command to love our neighbors. Sometimes loving neighbors means defending them from danger—from enemies that would do them harm, both foreign and domestic. Serving as a police officer is a patriotic occupation where men and women put themselves in harm’s way for the safety of those they serve. In the same way, serving in the military should be an act of love as those men and women protect our lives and our freedoms.

Stewardship feeds our patriotism.

For if you completely hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knows whether you came to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

Like Esther, God has placed us at this moment with this specific opportunity for influence. This is a unique aspect of American Christianity. Not that other nations do not have it, but it is a founding principle of the nation we enjoy. We, the people. We are the ultimate power in our nation. We have stewardship with the vote for the nation we hold dear. We ought to exercise our stewardship with enthusiasm, vigor, and a sense of joy.

Patriotism ought to be a form of gratitude.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

God expects people, especially His people, to be thankful. We sometimes are so caught up in what we do not like that is going on around us, we fail to be thankful for the blessings that God has given us. We act as if God is not in control of human affairs. He has used this nation—and the freedoms we enjoy in it—to allow for church planting, and a great missionary age. More has been done for the cause of Christ by volume in the last 150 years than in any other age since the first generation of believers took the gospel to the known world of their day.

We need to take the time to notice the blessings that God has still given to us through the nation He has allowed us to enjoy.

Today, we need to take the time to notice and be thankful.