Independence Day
weekend is upon us here in America! Flags, fireworks, family and fun … a patriotic celebration
of our proud nation’s founding. But what should patriotism look like for the
American Christian? My father had a one-word answer to that question -- "humility."
“We … are a nation who
in the beginning seemed to be called into existence for high and holy purposes.
In our Declaration of Independence, we gave ourselves to high ideals of
responsibility as a nation under the guidance and nurture of God. It was not
unlike the covenant the Israelites made with God at Mt. Sinai and many times
before and since. From that point on for both nations it was a hard struggle to
survive but one which paid off – or shall we say one which God richly rewarded.
We both inherited a land and society ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ and our
flocks and herds and our computers and investments multiplied.
But as for the
Israelites, so for us, trouble began when we succumbed to the human tendency to
forget the Source of our blessings. We began to worship other gods. ‘Praise
science, praise military might, praise private enterprise, from whom all
blessings flow!’ And, you see, this kind of idolatry is really just a worship
of self, a subtle way of saying, ‘Look what I have earned; look what I have
scratched for and created. I’m pretty good! I’m pretty great! I know how; my
way is best.’
And so America[,] conceived
in and dedicated to God’s mission, [has] wandered and strayed from high and
holy moorings, [is] given to exaggerated opinions of self-worth, [and is]
unmindful that its privileged position, far from being a mark of God’s special
favor, is rather a call to heavier responsibility in doing God’s work in the
world. … It is pride, pure and simple. It is arrogance, a forgetting of Whose we are
and what we are here for.
I believe Jesus would
disagree with those who are saying that what America needs most is a recovery
of its national pride. I think he would press instead for a new national
humility. [I’m] not suggesting … that we should get rid of patriotism. But [I
am] saying firmly that a true love of country, true patriotism includes
humility – humility in seeking God’s will for the nation instead of telling God
what he should want.
How does a nation
discover God’s will? (And that is exactly
what you do; you discover God’s will; you do not make it up to suit yourself
and then give it to him.) We solve that problem by following the example of
Jesus the Christ, who knew and did God’s will perfectly. You know how he did
it? He did it by making no claims for himself; he emptied himself of all
self-will, of all desire to do everything except serve his Father. He was
absolutely humble. That is how you discover God’s will. Only when you have
emptied yourself of your own will can God’s will flow in. And that is as true
in the life of a nation as it is in the individual person. Humility is the key
word.
How often we hear
people say, ‘America is a proud nation.’ How much better it would be to say,
‘America is a humble nation’ – that is, a nation which realizes that God is in
charge of the flow of history and that God has an overall plan and purpose. And
so it becomes a humble nation’s task, through free speech and press and debate
and democratic action, to discover what that will of God is.
- Such a nation will be a servant of the world instead of a ruler. It will spend far more on relieving pain and suffering than on creating it.
- Such a nation will be open and flexible, admitting its mistakes, always trying new ways, never ceasing in its search to know what God wants it to do.
- Such a nation will really listen to its critics since it well knows that God often speaks through the opposition and even the enemy.
- Such a nation is always testing its policies and measuring its stance by Christ’s rule of love.
There
is no conflict between love of God and love of country when rightly understood.
Christian patriotism means helping our beloved nation humbly take the right
course under God.”
"On Whose Side Is God?"
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