Happy 250th

This coming weekend we will celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday. Some of us are old enough to remember the Bicentennial, the 200th birthday, celebrated in 1976. The buildup to that momentous date was years in the making. Stories about the founding of the country were shared in “Bicentennial Moments” each night on TV. Americans of all stripes celebrated the founding of the country. By comparison, the 250th seems strangely subdued.

It may have something to do with the fact that patriotism has gone curiously out of style in the last 50 years. Flagrant displays of love of country are considered by many to be positively gauche, if not absolutely obscene. Criticism - even to the point of hatred - of one’s own nation is all in vogue, downright fashionable. Christians who love their country are sneered at as “Christian nationalists,” a recently coined term intended to push believers in Jesus even further to the periphery of national life, if not out of national life altogether. No one can define what “Christian nationalism” actually is, but everyone knows it’s a no-good, horrible, bad thing that must be resisted at all costs. Every perspective is valid, we’re told, except any that can be traced to the Bible. The Koran is valid and must be respected as a holy book. The Communist Manifesto is a valid political text, and many are the politicians proudly running on its tenets these days. But the Bible? That people would actually form their convictions based on the Bible, the book that the Founders quoted more than any other, and even worse, vote those convictions formed by the Bible, why, that’s just horrible, unacceptable, yea, even unAmerican.

I actually don’t mind the term “Christian nationalist,” because the word “Christian” is the adjective position, and “nationalist” is the noun. That means that my nationalism (my feelings about my country) are formed and informed by my Christianity. What I would object to is being called a “Nationalist Christian,” suggesting that my Christian convictions are being, or should be, modified by nationalism.

Is the United States of America perfect? Is any human institution perfect? Is even the church, founded by the Lord Jesus Himself, on this side of glory, perfect? Of course not. But the Scripture contains guidance for us as Christians in how we are to relate to earthly governments. The classic passage on the subject is Romans 13. Keep in mind that when Paul wrote that passage, he was a citizen of the Roman Empire, writing to people living in the capital of the Roman Empire. Certainly, the pagan Empire that was Rome was far from perfect.

If we were to take Romans 13 in isolation, it would seem to teach that Christians are to obey without question any decree, no matter how ungodly, from any government, no matter how tyrannical. In truth, Romans 13 is not only spelling out the duty of the believer to government, but the duty of governments before God. In God’s system of authority, human governments exist to punish evil and reward good (vv. 1-4). Such governments are to be supported with taxes and respect (vv. 6-7), and submission to such governments is part of our submission to God (vv. 1-2, 5).

But what about a government that does the opposite, that rewards evil and punishes good, that becomes itself an instrument of evil? Are Christians to blindly follow such governments? Should the Israelites have blindly followed King Ahab and Queen Jezebel into the worship of Baal, and was Elijah wrong to oppose them? Should Christians have participated in herding Jews into concentration camps and gas chambers because of the edicts of the Nazi regime, “just following orders” in obedience to Romans 13?

Of course not. As someone put it, Romans 13 must be balanced by Revelation 13, the ultimate picture of government run amuck, government not only opposing God but attempting to replace God. Those governments that step out of their God-given authority as instruments of righteousness to become instruments of evil opposing God are to be resisted, that resistance coming in proportion to the degree of their deviation. That resistance might come through civil disobedience, through peaceful protest, through prayerful entreaty, through the voting booth and, on rare occasions with absolutely evil governments, through forceful overthrow.

Christians are to obey the edicts of government until and unless that government tries to requireof them what God has forbidden or forbid to them what God has required. In such instances, God’s commands trump human edicts, and the believer must respectfully, but firmly, refuse to obey any law that contradicts God’s higher law. It is important to note that every instance of government wrongdoing should not elicit complete rebellion against the state. There may be some laws that we cannot in good conscience obey, but that is not a warrant for disobeying other laws that do not contradict God’s Word. In all of our dealings with government, we must keep in mind the principle that Jesus gave: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). The things that are Caesar’s are delineated in verse 7: taxes, revenue, respect and honor. The things that are God’s are absolute loyalty and complete obedience (vv. 11-14).

Pray today for all of our government officials (I Timothy 2:2). Pray for them that they might have God’s wisdom, that they might govern according to that wisdom, and that if at any point they refuse to walk in God’s wisdom, their plans and purposes might be defeated and their hearts changed.

Be here for worship this Sunday. We’re not going to worship the USA. We are going to worship God for, among other things, the freedoms we enjoy as Christians in the USA. We are going to pray for our country. As I am writing this, I have a sermon roiling around in my mind and spirit called “Seven Words for Strangers and Aliens” from Jeremiah 29, and I plan to deliver it this Sunday.

Numbers 6:24-26,
Bro. Donnie