Patriotism and Christ

I've decided to pick my blog back up again as a way to help fuel my creativity at work. Sometimes it helps just to start writing about stuff. When my brain is so over-caffeinated that it has no choice but to think, it generally thinks about things I like, such as the meaning of stuff. And that's what this blog will now be about. The meaning of stuff, generally applicable to other Christians.

I like political talk shows, and I love Christian radio. But nothing is worse than not knowing which I'm listening to. For example, around the time before Bush's second election, I recall hearing a prominent Bible teacher tell me that it was a sin to not vote. He went on and on about the founders' beliefs, the blessedness of America in God's sight, and how we as a country have left our rightful position as the dispensers of grace to the world.

I'm not sure exactly how you get to that conclusion, but need I remind any Christian that the New Testament makes it unmistakably clear that all men are of one blood and that all governments are appointed by God? When I say that, don't start in on asking me whether the Nazi regime was appointed by God. God allowed the Assyrians to punish Israel for their unbelief, but he also punished the Assyrians for taking things too far, just as Hitler didn't exactly attain the most glorious ending. God is just either way.

But back to the point, none of the arguments for God's special hand on America (over other nations) hold water. Anecdotes, the lives of men who founded the country, and the morals of the country mean nothing. Are God's people in America really so shallow as to revert back to a national identity? Can we not say that God accomplished more for his Bride during the time of Emperor Nero than for the time under all presidents since George Washington combined? When early believers came to Christ, they risked their very lives with a disturbing zeal and gave up all they had to prove that they were different people. And in contrast, many well-meaning believers of the modern sort risk almost nothing by pseudo-humbly refraining from music and movies, all the while "spreading the Gospel" by inviting their friends to hear a church sermon (uh... really?). To be fair, some Christians come to faith and feel so moved that they take up an unnecessarily austere lifestyle similar to something like St. Francis. They send themselves abroad, costing 100x more to operate a Baptist church in another country than it would take to fund native missionaries. We need to understand that either the loving or loathing of our Americanism are equally unhealthy obsessions with what does not matter.

God is doing amazing things in Asia and Africa currently. But how is that possible? From listening to well-meaning Christian, political radio-show hosts you would think that socialism's coming into America was an imminent and dreadful attack on the Church and God's kingdom. Apparently the Constitution alone upholds the rights granted to all men through the Bible. But we forget that, while living in personal liberty is nice, God cannot be stopped by laws and his purpose is not excelled by freedom. God starts amazing revivals in socialist and democratic countries alike. He calls the elect from both the darkest regions of Muslim law and from the front pew of a country chapel.

None of the details matter to God. I encourage you to vote, if you feel that it is good. But please stop talking about reclaiming America for Christ. The world is already his. Stop trying to put the Bible back in public schools. If you value a person's liberty to choose their beliefs, then don't ask the government to mandate their exposure to your religion... even if your religion is true. Create relationships of influence instead of political action, ascend national and political-party barriers, and by all means, glorify God when he shows his mightiest grace in the darkest parts of the world.