Christian Patriotism?

The following video is a great way to consider our role as Christians who live in the United States:

A couple quick notes:

1. This is not an assessment of the individual faith of the "founding fathers." Every single founding father could have been a believer (they were not), and yet the United States would not be a Christian nation.
2. This does not in any way mean that we do not enjoy incredible freedoms here in our country, all of which are a grace from God. We experience a lot of liberties here which allow us to freely pursue Christ. This is a gift for which we should all be thankful.3. A common grace God has given for us so that we can experience these liberties has been seen in the lives of soldiers who have served (or are serving) as well as those who have lost their lives protecting these liberties. These sacrifices cannot save a soul, but they are a glorious display of loyalty and sacrifice.



Why does this matter? Couldn't this issue simply be left for opinion? Why does this issue seem to rile me up so much at times?

In a nutshell, I think the crusade to "reclaim" the United States as a Christian nation confuses and distorts the gospel.

1. It reduces the essentials of saving faith. I've heard people state, "Look, the Declaration of Independence mentions a Creator God, this proves many founding fathers were Christian." Such a statement ignores that simply being a Theistic Creationist does not mean one has saving faith. I've also heard people exclaim, "But did you know that a majority of the founding fathers were pastors?" Again, this misses that salvation does not come by an office held within the church. (In fact, Gilbert Tennent preached On the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry in 1739.) I've met a disturbing number of pastors who do not know Jesus Christ, and it seems Pastor Tennent had met a number of them too...right around the time of the Revolution.

When we want to claim our nation as Christian because the founding fathers made some vague comments about God, we distort the gospel on two fronts. One, we make it seem like the gospel is simply to believe that God is a Creator and we eliminate the news of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We somehow imagine a Christianity that does not require the gospel. And two, we obscure what it means to be a genuine witness. We begin to assume we are taking a major stand by saying God exists and He made everything. Instead, we need to speak of Jesus, and how salvation is only found in Him.

2. It confuses our mission. A recently heard a pastor state, "Pastors have to start preaching to their people that this nation was founded on Christian principles or we'll never see this country turn around." But Christ's kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). He will build His Church (Matthew 16:18). Surely this should be the focus of every disciple and pastor. The pastor who focuses on building this nation will a) find himself neglecting the proclamation of the gospel, for the gospel cannot be spread (or received) through political movement, and b) ignoring the fact that there are still 1.9 billion people who have not heard the name of Jesus, most of whom do not live in the United States. Our mission is to see God build a nation, not a country.

3. It does not call people to hope. Even if the United States had been founded as a Christian nation, such knowledge will not return people to those roots. Hope is not placed in the past (Romans 8:24). Such an effort falls victim to the naive assumption that the time of the Revolution was the glory days for our country.

Let's get this straight: Black people were slaves. Women were not given the liberty to vote. The Catholic church and corrupted Church of England were running rampant. People ignored Romans 13:1-7 and began to murder other people. And some people want to think of that era as the "glory days?"

The message of the gospel is set in the past, at what Christ did for us. But the hope of the gospel is set ahead of us. That we will be with Him some day! If this is as good as it gets, that's not "good news." If Resurrection Morning is as good as it gets, that's not "good news." The good news is good because in hope, I wait for the day that God will call me home and I will enjoy being in the presence of Christ for all eternity...freed from presence of sin and the curse placed upon creation for it. This hope is what can motivate people to proclaim His gospel and see His church built.

Independence Day is a day to celebrate. (There's double celebration in our family, as it is also my parents' anniversary.) Watch fireworks, go to a cookout, pray and thank God for our country...however you choose to celebrate. However, also remember that political and religious freedom is not true freedom. Freedom from sin and its punishment is the only true freedom there is.

And that's a message for every person, of every country.

Last Installment

Today, I completed our last bulletin insert for our church, regarding the electoral process:

More Election Inserts

These are our last two inserts as we seek for our congregation to be conformed to the image of Christ as they work through the electoral process. (We'll do one concluding specific insert as to praying for officials who one races.)





Again, if you want them, swipe them.

Preaching During the Election

How does a pastor deal with the "elephant in the middle of the room?" When every news agency and media outlet is screaming "election...election...election!" how do we navigate through it?

Personally, I think we offer our people a breath of fresh air and a bit of stability by continuing to work through the text, (surprise, surprise) not to mention that which actually can sanctify. In my opinion, this is complete silliness and a complete distraction from our gospel calling. I've also received pledges from other pastors which I'm supposed to sign. Apart from the complete waste that internet petitions/pledges are (several of the signees are clearly atheistic, mocking the church with their signatures with silly names for churches which clearly do not exist), there is also no center in the gospel (a fellow pastor in my fellowship's signature is immediately followed by an LDS "elder"). These things should serve as a reminder that a November election focus is barking up the wrong tree.

However, we don't have to ignore the election either. But instead of hitching our wagon to a particular candidate or issue, could we consider our real job? How could we shepherd our flock in such a way that they conform to the image of Christ as they navigate this election? As a church, we have approached this goal with the following bulletin inserts, which have led to some great follow up discussion. (Feel free to "steal" them, if you think it would benefit.)







We plan to do two more posts in preparation of the election and one in review, encouraging the Body to pray for the specific candidates who win.