Christianity and patriotism · 12:14am Mar 25th, 2016
It is easy for many Americans to assume that the nation and the Bible are inseparable. The truth is otherwise. Christians are ultimately citizens of Heaven; we live on this earth temporarily. In other words, we are not of this world, even if we are in it. Our loyalty should be to God first and foremost.
Please do not misunderstand. I am not calling for a revolt or riot here. The problem is that people mix Christianity with American patriotism and nationalism. We should be loyal to the nation and (much harder to accept) the government we are born/live under. To a certain extent, we should be patriotic, and render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. We should pay taxes (yeah, annoying and infuriating, I know), serve in the military, look out for our country's welfare and vote for candidates in elections that we believe are both friendly to the faith and constructive to our nation. All this is doing our duty as far as civil government is concerned.
However, we should not say things like "this is the greatest country on earth." For one thing, this exalts the creation rather than the Creator who allowed for it to be. For another, this can and often does - sometimes unintentionally - put down other countries; saying that America is better than any other country puts down Norway, France, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Brazil, Japan, and every other nation on earth. Admittedly, America has less poverty and greater liberty than many other nations, and we have a powerful military to protect us and fight the current terrorist threat. But all this should be viewed as a gift from God, an opportunity to help others elsewhere who have need, not a chance to exalt the nation. Our primary loyalty should be to God Himself, and, in the case where the government creates laws that are opposed to God and His Word, it is our duty to reject them - peacefully and with selfless love guiding our actions, not with violent revolution. We should remember that Jesus said, in the same sentence where He said to render unto Caesar to "render unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 21:21).
I hope you all understand, and that I am not trying to be un-American, or to put our nation down. What I'm saying is to serve our country (or countries, if some of the viewers are from foreign places) best by putting God first and foremost in our lives, and to do so in love.
I bid you a good night, and hopefully a very blessed day tomorrow and forever after.
P.S. Please remember that Easter is coming up, and that the real reason for this season is not the Easter eggs. If you would listen, please remember that Christ died for you, and that this coming Sunday we celebrate His victory over the power of death.
I have a faint suspicion that Jesus was smiling in victory when he said that statement.
For all things are Gods.
Living in the deep south, I see a lot of this mixing of patriotism and Christianity. Many see this country as God's country, a Christian nation.
It can be hard sometimes to recognize that our country is not following the will of God, as people all over the South are wilfully ignorant to this fact (leaving it to remain a part of our culture).
What interests me is what will happen when this ignorance is finally shattered. The legalization of gay marriage really shook us up, and there was a lot of talking. While we still have our love for God and country, many people are starting to feel threatened. Right now there is a law on the desk of Nathan Deal (Governor of Georgia, my home state) to protect pastors, Christian business owners, and certain public entities from LGBT lawsuits and pushes for more than just marriage (something many call discriminatory). This kind of thinking will push us away from the rest of the country. The more our government moves away from Christian values, the more angry and afraid southerners will feel.
We may end up turning our backs on the nation entirely.
3825279 Hopefully, that doesn't end in another Civil War. We've had one already, and we lost the equivalent of 6.5 million in terms of modern population (620,000 people actually died back then). Here's hoping that that law gets signed into practice.
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I don't like the idea of divisions (or even conflict) in our nation, but I'm a southerner at heart. I would support whatever action we find to be necessary to preserve our Christian traditions.
As for the law, Deal would face a lot of opposition if be were to veto. It has public support and passed unanimoulsy through the Georgia House.
The NFL and the movie industry have already threatened to boycott Georgia for this legislation, but it didn't do much (it still passed the House and Senate without issue). I think they underestimated how many people want to see this law become reality.
3825356 Lol on that last sentence :D
Sorry, I don't mean to offend. It's nice that people are actually standing up for this. I'm sick of the south being criticized for being supposedly intellectually stupid (such as people claiming that they have the lowest grades in the nation), but unless there's a big national repentance/great awakening, I'm not sure what can be done, except, of course, for praying about it.
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Nah, you didn't offend.
We may not always seem smart, but at least most of us are good God fearin' folk.
I think most of us even got a laugh from the movie studios when they made their boycott announcement. Some libral Hollywood types come down to Georgia and think they can force us to give up our traditions, heritage, and beliefs so that they can stay. Don't think they realized that we'd kick 'em out in a heartbeat, with happy goodbyes and offered prayers for safe travel.
3825439 LOL
Although I think we should keep our eye on the real enemy here; the devil behind all this nonsense.
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'Course.
I just like to poke fun at liberals
Bless their hearts.
It's too bad the devil has used their own (and to a lesser extent, our) need for universal acceptance, tolerance, and equality against us. Satan got us to accept and tollerate sin, turning something that had been used for good into something used for evil.
He's a crafty son of a gun, he is.
3825497 Sadly yes, at least when it comes to manipulating us. We just have to remember that we have a (and I mean this in a caring and respectful way) Big Brother who dwarfs the devil.