In yesterday’s Broadside I reflected on ordering my priorities when it comes to God and country. My allegiance is to God first and foremost. Any other loyalties—family, friends, work, country—are all filtered through that lens.
As I pointed out, God “makes nations great, and he destroys them” (Job 12:23). In other words, as much as we think we control our destiny in a nation “of the people, by the people and for the people,” the United States is still subject to God’s sovereignty.
I suppose that could lead to a passive fatalism about our current situation as the barbarians run wild across the fruited plain; if God’s will prevails, why get involved? Still, as a citizen of heaven, I can’t help wondering if there’s a place in God’s economy for patriotism.
What is Patriotism?
When I say “patriotism,” I primarily mean it the way the The Century Dictionary defines it:
noun: Love of one’s country; the passion which moves a person to serve his country, either in defending it from invasion or in protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions.
To be precise, I have a strong affection for the noble America, the one founded on the idea that all men are created equal and have been endowed by their Creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with government instituted to secure those rights. I’m much less impressed with the current version of our country.
Is Love for Country Compatible with Christianity?
To be a patriot—to love one’s country—is not in conflict with being a Christian. God planted the Garden of Eden “and there he put the man he had formed” (Gen. 2:8) “to work it and take care of it” (v.15). God gave him a place and a task: in the garden to take care of the garden. We can be sure that God has placed us in our country and has given each of us a vocation that contributes to its prosperity.
After Israel had been exiled to Babylon, God told them, “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7). We can want to see the peace and prosperity of our nation and be part of bringing that about.
I also think of Nehemiah who wept over the destruction of Jerusalem. When he went before King Artaxerxes he said, “Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” (Neh. 2:3). Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem so that the Israelites would “no longer be in disgrace” (v. 17). We, too, can mourn the destruction we’re seeing and want to repair it and defend it from further abuse.
To want the best for your country is to care about where the Lord has placed you, your family, your friends and your community. In that sense, you can be patriotic.
Is Defending My Country Compatible with Christianity?
When I see so-called “Americans” rioting with impunity and indiscriminately destroying historical monuments that belong to all of us and threatening to “burn it all down” without any discussion or debate, the part of the dictionary definition I’m most interested in is the final clause: defending it from invasion or in protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions.
If I’m honest, this is exactly what I’m driving at when I talk about patriotism. It goes back to what I asked a couple of days ago: “To what extent do I have freedom in Christ to take up arms on behalf of my country, should I be called to do so?”
Let’s face it—we have entered a season of lawlessness that borders on anarchy. We have failed Americans rampaging unopposed through dozens of cities because those in authority are not enforcing our laws. Not only are they not enforcing our laws, they’ve gone so far as to join with the lawbreakers.
Remember that the governing authorities are established by God as “agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:1-4) and “to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (1 Pet. 2:14). The governing authorities have a moral obligation before God to keep law and order.
If our government will not fulfill its obligations under the purposes of God for which it has been established or under the Oath of Office to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” then we are left on our own to defend our families and our homes from those who would do evil.
I haven’t fully worked all this out yet, but based on my initial thinking, I believe that I do have freedom as a Christian to take up arms to defend this country against “all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That, of course, leads to a number of other questions, which I will blog about in coming days.