Unless you have been under a rock (Plymouth Rock, perhaps?), you know that America is celebrating our 250th birthday. While July 4th is usually a festive time every year, with fireworks, friends, and family, this year is special. When America’s Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and then drafted and ratified the Constitution, they were not certain this new experiment in human government would endure. Elizabeth Willing Powell asked Benjamin Franklin “What have we got, a republic or monarchy?” To which Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”1
Well, we have kept it for two and a half centuries. This project is not perfect, by any stretch. It’s rickety in some places and needs some oil in others. Yet today, despite our flaws, we enjoy the greatest level of freedom and prosperity in human history. This is worth celebrating.
Yet how do we citizens of the kingdom of Heaven celebrate this flourishing, but temporary nation we call America? As a Baptist Christian, here are a few things to consider this 4th of July.
Allegiance to America is Not at Odds with Allegiance to Christ.
Patriotism—that feeling of pride, affection, and loyalty to the place where God has sovereignly called us to live—can become idolatrous. See Jonah’s misplaced patriotism where his love for his homeland prevented him from sharing the good news of God’s grace with his enemies. Yet merely because patriotism can become disordered doesn’t mean it’s inherently inappropriate . In his book, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis talks about the idea of ordering our allegiances under love for God. He borrows this, I think, from Augustine, who wrote: “living a just and holy life requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things: to love things, that is to say, in the right order, so that you do not love what is not to be loved, or fail to love what is to be loved, or have a greater love for what should be loved less, or an equal love for things that should be loved less or more, or a lesser or greater love for things that should be loved equally.”2
When I stood at the altar almost a quarter-century ago, I pledged allegiance to my wife. The pastor didn’t tell me, “Now, Dan, you have to choose between love for God and love for your wife.” No, instead he rightly shared that by making my love for God supreme, I’d love my wife in the right and proper way. This is how it is with every allegiance that is ordered under our love for God. I believe 1 Peter 2:17 teaches us this: “Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
Patriotism is About Gratitude and Love for Neighbor
In Jeremiah 29, the prophet told the exiles to “seek the welfare,” or flourishing (shalom), of their city. They were exiles in a strange land, yet rather than huddle and seek safety and escape, they were to build and plant, marry, have children, and make Babylon better, with whatever little influence or power they had. Today, American Christians can relate. In many ways we feel out of step with the culture, the way we are called to live as ambassadors of Christ’s kingdom. And Scripture even says we should think of ourselves as “strangers and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13). Yet like the people of God in Babylon, that doesn’t mean indifference or apathy about the place where God has called us to live. Can we see the shalom of a country we despise? I don’t think so.
At its most basic, patriotism is a love for the people, the place, and the ideals of the country. It does not demand of us that we blindly accept every policy from a particular administration or whitewash the dark spots in the nation’s history. Sometimes patriotism requires us to speak up. At the heart of patriotism is gratitude. It is thanking God that He has allowed us to be Americans and allowed us to live in a land as free and prosperous as this one. Gratitude is essential for a Christian (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Celebrate But Keep Christ Central
John Adams, American founder and second president, said of 4th of July that it “ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”3 Christians should not hesitate to celebrate America’s birthday this year. Fly that American flag, watch those American Revolution movies and documentaries, express your love for the country on social media. Enjoy this moment with friends and family. I even think it’s appropriate for churches to commemorate this moment. We should do this in a way that reminds people that our primary allegiance is Christ and that on Sunday we gather to worship Him. Some churches may offer a simple prayer of gratitude on July 4th. Others might have more detailed programming throughout the year. Others may use the opportunity to dive into Scripture’s teaching about the created order, the role of the church, and the role of the state. Every pastor knows his context and must follow his conscience.
Nevertheless, I think there are two wrong ways for churches to approach America 250. One is to pretend it’s not happening, as if we are disembodied spirits not living in a fixed place and time and country. Another is to make a worship service more about America than the kingdom of God. Finding that healthy balance is the key and might look different in different contexts. Still, I believe it’s good and right for us to acknowledge and celebrate two and a half centuries of American liberty. And believers also should recommit ourselves to seeking the flourishing of this nation for another 250 years.
Remember What Ultimately Helps America Flourish
Proverbs 14:34 says that “righteousness exalts a nation.” Christians can and should engage in politics and public policy to advance ideas that help our neighbors flourish. But ultimately it will be what we do in our local churches that forms the backbone of flourishing communities and a healthy nation. Preaching the Word faithfully, evangelizing our neighbors and making disciples regularly, caring for those in need intentionally, and praying fervently are the most important things we do. American Christians should pray and work for revival, that God might do a special work first among His people, which will then spill out into our communities so that those who are far from God repent and turn to Him in faith.
America 250 should be a catalyst to do more of what our churches and network of churches already do to evangelize, church plant, and send missionaries to the nations. And it should cause us to get on our knees and pray fervently for our leaders, from the local school board member all the way up to the White House. This Paul urged Timothy to do in 1 Timothy 2. Today, that task is no less important.
American Christians have been given a wonderful blessing in the freedoms and opportunities we have in this country. Pausing to thank God, to reflect, and to pray is a right response to this important moment.
Daniel Darling has written further on this topic in his recent book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism.
- “September 17, 1787: A Republic, If You Can Keep It (U.S. National Park Service),” accessed June 2, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm. ↩︎
- Saint Augustine of Hippo and Aeterna Press, On Christian Doctrine (Aeterna Press, 1958), I.27. ↩︎
- “Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776, ‘Had a Declaration…,’” accessed June 2, 2026, https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760703jasecond. ↩︎
