This year is America’s 250th birthdayand around the country, there will be celebrations in cities and communities. But what about at church? Many pastors are understandably cautious when it comes to patriotic displays, fearful that a love for America could overtake a love for the Kingdom of God.
This is a healthy concern, but there is a way for pastors to lead their people in this cultural moment that both honors God and expresses gratitude for the place where God has called us to live and serve. How can churches do this well?
First, America’s 250th birthday offers an opportunity to teach Christians what Scripture says about the role of the state and the role of the church. Passages such as Romans 13, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 2, and Jeremiah 29 remind us that government was God’s idea for human flourishing. God has delegated civic authorities to “punish evil and reward good” (Romans 13:3; 1 Peter 2). From the opening pages of Genesis, it was God’s desire for humanity to bear His image by ruling over creation.
Second, pastors can teach what Scripture says about the proper ordering of our loves. First Peter 2:7 says, “Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Too often Christians feel they must choose between a love for their country and a love for God, but Scripture teaches that this is less of a binary choice and more of a hierarchy of affections. If we love God supremely, then every other allegiance (country, family, children) falls underneath that. We’ll love our country best when we love God first.
Third, this moment in our history helps Christians express gratitude for the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy as Americans as well as honor those whose sacrifices and leadership afford us the privilege of living in America. It is good and right to love the people and places where God has allowed us to live. Though we are citizens ultimately of God’s Kingdom, we are no less citizens of this nation. When the redeemed are gathered around the throne of God in Revelation 5 and 7, they come, in part, as “nation, tribe, and tongue.” Our status as a citizen of Heaven doesn’t erase the beautiful heritage we have as citizens of our earthly countries.
Fourth, pastors can help their people understand that citizenship is a gift to be stewarded. Though we are “exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), we should heed the word the prophet Jeremiah gave to Jewish exiles in Babylon. We should seek the welfare or flourishing of the city (Jeremiah 29:7). It’s hard to seek the welfare of a country about which we are apathetic or for which we have no love. In America, we have more agency through our voices and our votes than perhaps any other people in the history of the world. How we steward that matters to God.
Fifth, America’s 250th anniversary offers churches a great opportunity to teach what healthy citizenship and patriotism look like. Healthy citizenship means we engage in the process of helping to shape the nation in a way that best serves our neighbors, whom we are commanded to love (Mark 12:30-31) while knowing that we’ll never be able to fix every problem in a fallen world. We can do some good, but ultimately, we look forward to that city whose “builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Healthy patriotism means we love our nation’s founding ideals of “all men are created equal” while understanding that we’re an imperfect country that hasn’t always lived up to that creed. Cynicism about the nation doesn’t actually serve the cause of justice. It gives us an excuse to give up. Yet at the same time, a healthy patriotism means sometimes we oppose a particular governmental policy. It means we look at America’s history in a balanced way, lauding the good, lamenting the bad, and working to make this place our kids inherit better than the place we were born into.
America 250 shouldn’t be an excuse to turn Sundays into political rallies, but we shouldn’t ignore the nation’s birthday either, as if we are disembodied spirits who aren’t called to a specific place and time in history. Ultimately, this season can be a catalyst for gratitude and worship toward God, Who “has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live” (Acts 17:26). And, whether God’s people are fearful or hopeful about America’s future, we can be sure that He has not erred in placing us here for His glory and has made us for this moment.
