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I stand between generations with widely dissimilar views about God and Country. I think both have points to ponder.
The generations older than I tend to place a high value on the importance of affirming patriotism as a religious duty. They want worship services at this time of year to include patriotic elements. A pastor can get in trouble with them for failing to provide that experience.
The generations younger than I tend to place a high value on the importance of rejecting nationalistic idolatry. They want worship services at this time of year that completely ignore Independence Day. A pastor can get in trouble with them for mentioning the season.
Here’s my take.
Just as much it is a Christian virtue to speak prophetically against the government where it does wrong, it is a Christian duty to give respect and honor to the government. It is not wrong to accomplish this Christian duty corporately.
It is not the function of Christian worship to honor the state, but we have much about our earthly citizenship for which we can thank God. Thanking God for His goodness actually is an appropriate element of corporate worship, and I see no good reason to exclude it.
But the critics of these worship services are saying some things that we need to hear and that provoke needed (in some cases) reforms.
1. When Christian worship cannot speak prophetic criticism when “our man” is in power or cannot breathe a prayer of gratitude when “the other party” won the election, then it is merely a partisan hootenanny. That’s evil.
2. When our theology or our doxology is shaped by political calculation, then we have made the institution Christ leads subservient to the institution the President leads, and by extension, made Christ subservient to the President. That’s evil.
3. When the honor we give to veterans or first responders is greater than the honor we give to missionaries, then we have lost sight of what is most heroic and we have lost sight of which kingdom eternally matters.
4. When voting for the “wrong” political party calls a person’s faith more into question in your eyes than when he abandons his marriage vows or gives stingily or speaks in a manner that slanders brothers or sisters in Christ, then there are parts of the NT we should discuss.
5. When the gospel hasn’t been preached on a Sunday morning but the Pledge of Allegiance has been recited, then it’s not the Kingdom of Heaven that has been advanced.
6. When the measure of governmental faithfulness is what the government has done for me and my kind rather than how it has served God’s purposes (see Romans 13), then I have elevated what God did not ordain (my affiliations) over that which God did ordain (government).
Dear brothers and sisters, both older and younger, it is possible and good to thank God for our nation this Sunday (or any other day) without running afoul of any of these things.
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