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Particulars
of Christianity:
312
The Church Ethic
God Bless
America: Patriotic Christianity
Christianity and War
Christianity and War (Continued)
God
Bless America: Patriotic Christianity
It
seems that now more than ever the phrase "God Bless America"
has become a part of the everyday landscape. Turn on the TV
or the radio and you'll hear it. Surf your favorite Christian
news websites and you'll read it. Even drive down the street
in your car and you'll probably see it several times on the
bumper sticker of the car in front of you. It's a historic
phrase that goes back a long way in this country. And it's
a phrase expressed across the spectrum from Christians, to
agnostics, to regular old-fashioned Patriots.
I don't know why, but in the wake of recent events, Christians
seem more hopeful than ever about the possibility of bringing
this nation back to God. Perhaps this hopefulness is underlined
by the idea that times of crisis often bring us to moments
of self-examination and personal reflection. And perhaps it
is such a moment of national reflection that the American
Christian community is thinking might trigger repentance in
this country of ours.
This article is not one of those other editorials that you've
probably seen recently where the author calls on America not
to miss this final warning or opportunity to repent. No, this
article is about a different perspective on the subject, one
that questions that very American phrase: "God bless America."
Without question, the most alarming thing I have heard in
the past few weeks is Christians who are grateful that "We
have a president who's a believer, a Christian." I'm repeating
this sentiment here only to point out the extent to which
American Christians are willing to go in order to maintain
hope for the Christianity and redemption of this nation as
a nation, as a governmental institution and civil state.
Sometimes it seems we are ever-ready to rush in, willing to
believe anything, any thread of hope, any prospect, no matter
how slim the probability, because we're so desperate to see
our country be a "Christian nation." Its almost as if we really
believe America will become some sort of a theocracy. And
sometimes I wonder who it is we are really hoping can be saved,
our people or our country. Probably both.
How is it that American Christians have gotten their Christianity
so mixed in with their Patriotism? When did the two become
the same thing? Maybe for some it's always been that way but
is it correct? Is it Biblical? I don't think so. I think it
probably stems from the security we feel from thinking that
God has a special relationship with this country. And in times
like these, that thought becomes more reassuring as our security
becomes less certain.
In reading and hearing all the Christian commentary in the
passing weeks, it crossed my mind, not for the first time,
but in the clearest terms. American Christians really believe
that America is a nation in covenant with God in parallel
with Israel of the Old Testament. This underlying premise
is inherently implied by all of their comments and comparisons
of our current status to Israel in the Old Testament.
And, in even clearer terms it hit me. American Christians
really have their hope set on leading this country to God.
And perhaps what's worse, they think they have a right to
hope for this country's "salvation."
On this point I want to say that believing for the salvation
of individual human beings is, of course, absolutely Biblical.
But when such a belief gets extended to cover some national,
governmental entity such as the United States of America,
we immediately step out of the Biblical bounds.
Christians are often fond of quoting such passages as II Chronicles
in this regard.
II Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called
by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
But whether or not we can actually apply such a passage to
Christians living in America is entirely based on a presumption
that America is comparable to the Old Testament nation of
Israel. And on this point there can be no clearer error.
Israel was a nation instituted by God from its very beginnings
with Abraham when God told him to leave his father's household
in Genesis 12. But even more specifically, Israel emerged
formally as a nation with the Covenant through Moses at Mount
Sinai. God himself initiated this covenant. He gave them their
laws. He set up their governing institutions. He inaugurated
the Covenant by descending onto the Mountain and talking face
to face with Moses.
And this Covenant inseparably linked the people of Israel
as God's chosen people to these laws and to the land that
God was giving them. In fact, the land was itself part of
the Covenant that God was making with them. So, when we read
in II Chronicles 7 that God would "heal their land," we're
not talking about just any land that any godly person happens
to be in. And we're not talking about a Covenant in which
God gave any land to any man who believed in Him. No, the
land spoken of here was the specific geographic area given
to the people of Israel.
There is no sufficient reason to assume that this Covenant
relationship extends to American Christians. Even if we assume
the best case scenario that Patriotic Christians want us to
believe, that all of the founding fathers were born-again
Christians who formed this country for godly purposes, (a
scenario which has much room for debate and skepticism), that
would still not equal a situation parallel to Israel.
Consider the following. Godly men initiating a government
based on godly principles found in God's word is not even
in the same ballpark as God instituting a nation himself.
We cannot even compare the two, let alone assume that all
things pertaining to the latter (Israel) would automatically
apply to the former (America).
God never gave any man the Covenant right to this North American
land area. God never initiated or confirmed a Covenant with
our founding fathers like he did by his descent upon Mount
Sinai when he passed on the 10 commandments to Moses, the
leader he had chosen. Israel was not a democracy.
And that brings up another point. Where did this notion come
from that God loves democracies? God never set up a democracy.
Israel was ruled by judges and prophets until they demanded
a king in I Samuel. And when Jesus returns, he will rule the
earth as a monarch with Israel as head of the nations. America
will not be exalted right alongside Israel and Jesus is not
going to set up democracies.
For now, in a world where Christ does not rule and the devil
is not chained, a democracy is certainly the best form of
government and the freedom inherent in it is certainly something
Christians have benefited greatly from and should not take
for granted. It is far better than the first few centuries
AD under Rome or the middle ages under a brutal Roman Catholicism
and its inquisition. But there is nothing inherently Christian
or godly about democracy.
Let's look at what the New Testament has to say about the
love of one's country.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called
to go out into a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither
he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as
in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God...
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence
they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he
hath prepared for them a city.
1. Those who call themselves Christians but place their
hope in this country have forgotten they are but pilgrims
here. If they continue to look to an earthly country for their
hope, they place themselves in great danger, not only of deception,
but of disillusionment, which can lead to loss of faith.
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world:...
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household
of God;
2. Spiritually speaking, Christians do not have their
Covenant with God with America (or any other country) apart
from Israel. Israel, not America, is our spiritual citizenship.
Acts 22:24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought
into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by
scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so
against him. 25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul
said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you
to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26
When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief
captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is
a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him,
Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the
chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom.
And Paul said, But I was free born. 29 Then straightway
they departed from him which should have examined him: and
the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was
a Roman, and because he had bound him. 30 On the morrow, because
he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused
of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded
the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought
Paul down, and set him before them.
3. Yes, Paul was a citizen of Rome and he exercised
those rights to ensure his freedom to practice Christianity.
But Paul's love was not for Rome, and so he had no particular
hope in the conversion of the Roman Empire out of any love
for it or patriotism toward it as American Christians do toward
this country. Paul knew his hope was not in any earthly kingdom
until the return of Christ and the formal establishment of
Christ's rule on earth.
In fact, there is nothing in the entire New Testament that
advocates or approves of Christians setting up governments
or nations, overthrowing tyranical governments, or militarily
resisting such forces. At the most, Christians hid underground
in catacombs and they escaped over city walls as Paul did
at Damascus. And when necessary they fled to new places, spreading
the Gospel as they went but they never once tried to set up
or overthrow a government. And American Christians should
think about that.
I Corinthians 7:20 Each one should remain in the
situation which he was in when God called him. 21 Were
you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although
if you can gain your freedom, do so.
Here in 1 Corinthians 7, we find instructions concerning what
to do if we are slaves. It would not seem to make much of
a difference whether we are slaves to a master or slaves to
a king. If we are slaves, we are instructed not to be concerned
with becoming free, although if we have the opportunity, we
should accept it. This hardly seems like a justification to
obtain our freedom by force, by revolt, or even by revolution.
What mandate do we have from the scripture to do such things?
None. And the fact that the Bible tells us not to participate
in such activities demonstrates that campaigns such as the
Crusades were unbiblical and wrong. Further proof of this
can be found extensively in Romans 13.
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher
powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that
be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are
not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then
not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister
of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for
he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject,
not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6 For
for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing. 7 Render
therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due;
custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
What is so amazing about the instructions in this passage
is that it was written regarding, not a representative republic
like America, but under the military dictatorship of Rome.
It was of such rulers as those that Paul wrote "the powers
that be are ordained of God" and "Render therefore to all
their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due." From the first
verse Paul clearly establishes the principle "Let every soul
be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but
of God." and "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God."
And we see this in the history of the early Church. They were
persecuted and tortured to death. They were put in arenas,
eaten by wild animals, and burned alive. Yet they did not
view any of these things as justification for revolt against
Rome. Hebrews 11:8-14 explains why when it tells us that we
are but pilgrims here, not seeking to establish a kingdom
here.
Clearly the early Church understood what Paul's words meant
in both of these passages. As did Paul himself who was both
imprisoned and put to death for his faith. Under a corrupt
tyranical government, Christians only have two choices, submit
and be persecuted or flee. Revolt against repressive authority
to correct the problem is not an option.
And what did Jesus say? Jesus twice said to submit, even to
unfair taxes. In Matthew 17, Jesus specifically tells Peter
to pay the taxes even though from the point of view of spiritual
truth, they were not obligated to do so.
Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said,
Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes.
And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him,
saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of
the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or
of strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus
saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding,
lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast
an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when
thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money:
that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
Matthew 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou?
Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt
ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they
brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose
is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar's.
Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are
God's.
Certainly, Rome was not a democratic government and so its
taxes would not have been in accordance with representation.
Yet, according to Jesus we ought to pay such taxes.
The bottom line for Christians today is that, like Paul, we
should exercise our rights in order to protect ourselves and
our freedom to worship God (Acts 22-23). But, like Abraham,
we should not be looking to America as a hope for an earthly
Christian country. In I Timothy 2:1-3, we are told to pray
for our leaders. In Romans 13, we're told to respect and honor
their authority unless of course, that authority directly
infringes upon our faithfulness to God. Certainly Christians
are not to obey the antichrist. But we should not stretch
this exception to accommodate any disagreement we have with
government.
But most importantly at all, American Christians should remember
that this nation has no Covenant with God and we, as Christians,
have no spiritual citizenship other than our spiritual citizenship
in Israel. Anything else is a wishful delusion.
We understand that even though these points are Biblically
clear to the point of being self-evident, most American Christians
will be offended by the very thought of them. This will be
true especially of the older generations. Generation X and
those younger than us have been sufficiently denationalized
by the modern media and sufficiently disillusioned with this
country in some ways despite how good we've had it. So, its
easier for those of us who are younger to divorce Christianity
from Patriotism.
However, those who reject the notions we have presented here
should be careful. To mistake American Patriotism as synonymous
with Christianity is to reject the teaching of the New Testament
and to drastically twist the Old Testament. In the New Covenant
described in the book of Hebrews, God did NOT replace Jews
with Gentiles. According to Romans 11, through Christ, we
Gentiles were simply added to the Jewish tree. In the New
Covenant, God did not replace Israel with America. America,
as great as it has been and as blessed as Christians have
been to live in this country, is just another secular institution.
It is not a nation in covenant with God.
So, the next time you hear someone say, "God bless America,"
make sure you pause to think about why they're saying that
and what underlying premises contribute to that statement.
Yes, we hope God does bless this country and every other country
to the benefit of those who believe. But we do not believe
God has any special relationship with this American country
and government. Such a notion is completely unscriptural.
And we believe such a delusion will be very dangerous for
Christians in the coming years if the tide of history continues
to move toward the worst of human tendencies. If the antichrist
and his empire should arise in this generation, Woe to those
who confuse their country and their Christianity. They will
be in great danger of being deceived or disillusioned. A great
falling away has been prophesied for the last days (II Thessalonians
2:2-3).
We leave American Christians with this to think about.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence
they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an
heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world:...
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household
of God;
We are American citizens, and as such we should be good citizens
as the Bible tells us. But we are no longer cut off from the
commonwealth of Israel. Spiritually, we are no longer foreigners
from Israel but if we look back to America, our natural homeland,
we will have the opportunity "to return to it," so to speak.
Let us instead put our faith not in a Christian America but
in the returning Christ. Let us look, not to this country,
but for a better country, a heavenly kingdom that will one
day be here on earth as well as in Heaven (Matthew 6:10, Revelation
11:15).
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Christ's return, not America's redemption and not a Christianized
American government, is our ONLY hope of a Christian country
on earth. Let's not be deceived. There are Christians in every
country on the face of the earth. This country has no special
relationship with God. Many in America have confused their
faith and their Patriotism. It is our belief that in the end,
hope for this country and devotion to it will prove to be
an effective distraction that leads to the downfall and even
the falling away of many American Christians.
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