July 4th has passed and life is getting back to normal. But it was a really good week, wasn’t it! For a rare moment, our country was unified. All the fighting, backbiting, gossiping and hatred were set aside as we celebrated all God has given us as a nation. We know where all the chaos comes from. It’s certainly not God-given. Hatred for another person has no root in Jesus. That kind of attitude comes straight from our common Enemy, and I’m not talking about a political party or any individual politician. Satan loves for us to be at each other’s throats. I fully realize we can never expect someone who doesn’t know Jesus to act like they do. It’ll never happen. But for those who do know Jesus, shouldn’t we see more unity and less hatred?
I think the current circumstances boil down to a misunderstanding of patriotism. Being a patriot does not mean you have to wrap yourself in a flag and bleed red, white and blue every time you’re cut. Patriotism, at the base level, is strong gratitude for our nation, the gifts we’ve been given and the path we are on for our future. There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic. It’s healthy to love your country. Most nations on earth have patriotic citizens. Even the nations with some of the worst conditions have people who love their country and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. And one of the beautiful things about the patriotic spirit is patriots always want other nations to experience what they have. It can be prideful, rude and arrogant, but that’s not the kind of patriotism I’m advocating here. What I’m talking about here is humble, full of memory and profoundly grateful. And like a good family member, we always have our door open to invite guests in and make them feel at home. Healthy patriotism is always grateful and always open to others. It’s never selfish or closed. Neither is it hateful.
Patriots aren’t those who scream at each other over their party differences. Patriots look first to the good of the nation as a whole, not just what their party thinks. They’re willing to stand up for what’s right, but those are called convictions, not political moves. Conviction comes from God and is grounded in His Word. It’s not about votes or platforms. And conviction is at the heart of true patriotism.
If love of country is first in our lives, we end up acting like Jonah and running away from the Lord out of hatred for another nation or dangerously deep pride in our own. God broke Jonah and He’ll break us, too, if we love our country before all else. No, the first love we are due to offer is our undivided love for God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Luke 10.27). God loves America no more and no less than any other nation on earth. We are not exceptional or unique in that respect. But we are also expected to “Love our neighbors as ourselves.” We don’t just walk around with our heads in the clouds, singing hymns all day long. We love God with every fiber of our being, but somehow, God gives us the capacity to love each other. And this is the place that patriotism finds its home. As we love our families, our friends, our fellow countrymen, people from other nations, and even our enemies, God gives us room to live with deep gratitude for the things that make us unique. And national pride is one of those things.
Patriots are men like Hezekiah and Jeremiah. Hezekiah was a righteous king in Judah. He found himself surrounded by an enemy army far greater than the armies of Judah. What did he do? He begged God to rescue his nation. He threw himself on the floor of the Temple and waited on the Lord. God sent word by Isaiah the prophet, “Don’t be afraid. I will fight for you” (2 Kings 19.35). That night the angel of the Lord came and killed 185,000 of the Assyrian army in the fields outside Jerusalem. Jeremiah was the prophet who followed Isaiah. He warned Hezekiah’s successors they’d be conquered and led away to Babylon if they disregarded the Lord. They didn’t pay any attention to Jeremiah. At one point, they threw him in a well for continuing to call the people back to God and warn them of the consequences of their disobedience. God left Jeremiah in Jerusalem after the armies took the vast majority of the population away. He was overwhelmed with grief, but he didn’t give up. He kept praying and writing. God gave Jeremiah a vision of a restored Israel, back home in the land they’d been given, and Jeremiah preached this message with all his heart.
This is patriotism. It stands in the face of evil and says, “NO!” It looks humbly on the good God gives and says, “YES, I want more of it.” It deeply appreciates both sides of the coin in an argument, because both sides are made in God’s image and placed in this country by Him. It doesn’t lose it when a favored or hated leader wins or loses an election. It’s willing to say the hard things based on conviction, but is forgiving when the other ‘side’ gets their way. Patriotism has its place in the life of a Christian, but we must remember its place. We are citizens first of Heaven, second of the world and third of this country. Christians belong to Jesus first, our family next, the Body of Christ third and our country fourth. As long as these perspectives remain in order, life will go smoothly. If Christians can’t model this way of life well, our nation will not last another 250 years.
