Of God and Country

It may just be that I'm not exactly the most nationalistic person in the world, but for the longest time, I've been wrestling with a strange attitude creeping into my thinking... something that feels foreign, not only to my past way of thinking, but to the thinking of those around me now.

What do you think about the importance of politics... of the government... of America?

By that, I don't mean "What's you're opinion of politics?" or "Are you liberal or conservative?" No, I'm asking about something more meaningful than that. What I'm really asking is, "How important is it?" And before you label me as an anarchist or even worse, a college student that doesn't vote... let me explain.

I grew up like every average American kid, and was born and raised in the south. As a result, my education taught me that there was glory in the American Revolution and every war since, that democracy is king (pun anyone?), and that freedom, justice, and the American dream are what we as Americans should strive for above all. While I understand how an American education leads to an American glorification, that's not even what I want to address. What I have really come to realize now is that... the church does it too.

What do I mean, you ask? Let me put forward a couple of examples. Growing up, I remember several points of debate within the Christian community concerned with faith and country. The highlights include the possibility of removing "In God We Trust" from currency, removing "Under God" from the pledge of alegiance, teaching evolution in schools, and just about every election featuring the godly conservative against the atheist democrat (during a debate in 2004, my siblings and i threw easter eggs at the TV when John Kerry showed up on the screen). Now it's true that these issues contain aspects of our faith and citizenship and must therefore be recognized. However, when the church gets up in arms while claiming that "God is being taken out of America," I believe we have crossed a line.

I spent the 2 weeks studying Acts 10 as a part of my Greek Exegesis course last fall. This chapter marks the beginning of the Gospel being preached to the Gentiles. Take a minute to realize what that means.Throughout the Old Testament period, God communicated with, protected, and disciplined the nation of Israel. He commanded his people to keep away from the other "Canaanite nations" so that the idol worship and immorality of the culture would not pull them away from the true God. In Acts 10, Peter shares the Gospel with these pagan "outsiders," and they come to belief in Christ. What a glorious turn-around this was, not only for the Gentiles, but for the apostles to realize that the whole WORLD could come to Christ!

While the apostles realized the glory of God's plan, some of the Jewish people were less understanding. Many held tight to their identity as a nation set apart, and reacted violently and maliciously towards any who thought otherwise. They saw God and Nation as one inseparable concept, and saw any change in that as heresy. Could it be that the American church does the same?

When we shake our heads in shame because the government wants to take God out of the pledge, are we doing so because less people will come to Christ, or because our country won't take up our Christian identity? When we groan as states legalize same-sex marriage (the number is constantly growing), are we saddened that so many in our country are caught in such a painful, entrapping sin that misses God's best for us, or are we simply upset that others are allowed to sin... even others that don't even know Christ?

When we hold America to a Christian standard, we tell hundreds of thousands of people that they have to obey a God that they don't believe in. We shove aside the Gospel and God's grace, and instead place commandments of God on those who don't even know Him. In fact, how contradictory to the gospel is that? So often we get frustrated and angry with those who don't abide by God's standards when we know they haven't even experienced his grace. In this we reflect our desire for moral conformity rather than the salvation of our countrymen.

America is indeed a blessing from God, a place to live and interact in great freedom, and for that I am thankful. But what if America wasn't the most important identity we hold? What if it were simply the context in which God has placed us to reach the world? Can we see the presence of sin as a need for God's grace and forgiveness? Can we pray for all the canidates, see votes as opportunities and not duties, and the increase in godlessness as an opportunity for revival?

Let freedom ring in the hearts of the redeemed, let liberty come to free slaves of sin, and let the justice of God come with His kingdom.

Brian

They Failed... We Are Failing...Will We Continue to Fail?

Right now in my Bible reading I have just finished Joshua and am several chapters into Judges.  It’s amazing to me how there is “nothing new under the sun” as Ecclesiastes puts it.  The same issues, failures, and inconsistencies have plagued us humans since creation.  I think you’ll find this to be true as you read. 

Let’s start at the end of Joshua.  As you know, Joshua followed Moses as God’s appointed leader of Israel.  Finally, Israel has entered into and conquered the majority of the inhabitants of the land.  If you know this story well, you know that the previous statement is already a problem.  They were to annihilate everyone who inhabited the land.  So, either God hadn’t given them the power to conquer, or they were disobedient.  Take a guess!!!

Nevertheless, they divided the land among the different tribes and begun to settle the land.  In Joshua 24, we find Joshua gathering all the tribes of Israel together, reminding them of God’s faithfulness in bringing them out of Egypt, rescuing them from the hand of kings, and God’s other blessings.  God promised many years ago to give them this land, and at this moment they stand in the Promise Land!!

After reminding them of these things, Joshua commands them to “choose THIS DAY whom they will serve” (emphasis mine).   They can serve this powerful, faithful God, or they can choose to serve something else, but TODAY was decision time.  It’s almost as if Joshua is saying, “Are you in, or are you out?  Because if you’re in, then act like it! And if not, then make it known so that you can be dealt with.”

The people respond: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Jsh. 24:16-17a).  

In Judges 2:11 we read, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.”  This begins the pattern of Judges: The people of Israel do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD Þ they cry out to the LORD for help Þ He rescues them Þ they do what is evil in the sight of the LORD Þ … you get the point.

Sound familiar?  I mean not just in your knowledge of the Bible, but in your own life!  Yeah, me too!  Over and over we declare to God that He is our satisfaction and identity, yet constantly run to and fill our lives with other things in an attempt to quench the desires that only He is able to fulfill.

Immediately preceding  2:11, the writer of Judges informs us of the next point that I think is applicable to our lives…

“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel…And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7, 10b).

Can you see what happened?  There was a breakdown in the family structure of passing on what God had done in the lives of the Moses and Joshua generation!  How, when they had seen God so clearly work, could they have failed to pass this on to their children?  Was there anything MORE important that they could have told them?  Did they get so wrapped up in the daily grind that they forgot this?

Although this blows my mind to think how quickly this change took place, I think that we are in the middle of something very similar.  If you have read anything about the youth of our nation, we are not far off from the reality in this story.  Even the youth that have been in the church their entire lives are walking away from the church immediately after graduation.  I would encourage you to read The Last Christian Generation by Josh McDowell, or Battle Cry for a Generation by Ron Luce to see just how desperate we are.

Have we failed, as the church, to pass on our faith to the next generation?  Was the Gospel not evident in our lives to those younger than us?  Hundreds of years from now will books say something similar to what we have seen in Judges?  What are YOU doing to influence the next generation for Christ?  What is your church doing to set our youth on fire for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let’s agree together as the people of Israel did in Joshua that TODAY we choose to serve the LORD, and to raise up a generation of young people who will do the same.

More to come on Judges – I believe it’s a very applicable book to us.

Scott