"Christianizing" Patriotism: Why it Trivializes Both

Some of you who have followed this blog for a little while may have wondered why on Friday my post didn't have to do with Independence Day. After all, I have in the past, had a Thanksgiving post, a Christmas post, a New Year's Post, a Valentine's Day Post, an Easter post, and a Memorial Day post. Obviously, Independence Day is as important and worthwhile a holiday as most of those.

So why the sudden lack of post for Independence Day? Quite frankly, it was because this holiday came on par with a devotional post. I didn't want to replace a devotional post with a political one.

One is sure to then wonder again why I didn't just write a devotional post that branched into freedom of some sort. Now it is easy to find practical lessons in the Bible about love, thanksgiving, and specific Biblical events of the life of Jesus (that last one is particularly easy).

However, I believe that working in this manner to present both Christianity and patriotism within the same blog post would trivialize one or both of the two concepts.

Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing contrary in these two concepts. Christians in my mind have a duty to be patriotic and support their nation, just as they have a duty to worship the Lord. However, combining these two duties within the same ceremony may not be the best idea in the world.

In churches across America over the prior two Sundays, church congregations have been met with special patriotic services endowed with patriotic songs, pledges to the flag, and perhaps the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Now here's my crazy, perhaps radical feeling. Church is a place where we come to worship God. We come to church to fellowship with other believers, hear from God's word, and praise Him for what He has done. We do not go to church in order to exalt our nation.

I believe that it is outside the purpose of a church service to spend all of our time focusing on what God has done for us by blessing us with living in this fine country. A patriotic song or two, maybe even a short spiel before the sermon would be entirely appropriate, since our country is a blessing from God that we can take time to thank Him for.

But that should be the end of it within the context of a church service; we must remember that our goal is to praise God and focusing solely on the patriotic spirit will cause us to lose that objective in our church service. Instead I think a church-wide picnic would be more suitable for cultivating the patriotic spirit of the church.

So even on the Sundays around patriotic holidays focus on the Lord. Within the context of the church, we must ensure that patriotism is just another way of expressing our blessings.

But outside the church service, I feel we Christians have an opposite problem. In that particular avenue, when we come together to respect our nation, we try to be sure to add God and Christianity onto our patriotic traditions. A great example of this is the Pledge to the Christian Flag.

In a given patriotic ceremony, Christians will start off by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Immediately thereafter Pledge to Christian Flag and the Pledge to the Bible will be recited. The first priority always goes to the American flag, making the Christian Flag and the Bible lower in importance than the American flag and thus nothing more than add-ons.

But the Lord should never ever be an add-on. That is degrading to the Creator of the universe. We need not take a action and force some explicit Christian teaching onto the end to make it more worthwhile. Patriotism is a duty we have as Christians, an implicit service to the Lord.

Attempting to make that service explicit indicates to all that patriotism isn't a noble enough cause to stand on its own. Thus, we unintentionally trivialize both patriotism and God within the same fell swoop.

All these actions do come from the right heart, but methinks that these traditions are just a bit degrading to the principles of God and patriotism. That is why I didn't write a post for Independence Day.

I hope that you enjoyed celebrating our Founders' rebellion against tyrannical laws by setting off some fireworks in rebellion against authoritarian laws (or maybe you might be lucky enough to live in a state where such rebellion is not necessary). Let freedom ring! "Murca!

Sacrifice vs "Sacrifice"

In the book of Malachi, the spiritual condition of post-exilic Israel is once more being discussed. By this time, the Temple has been rebuilt and sacrifices are continuing. However, all is not well with the worship and sacrifices that the Lord is receiving by the hands of the Israelites.

The Israelites are trying to find ways to get away with going through the motions of sacrificing without actually "sacrificing" anything. Providing lambs that are of no use to them whatsoever, they are using the Lord's Temple as a garbage bin.

If they were to pass this off to any man, he would not accept it. If they were to give it to their governor, he would not accept it. So instead they pass it off to God. 

But the Lord is not pleased with this type of "sacrifice." As he says in Malachi 1:6-8, as the great King of Israel and the Lord of all the earth, he deserves more than the governors of the land, not less. 

"A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts."

If you were to take the devotion that you present to the Lord, and present it instead to say, your father (it is Father's Day this Sunday after all), would he be pleased with your actions? Would he acknowledge that you had done well, or would he know you were just using him as a dumping post?

Better yet, whom do your actions show you respect more: your earthy authorities or your God?  Whom do you spend more time pleasing: your earthly authorities or God? For whom do you sacrifice your interests: your earthly authorities or God?

If your answer is your earthly authorities, remember this, the solution is not to respect your earthly authorities less, it is to respect God more. He is a Father, where is His honour?

Reverence in Prayer

This post is a little less formal than usual. It also will not be me sharing something I have specifically seen or learned in my Bible reading in a manner easily applicable to the reader's life. Instead, I would like to simply share my admiration for Ezra's prayer in Ezra 9.

Here's the background: Ezra has just arrived at Jerusalem and is learning of the plight of the Jews that were rebuilding the wall. But he finds that the people (and the leaders especially) have sinned against the Lord. He is devastated that the Israelites have done this, and rents his clothes in the tradition of his fathers (I'm glad we no longer have that tradition).

Listen to his words, recorded for us in Ezra 9:6-15, 

"O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this."

A few random thoughts:
1.  "Oh my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee." Ezra felt so guilty about sin that he didn't commit that he couldn't quite bear to bring himself into the presence of God to ask forgiveness on behalf of the children of Israel.

2. Furthermore, Ezra has completely taken upon himself the sin of the children of Israel at Jerusalem, even though he was a 5 months journey away from the city when it happened!

3. "And now for a little space grace." Ezra realizes that the Jews have been punished for their sins. Instead of focusing upon that, he decided to spend his time focusing on the fact that God has allowed the Israelites a slight reprieve from that suffering to build His temple.

4. "Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve." Ezra acknowledges that even the punishment that the Lord has given to them (namely, the captivity) was far less than what they deserved. The Israelites had time and time again neglected the commandment of their Lord, so to be peaceably taken captive and even given high positions in the conquering kingdom wasn't too bad at all. Or at least that's what Ezra's attitude is. Not sure I would say the same in his position.

5. Finally, Ezra acknowledges that the Israelites can't stare at a God who has given them so much unwarranted grace and continue to sin and displease Him. "Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?" One is reminded of Romans 6:1-2,

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

On a somewhat related note, "Astonied" is a much snazzier way of saying astonished.