This is the third of a four-part series covering the sensitive topic
of religion and the state in the US, including war, peace, patriotism,
allegiance, and Jesus. I understand that many of you, my dear readers,
will not agree with some, most, or even all of what you are going to
read. I would love any feedback, positive or negative, questions,
concerns, what-have-you. I would only say two things – one, please
email me any critiques…I don’t want the “comment” section to turn into
a debate. Second, I feel like it will be all-too-easy to give a
shoot-from-the-hip gut reaction. I beg you, please think about and pray
over what I have written. My intention is not to cause dissension or
anger, but rather to provoke thought and stir the imagination…
Read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.
In Part 2, I looked at ways I thought Jesus might approach aspects of
the kingdoms of the world. I also argued that the United States isn’t a
“Christian” nation, but is really just like any nation of this
world…corrupt, self-centered, violent, and unjust. Therefore, as a
citizen of the kingdom of God, we should not pledge our allegiance to
this country or any other. National borders are no more than artificial
social contructs, and should have no real meaning to a Christian who
sees himself or herself as having no nationality or race other than Image-bearer.
We have been so conditioned our entire lives to trust in the United States and its power…to trust in the power of Caesar. We are indoctrinated
from our earliest years to be loyal to america. We said the Pledge of
Allegiance every day at school, over and over and over again until it
was carved into our young impressionable minds, without a second
thought as to WHY we should. Hand over heart, we sing the Star-Spangled
Banner at every event in which it is possible to sing it. We love
sayings like “These colors don’t run!” (…unless, of course, you put
them in the washing machine?) and we are absolutely smitten with the cliché “God Bless America.”
But… Why? Wouldn’t we do better pledging our allegiance to Jesus? To the Beatitudes of Matthew 5?
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
America, of course, isn’t anti-Christian. It’s just …not Christian. But that goes for any and every country that has ever and will ever exist. If a nation called itself Christian, then if it was attacked it would not fight back
or invade. It would say: “How can we love them and free them from their
hate?” That nation wouldn’t exactly be communist, but it certainly
wouldn’t be capitalist either. And that nation would see itself not as
having borders, but rather free for all to enjoy. This mythical
Christian country would sacrifice its own security and wealth in order
to meet the needs of its neighbor…their neighborhood being the world.
Impractical? Indeed! Insane? Absolutely! And that is why no country can
be actually Christian. A nation is, by definition, self-interested, and therefore at odds with Jesus.
Yes, there are good and noble things about the United States! I don’t deny that, and everyone can see them. I just want Christians to recognize that WE should have NO allegiance
to any nation of this world. Yet year after year we celebrate on July
4th “our” freedom and values this nation supposedly believes in. But
america is not a “Christian nation.” It is not a divinely-blessed
country, a “city upon a hill,” or anything else that makes it worthy of
our loyalty, our allegiance, or our worship. It is not worth fighting,
bleeding, and dying for. If Peter could not defend Jesus by force on
the night of his arrest, what right does a Christian have to defend a
nation of this world by force? If anything or anybody ever deserved
defense and protection by whatever means necessary, it was Jesus
– God, Son of God, Messiah, Savior of mankind, sinless and blameless.
But no – Jesus stopped Peter and healed the ear of the high priest’s
servant. If Jesus does not want himself protected through violence, why should we even begin to try for a fallen, corrupted, man-made system? How dare we pledge our allegiance, our sword, our lives, to an incomparably lesser kingdom?
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it’s to a king & a kingdom
—
