Sunday, July 4, 2010

My Independence Day Lament

I am a patriot. I love America. I pledge allegiance to one nation “under God”. I sing with gusto the Star Spangled Banner when it is played at ball games. The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I am deeply concerned with political affairs and have great interest in what happens in our nation. I have nothing but the highest regard for our men and women in military service. I am very grateful to God for the privilege of being born and living in the United States.

My intent is not to brag, but to lay a foundation lest some readers think the remainder of this post is about bashing America. Please don’t misinterpret my comments to be anti-American. My concern is for the Church, for Christ followers. Specifically, that at times it seems we are prouder of being Americans than we are of being Christ followers.

Why is it that in our worship services songs that convey a deep spiritual meaning are hardly acknowledged by the worshippers, but songs that have a patriotic flavor can evoke a highly emotional--even wildly emotional-- response? Why is it that many “Christians” are more concerned with the advancement of the religious right than they are with Kingdom of God?

For me, our Sunday morning worship service is a public and collective expression of our love and devotion to our Heavenly Father. Picture this: A husband takes his wife out for a romantic anniversary dinner and spends nearly an hour telling her about another woman—how beautiful he thinks this woman is, how this woman inspires and encourages him, how grateful he is to this woman for the “blessings” she brings to his life. How do you think his wife would feel?

I imagine that’s how God feels when we gather to worship Him and then pledge our allegiance to something other than Him; when all the songs we sing are not to Him or about Him, but about how great our country is; and how mighty is our military strength, and how grateful we are to soldiers who sacrifice for our freedoms. I am not ungrateful for those things, I just don’t feel they have any place in a meeting dedicated to the worship of God.

“Christian Americanism”, that strange blend of worship and patriotism is very troublesome to me. On days like today—Sunday’s that are close to Memorial Day, Independence Day or Veteran’s Day-- all too often I see an unbalanced mixture of nationalism and religion; perhaps to the point of idolatry.

It is appropriate that we show gratitude to God for the blessings of liberty. It is important, I feel, to endeavor to place biblical morality as the guiding principles of our society in many cases. It is even good to exercise our rights of citizenship in such a way that it reflects our faith. But for those of us who follow Jesus I hope we never forget that we are Christ-followers first, and Americans second; but it often feels the other way around, especially on days like today.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Worse Than I Thought

The sore throat I've had since Monday morning... which I thought was the result of screaming too much on behalf of the Saints the night before... is actually acute bronchitis on the verge of pneumonia... glad I didn't wait another day to start antibiotics :0