I remember growing up, my mother took me to church every time the doors were open. She used to quote a verse from the book of Joshua often, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Today, you see this quote on plaques and other art sold in Christian book stores, or as what-nots in people's homes. It has become somewhat of a cliché in modern American church culture. Some people say it with conviction, others out of tradition. I wonder, though, how often we contemplate the implications of that statement.
I was raised in Mississippi, the grandson of a WWII veteran, nephew and cousin to other members of the US military. I was raised to love God and country - still do. I love the United States and I am eternally grateful for the opportunities and the freedoms that my citizenry has afforded me. But, there exists something I value much more - my salvation. I still stand, I cross my heart, and I pledge allegiance to my nation; yet, in my heart and throughout all that I am, I pledge a greater allegiance to my God. Philippians 3:20 says, "but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." So, my "patriotism" is first to the eternal kingdom, then to the earthly one; that is, so long as the latter in no way impedes my obligation to the former.
I am first a Christian, and only second am I an American. But, sometimes, especially in the South, the order can get a little muddled. Of course, no one would dare say, "I'm an American first and a Christian second." At least, I doubt that anyone would. However, I would be willing to bet that if you examined people's lives, you'd find a few (if not a lot of) people whose allegiance is first to their earthly citizenship. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that "we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." Basically, we are warned that we should not focus on the earthly things that will one day fade away, but on the eternal things (our spirit, our savior, etc). The earthly is not important when compared against the eternal. When we apply this to our patriotism, our US citizenship is unimportant when compared to being a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.
I wonder if we consider this when we slander our 'neighbor' over politics, belittle rather than love our 'enemies', or when we impassion ourselves towards causes that bring us no closer to Holiness nor the lost to a Savior. I wonder if we consider this in topics like welfare or illegal immigration. It's been my experience that most people when arguing about this topic tend to use generalizations, stereotypes, and "fake news" with little personal investigation or experience. We argue legality, yet legality does not equal morality. In some countries it is illegal to own a Bible. Would you submit to that law? In other counties it is illegal to have more than a set number of children. Would you have an abortion to avoid jail time? In the US it legal to abort, does the law make this right? You see, laws can be good. And they are generally meant to protect people - and immigration laws do protect lots of people. But they can also create desperate situations for some people. We should not embrace positions based (at least if we are Christians) on our earthly laws, but on the eternal Word of God. The earthly comes second. US laws are secondary to commands like love your neighbor as yourself, do good to the foreigner, visit the orphan and the widow. We convince ourselves that our birthright is porcelain toilets in air conditioned houses and food in the fridge, and theirs is adobe huts with weeded holes in the ground a few feet from the front door. We convince ourselves "we can't take everyone in" or we say things like "you can't help everyone." We forget that the church in Acts "had everything in common and there was no need among them" (Acts 2, 4). We overlook that Paul told the Corinthians "your plenty is to supply their need" (2 Corinthians 8). We ignore Jesus telling us to "store up treasure in heaven" because our hearts will follow our treasure (Matthew 6). Don't confuse this for a rant on supporting open borders - I don't. This isn't political, it's biblical. We too often stand on soapboxes and choose our hills to die on, yet without sincerely and carefully building a stance based solely and firmly on the eternal word of God. Well, except when God's word happens to fit our narrative on things like homosexual acts and abortion.
We call it sin, and we post verses and biblical commentary on the value of life and God's role in the creation of all things. We march the capitol and write letters to congressmen and donate to campaigns that "fight for life" for the unborn. We protest abortion clinics and share graphic pictures on facebook and instagram. But, how many of us have fostered or adopted, served at a crisis pregnancy center, taken in a young mother, frequented the home of someone who is in dire straights, or spent your last forty dollars you had on a few groceries for someone who needed them? We invest in our retirement accounts when scripture tells us we aren't promised tomorrow, we invest in that home renovation when have brothers and sisters in Christ who live on street corners and below bridges. We invest in elaborate vacations and experiences with our families, while there are girls and young women deciding between their schooling or being a parent- a decision that the world tells them is okay no matter what they choose - they convince them either is noble. Yes, abortion is murder. Yes, it is wrong. Yes, the statistics point more towards convenience than need, but what does our attitude really say about us? Do we truly look pro-life to the world, or simply pro-birth? Are we taking up the charge for the orphan crisis in America, are we fighting against sex trafficking? Can we support even the people who we see as "abusing the system" or whom we decided are undeserving - is this really our call to make? You know who else received a handout they didn't deserve? You and me. We did not deserve salvation, nor to be rescued from wrath. We were born into sin and death, and we fully deserved God's anger and his eternal punishment. But Christ died for us anyway; he became our welfare and our medicaid. His grace is totally sufficient, and yet we ourselves abuse it all the time - not just for our own selfish pleasures but also as an excuse to look down on others whom we don't agree with. We can't scream against abortion if we aren't also screaming for the birthed living who need hope just as much and you and I do.
The point here is not to guilt you into doing something or to argue politics, but rather to spur you to really evaluate how you see things. The goal isn't to call wealth sin, to open the borders, or to support "reproductive health." Get the kitchen remodel, go on a Disney vacation, invest in your family all the ways you can. You see, those things are not the point. God is not opposed to you having nice things; but He is opposed to you putting yourself first and ignoring the plea of the poor. The beginning of Philippians chapter 2 tells us to "consider others as more significant than ourselves" and to "look not only to our own interests, but also the interests of others." I want us to realize all of the other things that are going on in this world around us and what is at truly stake. We are ambassadors of the kingdom of God. In 2 Corinthians 5, we see that as ambassadors God is making his appeal through us, saying "come to Christ!" We are but vessels to be used by the creator for his purpose. Romans 14 tells us we do not live or die to ourselves, but to God - we are His possession for His purpose. So then, we ought to ask ourselves: What are our real goals and our greatest desires for this life we have been given? What is the foundation for our soapbox dialog, is it our own collective anecdotal opinion or is it based on the infallible word of God? How often do we say "I believe..." or "I think..." or "I do..." followed by the words "because God's word says..." Where is the love by which we are to be known, or the compassion in which we are to walk, or the sincere humility that grants real grace from God (Proverbs 3:34)? Just a few things to think about...because, well...I'm thinking about them too.
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