Monday, April 07, 2008

God and country

Out of Ur has a wonderful post about patriotism and Christianity:

A few months ago, while visiting a church out of state, I had a moment of crisis. Just before the sermon, the pastor stood to give the announcements. After wrapping up, he invited a young man in military uniform to stand. The young officer had grown up in this church and had just returned from his first tour in Iraq. The pastor thanked the congregation for their prayers for the soldier and his family. The congregation responded with enthusiastic applause. So far so good.

But then the pastor reminded the church of the dangerous and noble work America’s soldiers were doing in Iraq. He said they were protecting our American freedoms and that we should be grateful for their sacrifice. The congregation stood to their feet and began clapping…and clapping…and clapping. I have never experienced a more enthusiastic and prolonged standing ovation on a Sunday morning in my life.

What would you have done?

<idle musing>
Good question. I have been in situations like that over the years; inside I want to stand up and scream that God is greater than our nationalism. Instead, I do what the author did, I sit quietly.

Cop out? Maybe. On the other hand, there have been times when I have confronted the idolatry that is too often american christianity. The results are predictable: I am unpatriotic, unappreciative of all that this country offers, etc.

NO! I don't think I am. Is it not possible to critique the country you live in without being accused of being a traitor? As Christians, our allegiance is supposed to be to God alone. Jesus goes so far as to say we should hate our family, let alone our country, for the sake of allegiance to HIM.

I just finished Tödt's Authentic Faith. In it he is wondering, 50 years later, why the church was unable to resist Hitler and National Socialism's evils. He concludes it was because they were unable to separate out their patriotism from their christianity. Scary thought, isn't it? Almost the entire German church held captive because in their mind God and country were synonymous.

OK, I will sit back down and be quiet until the next time...
</idle musing>

2 comments:

Andy said...

Don't be quiet. I was starting to think I was the only one made uneasy by this sort of thing.

That's my 2 cents! said...

I am very troubled by the loss of Christianity to American citizenship. I am proud to be an American, but I am first and foremost a citizen of God's kingdom. America will, as all worldly kingdoms do, degrade into a hellish, oppressive, ungodly tyranny in the hands of the god of this world. Christians in America must divest themselves of nationalistic control, to serve the only true God.

That's my 2 cents

Lonnie