This week, I found myself in a bit of a culture shock. You’d think that after spending time in different countries on different continents that nothing would surprise me anymore. Especially after actually living in a very unique culture such as northern Tanzania. Nonetheless, in the middle of my own home country, I indeed have been shocked.
This week, I at moments felt bombarded by the cultural ideal of what I can best call uber-patriotism. The reason that I say that this patriotism is cultural, is because I’ve been in other countries where this level of patriotism is not seen. Not that those countries don’t appreciate their country nor that they don’t feel a sense of pride and affection for their country. However, the level of patriotism in the states as exemplified through the praise and pomp of the people, I have yet to see matched in other contexts that I’ve been in. Undoubtedly, this patriotism is held by some states and certainly some people more than others, but go with me here.
It would be quite ethnocentric to say that other countries don’t express themselves in such ways, because they, in fact, aren’t as good as us. It sounds harsh when I word it like that, but how many times have you heard various Americans say that the United States is the best country or best nation in the world. What does that imply about other countries and the people that live in them? I assure you not only of America’s follies, but also the positive aspects of many other countries. The playing field is more level than you might realize, yet we maintain an air of superiority.
A messy thing that often gets mixed in with this patriotism is the name of God. There is this perception that the founders of this country were all Christians. I don’t have the time to get into all that for this post, but I certainly don’t buy such a thought whole-heartedly. There were many deists among the founding fathers and ungodly practices such as slavery were commonplace. Nonetheless, this romantic view of the nation’s founding has snowballed over the years amongst many to the point that the lines between America the beautiful and Christianity as we know it run together, blur and intersect all at the same time. We are God’s chosen people as some would suggest.
Image via WikipediaYou often see bumper stickers, signs or hear people say “God bless America.” I do want God’s blessing to rest on this country and in seeing other places, I realize just how much He has blessed us. Unfortunately, we took His blessing and sat on it. Whenever God blesses someone in the Bible, He points them to spreading the blessing to others (see Genesis 12:1-3; 1 John 3:17-18) in this He is blessed and exalted. The truth is that God has blessed America and as a whole, America does not seek to bless Him or others. Instead we look at our blessing and just assume that He is completely on our side in all our dealings.
Every country ever set up has in one form or another tried to achieve Utopia. There have of course been both positive and negative, good and evil pursuits done amongst the societies of history in this regard. Even the Nazi regime of Germany sought to do what they saw as good in setting up a man’s perception of heaven on earth. What they said was good in this Utopian pursuit, was indeed evil. They perceived that God was on their side and would help them achieve paradise. A major component of this was “eradicating” the earth of an entire people group, the Jews. I don’t say that to compare America’s woes to those of Nazi Germany, but rather to say that even the most depraved societies have had this notion of “God-on-our-side patriotism.” And yes, the Nazis were very patriotic and the most patriotic countries tend to be the most imposing.
I will expound on these thoughts more in my next post on government, but it is relevant to this discussion to say that as followers of Christ, we are to realize that our allegiance is to a “Kingdom that is not of this world” (John 18:36). The United States and the entities across economic, societal and political lines are, indeed, of this world. Furthermore, there are elements of these spheres and even the American dream itself that are entirely contrary to the gospel of Jesus. In my eyes, there really isn’t two ways about it. To be sure, elements such as hard work and determination are to be affirmed. But making the most of ourselves as the American Dream suggests, leads to self-glorification and a rogue individualism that are far from what the Lord wants from us. Beyond that, our clause to pursue happiness has been taken primarily in material terms, which of course has led to the exaltation of the American god that is consumerism. Interesting that the term “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” was borrowed from John Locke who spoke of “life, liberty and property;” property, of course, speaking to that material possession that Americans pursues for their happiness.
As a follower of Christ, in realizing these stark differences between God’s will and American ideals, it makes it hard for me to say that I am proud to be an American. I often feel humbled by the fact that I’m an American and humility is more virtuous than pride. I’m humbled because I realize that God has blessed America and we have access to things that others in the world cannot get. Its humbling because I’m no better than those people and did nothing personally to achieve this blessing. Its hard to be proud about something that I didn’t work towards achieving or even choose for myself; I was born an American. In my view, we ought to be careful because we are speaking about things that are given to us by birth and then exalting those things to make us out as better than others in the world. The justification is not dissimilar from old-fashioned racism. Whether it’s the American government or Christian American missions, we often have this god complex in our dealing with other countries. Our government is world police and our Christianity will save your country. We take pride in this because we feel that we are unequivocally solving everything, when in really it’s a mixed bag and we often do more harm than good.
So if national pride, at least to that exorbitant level, is taken out of the picture, what are we to be proud about. If you follow Christ, let us boast in Him. Our pride should not be based in anything that is of us, but it should all be about Him. I, for one, find it far more exhilarating to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven than any kingdom of this earth. We are to realize that any pursuit that doesn’t lead to His glory and the advancement of His kingdom is vain and pointless. All those contrary-to-the-gospel elements that are encapsulated within the idea of America that I mentioned are just that, vain and pointless. When I compare the ideals of the Kingdom of God and American dream, there really is no comparison. Instead of having an allegiance and citizenship contained within one country, I find myself being a part of a global family that is stronger than any nation-state could ever boast. While so many empires have come and gone, this movement that the Creator has called me into has been going since the beginning of time itself. Furthermore, the Head of this Kingdom is not a flawed man, but a perfect Leader that intricately loves me and knows me. Such a Person and Cause are worthy of my pride, affection and yes, whole-hearted patriotism.
Allegiance and pride are powerful stances. Jesus spoke about an ardent devotion to Him and to Him alone. We are to be so committed to him that even our dearest relationships could be perceived as hate compared to our love, affection and allegiance to Him (Luke 14:26). I realize that others would not agree with me on some of these things, but for me, I know that I can only muster up so much devotion and passion in my being. In realizing how great God is, I know that I must give Him everything and not try to serve two masters.
I am thankful for where I have been born. There are many countries that I would be equally thankful for being born in. Far beyond that gift that was given me, I am infinitely more thankful for the Father’s gift to us, Jesus. I take pride in Him and being a part of His Kingdom, any other allegiance doesn’t come close.
*Note to reader: I realize that this can be controversial, I appreciate your grace and I invite your opinions in the comment section. There are related elements that I’ll be talking about in my next two blogs, so keep an eye on the blog to see when I post them. The next blog on government can be seen here.
This week, I at moments felt bombarded by the cultural ideal of what I can best call uber-patriotism. The reason that I say that this patriotism is cultural, is because I’ve been in other countries where this level of patriotism is not seen. Not that those countries don’t appreciate their country nor that they don’t feel a sense of pride and affection for their country. However, the level of patriotism in the states as exemplified through the praise and pomp of the people, I have yet to see matched in other contexts that I’ve been in. Undoubtedly, this patriotism is held by some states and certainly some people more than others, but go with me here.
It would be quite ethnocentric to say that other countries don’t express themselves in such ways, because they, in fact, aren’t as good as us. It sounds harsh when I word it like that, but how many times have you heard various Americans say that the United States is the best country or best nation in the world. What does that imply about other countries and the people that live in them? I assure you not only of America’s follies, but also the positive aspects of many other countries. The playing field is more level than you might realize, yet we maintain an air of superiority.
A messy thing that often gets mixed in with this patriotism is the name of God. There is this perception that the founders of this country were all Christians. I don’t have the time to get into all that for this post, but I certainly don’t buy such a thought whole-heartedly. There were many deists among the founding fathers and ungodly practices such as slavery were commonplace. Nonetheless, this romantic view of the nation’s founding has snowballed over the years amongst many to the point that the lines between America the beautiful and Christianity as we know it run together, blur and intersect all at the same time. We are God’s chosen people as some would suggest.
Image via WikipediaEvery country ever set up has in one form or another tried to achieve Utopia. There have of course been both positive and negative, good and evil pursuits done amongst the societies of history in this regard. Even the Nazi regime of Germany sought to do what they saw as good in setting up a man’s perception of heaven on earth. What they said was good in this Utopian pursuit, was indeed evil. They perceived that God was on their side and would help them achieve paradise. A major component of this was “eradicating” the earth of an entire people group, the Jews. I don’t say that to compare America’s woes to those of Nazi Germany, but rather to say that even the most depraved societies have had this notion of “God-on-our-side patriotism.” And yes, the Nazis were very patriotic and the most patriotic countries tend to be the most imposing.
I will expound on these thoughts more in my next post on government, but it is relevant to this discussion to say that as followers of Christ, we are to realize that our allegiance is to a “Kingdom that is not of this world” (John 18:36). The United States and the entities across economic, societal and political lines are, indeed, of this world. Furthermore, there are elements of these spheres and even the American dream itself that are entirely contrary to the gospel of Jesus. In my eyes, there really isn’t two ways about it. To be sure, elements such as hard work and determination are to be affirmed. But making the most of ourselves as the American Dream suggests, leads to self-glorification and a rogue individualism that are far from what the Lord wants from us. Beyond that, our clause to pursue happiness has been taken primarily in material terms, which of course has led to the exaltation of the American god that is consumerism. Interesting that the term “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” was borrowed from John Locke who spoke of “life, liberty and property;” property, of course, speaking to that material possession that Americans pursues for their happiness.
As a follower of Christ, in realizing these stark differences between God’s will and American ideals, it makes it hard for me to say that I am proud to be an American. I often feel humbled by the fact that I’m an American and humility is more virtuous than pride. I’m humbled because I realize that God has blessed America and we have access to things that others in the world cannot get. Its humbling because I’m no better than those people and did nothing personally to achieve this blessing. Its hard to be proud about something that I didn’t work towards achieving or even choose for myself; I was born an American. In my view, we ought to be careful because we are speaking about things that are given to us by birth and then exalting those things to make us out as better than others in the world. The justification is not dissimilar from old-fashioned racism. Whether it’s the American government or Christian American missions, we often have this god complex in our dealing with other countries. Our government is world police and our Christianity will save your country. We take pride in this because we feel that we are unequivocally solving everything, when in really it’s a mixed bag and we often do more harm than good.
So if national pride, at least to that exorbitant level, is taken out of the picture, what are we to be proud about. If you follow Christ, let us boast in Him. Our pride should not be based in anything that is of us, but it should all be about Him. I, for one, find it far more exhilarating to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven than any kingdom of this earth. We are to realize that any pursuit that doesn’t lead to His glory and the advancement of His kingdom is vain and pointless. All those contrary-to-the-gospel elements that are encapsulated within the idea of America that I mentioned are just that, vain and pointless. When I compare the ideals of the Kingdom of God and American dream, there really is no comparison. Instead of having an allegiance and citizenship contained within one country, I find myself being a part of a global family that is stronger than any nation-state could ever boast. While so many empires have come and gone, this movement that the Creator has called me into has been going since the beginning of time itself. Furthermore, the Head of this Kingdom is not a flawed man, but a perfect Leader that intricately loves me and knows me. Such a Person and Cause are worthy of my pride, affection and yes, whole-hearted patriotism.
Allegiance and pride are powerful stances. Jesus spoke about an ardent devotion to Him and to Him alone. We are to be so committed to him that even our dearest relationships could be perceived as hate compared to our love, affection and allegiance to Him (Luke 14:26). I realize that others would not agree with me on some of these things, but for me, I know that I can only muster up so much devotion and passion in my being. In realizing how great God is, I know that I must give Him everything and not try to serve two masters.
I am thankful for where I have been born. There are many countries that I would be equally thankful for being born in. Far beyond that gift that was given me, I am infinitely more thankful for the Father’s gift to us, Jesus. I take pride in Him and being a part of His Kingdom, any other allegiance doesn’t come close.
*Note to reader: I realize that this can be controversial, I appreciate your grace and I invite your opinions in the comment section. There are related elements that I’ll be talking about in my next two blogs, so keep an eye on the blog to see when I post them. The next blog on government can be seen here.
Amen and amen!
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