***NOTE: I wrote this several years ago and did not note all my sources. Some sections are, no doubt, not completely original with me.
As America celebrates her 250th birthday this weekend, and many of us gather with family and friends, I thought it would be good to share a message that I preached at Lakeside several years ago on the Fourth of July weekend….One of the most famous verses that will be quoted in church this weekend will be Psalm 33:12.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12, NKJV)
Great verse. Patriotism and the Gospel. There are basically two schools of thought in churches today – both equally wrong in my judgment. One school of thought says that you shouldn’t bring patriotism into the church at all. No flags in the service. That the church is first, foremost, and only about Christ and the gospel, and anything else is an idol. That’s one school of thought – I don’t agree with that school of thought. On the other end of the spectrum are those who want to say that just like Israel was God’s chosen nation in the OT, America is God’s chosen nation today. I think that is just as wrong as the other. So in this lengthy post, I want us to look at a Biblical and balanced approach to Patriotism and the Gospel. I don’t believe you have to choose between them. Let’s start with…
SOME FACTS ABOUT GOD AND AMERICA…
- America was founded on Christian principles, and many of its early leaders were Christians.
The Christian worldview and the Bible shaped the beginning of our country. From our own Declaration of Independence…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Think about what that says. Every single person is valuable because God created them. That idea is not from a secular worldview; it is from a Christian worldview. That is just one example of many I could give. Our Constitution and many of our laws from the early days reflect the fact that the Christian worldview shaped our country.
- America has had freedom of religion with a Christian foundation.
The Bill of Rights in our Constitution is the first ten amendments. Here is how #1 starts out…
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
They separated church and state – which was a big deal back then. The government would not get tax money from the churches. The churches would not get money from the government. And people were free to practice the religion of their choice, or they were free to have no religion. The government was not going to make anyone be a Christian or anything else. The government was not to use its power to establish a religion or to interfere with people practicing their religion.
From the beginning, America has been a place where people of multiple religions have lived together and worked together. No faith has been forced on anyone.
HOWEVER, in our public life, America has a long and strong history of acknowledging and honoring the God of the Bible.
Did you know that in 1782, Congress actually voted to use the Bible in schools and to pay for them with tax dollars?
The Washington Monument is the iconic centerpiece of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. It is 555 feet tall. No building will ever be taller in D.C. Most people don’t know that at the very top of it, there is an inscription in Latin, “Laus Deo.” Do you know what that says in English? “Praise Be to God.” The acknowledgment of the God of the Bible is all over our nation’s capital – you just don’t hear about it anymore.
It’s on our money – “In God We Trust”
It’s in our Pledge of Allegiance – “One nation under God”
In times of crisis, the Presidents and leaders of our nation have consistently prayed to the Lord and called our nation to pray to Him. However, even though all of this is true, we have freedom of religion – a person who is Hindu, for instance, is welcome in America, and they have all of the rights of any other American. Even though we have a Christian foundation, we have true freedom of religion.
- God has blessed America.
Since 1776, we have been free, and our country has survived the War of 1812, the Civil War, two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the War on Terror. America has been through the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Yet, God has blessed America materially. We are the wealthiest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world.
God has blessed us spiritually; many, many millions of people have come to know Christ in our country. We have published more Bibles, sent more missionaries, and done more ministry in the name of Christ than any nation in the history of the world.
- We should love our country, serve our country, and pray for our country.
Do not ever forget. The freedom that we enjoy every day in America has been bought with the blood of patriots. It’s a good thing to be patriotic. Every single one of us owes much to this great land.
WE LOVE AMERICA, BUT WE WORSHIP ONLY THE LORD.
It’s great to love your country. To say you love America doesn’t mean you worship America. There is only ONE who is worthy of worship. Look back a few verses earlier in Psalm 33…
“For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:4–5, NKJV)
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33:6–9, NKJV)
Think about what that is saying. Compared to the Lord, America is a grain of sand on the beach. And the Lord made the beach! He is awesome. Think of the most beautiful natural place you have ever been to. How did it get there? “By the word of the Lord.” Do you really believe that, Pastor? Absolutely! Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth.” THAT settles it for me!
You know, people think they are so smart today. Not just because they think they are smarter than the Lord and come up with all of these crazy ideas about how the world got here. They think they are so smart because we have all of this technology, media, and money.
“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.” (Psalm 33:10–11, NKJV)
Administrations come and go. Political parties come and go. But the Lord remains. His plans remain for all generations. We love America unapologetically, but we worship ONLY the Lord.
PATRIOTISM IS NOT THE GOSPEL. WE MUST NEVER CONFUSE BEING AMERICAN WITH BEING A CHRISTIAN.
Look back at the verse that we started with….
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12, NKJV)
Now, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but I have to be honest. That verse ISN’T talking about America. In fact, it was written probably 2700 years BEFORE the Declaration of Independence.
The nation whose God is the Lord refers to Israel. They were God’s nation of people in the Old Testament. Now, understand, the default mode was worshipping many gods. All of the nations around them worshipped everything. God raised up Israel as a nation to worship Him in a sea of false worship. In a dark, evil, sinful world, God raised up a nation whose God was the Lord.
And then from that nation, in the fullness of time, God brought forth the Savior of the whole world – NEW TESTAMENT. The Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose again for our sins. SO THAT we could put our faith in Him and be forgiven of all of our sins.
THAT is the gospel. It is not an American gospel, and it is not the gospel for a certain group of people; it’s the gospel for ALL people. The gospel is built for diversity: it speaks in all times, in all cultures, in all languages. The gospel isn’t captive to any culture.
WE LIVE IN THE GREATEST NATION, BUT WE MUST TAKE THE GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS.
Right after that famous verse about being God’s nation. The attention is turned to THE NATIONS. The heart of the Lord is for the nations.
“The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.” (Psalm 33:13–15, NKJV)
The heart of the Lord is the nations. For every American, there are 16 people in the world from another nation. There are far, far more believers in the world who are NOT Americans than who are. The Lord loves, and Jesus died for ALL!
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26–28, NKJV)
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9–10, NKJV)
The people of God today are those from every nation, tribe, and tongue who have followed the Lord Jesus Christ! That is why you can go on a mission trip to a foreign land, and when you get with other believers, there is a kinship that transcends race, socio-economics, or politics. Remember, in Matthew 28, the risen Lord Jesus gave his marching orders to the church: it was not about our nation, but a commission to the NATIONS.
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY, BUT WE WAIT FOR A BETTER COUNTRY.
“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.” (Psalm 33:20–21, NKJV)
“Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.” (Psalm 33:22, NKJV)
Did you notice the theme of waiting and hoping in the Lord? Even as part of the nation whose God was the Lord, they were still waiting on the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. That is what we do. We wait and hope. This world is not our home. There is a passage in the New Testament that really brings out this idea of waiting on a better country home…It’s the Faith chapter in Hebrews 11…
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1–3, ESV)
By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain.
By faith, Enoch didn’t die – he was not, for God took him!
By faith Noah built the ark – when it had never rained, and people thought he was crazy.
By faith, Abraham left his home and his wealth and lived in tents, waiting to possess the land God promised him.
By faith, Sarah believed God was going to give her a child – even though she was 65 years old when God promised and 90 years old when it happened!
How did they have faith like that? How did they stay faithful?
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13, ESV)
“For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.” (Hebrews 11:14–15, ESV)
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:16, ESV)
Oh, dear friends. Be a patriot. Just be MORE of a Christian.
Love your country, but don’t despair – we wait for a better country.
gregcorbin.com 