Patriotism and the Church: A Higher Calling
Finally, I want to encourage us all that we have a calling. I explained in Influence:
We are called to love and serve the King and represent the kingdom of God. That’s our primary duty. We can celebrate our country in this world, but our loyalty should be to the Kingdom that is not of this world.
My friends, no one can top what the Bible says about how we live and view the world. Our earthly citizenship is too fleeting and heaven is too eternal for us to ignore Paul’s words in Ephesians:
There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
We have a new citizenship and a new allegiance. As pastors and leaders, we MUST call others to that reality, particularly when confusion abounds. It’s not that we can’t be patriotic—I am. It’s that we need to be careful, particularly when the numbers show us a concern.
When it comes to patriotism and the church, yes, people come to different conclusions about how to be patriotic and how that relates to church. And, I’m not assigning motives to each and every person or church who does things differently than I prefer.
However, can we all agree that we need to do it carefully? Can we at least consider that there might be some dangers—both scripturally and historically—that we might want to consider?
In light of the stats above, that seems like a pretty wise course of action.
