Nationalism

Recent events have me concerned about the faith of many Americans.  It seems that many are worshiping Jesus AND America.  That is an idol.  I love my country, but my allegiance is to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.  It is not in part to a country, a political party, or a political leader. My allegiance is to Jesus Christ alone! What he says goes.

God is very clear about it.  The first and foremost commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).   This means that the Triune God (God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit) is number one in your entire life.  You are to serve and worship him.  It is not the other way around. And there is no sharing of that allegiance. That is spiritual adultery.  God wants all of you. Unfortunately we all fall short of that, time and time again, but God’s grace and mercy is there to lift us up, and restore us to him. But that is not an excuse. God is serious about sin! When we fail, we need to recognize that is wrong and turn again from that wrong.

My allegiance to America is predicated on the fact that Jesus tells me to obey the government.   My allegiance to America is based only on and is under my allegiance to Jesus Christ.  I can be involved in politics and support candidates and political parties, but my actions must come under the rule and authority of Jesus Christ.  Recent events show that some Christians are ignoring God and what he says, and instead they are promoting people, political parties, and themselves to the detriment of the common good in America. In many cases it is all about power, or about using any means possible to promote their issue.  That is wrong!  It is not what Jesus desires.

Now people may have different ideas on how to achieve the common good, and that is okay.  I believe one should go through the political process promoting their ideas in a way that Christ would approve. Ask the question, how can we come to an understanding that benefits us all? And please remember this, the end does not justify the means.

Up until now, I have named no names.  I can find people in both parties who at times have been guilty of this idolatry, but what really raised my awareness was this rally called the “Jericho March” in Washington, D.C.  It mixed Christianity and nationalism and even other faiths. I found reading about it scary.  And now because of the rioters that attacked the Capital, I am writing this post. I believe many of the rioters have the dual worship of God and America, or of God and Donald Trump.  That is idolatry, plain and simple.

So what does our allegiance to Jesus Christ look like?  I am going to point you to a post by Ann Voskamp.  Please read this post for she says it much better than I can. (Note she likes lots of pictures, so keep scrolling to find more text until you reach the bottom.)

And if 2020 was too much, remember as followers of Jesus we have hope.  My pastor gave a short interview on the year 2020 in our local newspaper.  He speaks to the hope we have in Jesus. It is all about Jesus.