Jesus is better than anything else.
I desperately want American Christians to remember this fact. Sadly, we forgot it some time ago. For much of the last century, we have emphasized the greatness of our nation as more important than that of our Lord. We have chosen to champion America and her values over the Kingdom of God.
Most dangerously, we have tricked ourselves into believing we can live for both our nation and God’s Kingdom at the same time. While we make a lot of noise about idols in our lives, our nation remains above such suspicion. We believe we can fully love America while still following Jesus and doing his work here on Earth. We want to believe that our nation and our God have the same values, same goals, and that to serve one means serving the other. We want to believe our God destined our nation to some special importance–some of us even believe our nation stands as the new chosen people of God.
In short, we want to believe we can love both Jesus and America. We want to live for God and country.
Unfortunately, Jesus knows this is impossible. According to Him, it’s not even possible to like both God and our nation. Some relevant words from our Lord on the matter:
I respect that many of us might cringe at the idea of considering America to be our “master.” Even the most patriotic among us may balk at such a phrase. After all, how could a nation founded on individual freedom ever be considered the master of its citizens?
It’s true that America’s rule of her people is a very subtle thing. The United States rarely commands Americans to do anything. We’re not even required to vote. It has been decades since our nation called on its citizens to give what Abraham Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion” in service to their country. One of the supposed beauties of being American is that we believe ourselves free to live as we like. Our nation wants us to believe we have no master but ourselves.
As I hope to show in my future posts, however, this supposed freedom obscures a very real effort to mold Americans into a particular way of living—one that is often directly contrary to the will of God. For now, I will have to satisfy myself by pointing out that those Christians who are most devoted to promoting what they consider traditional American values are simultaneously living less and less like Jesus, so much so that others are noticing the differences. The more these Christians try to champion America, the less they seem willing to heed Jesus’ commands. It seems our Lord may have been right on track with all that talk of masters.
Thankfully for us, this is far from the first time God’s people have strayed from their devotion to the Lord. Scripture and history provide a wealth of wisdom that our generation might heed and hopefully, in turn, repent. The question still remains: will we choose to love and serve our Lord, or our country? According to Jesus, we can’t do both.
In case I am not being clear, I think we should choose Jesus–that’s why I’m writing this. I hope to join my voice with a growing chorus of faithful Christians in the United States prophetically calling us back to full devotion of Christ, who gave his life for us. Those who have already written and spoken on this all seem to have larger followings than me, have accomplished more than me, and are likely a great deal smarter than I am. Nonetheless, the Lord made it too clear I have something he wants me to say on the subject. Call me old-fashioned, but I think if God tells you to say something it’s a good idea to speak forth and trust him to handle the rest.
I want to devote this space to identifying the differences between the values of the United States and the Kingdom of God. The years of my life that I have spent following Jesus, studying our nation’s history, and teaching that history to others have shown me that, contrary to what too many Christians wish was true, the founding principles of our country and our God do not align. They never have. The core values of our nation—the American definition of freedom, our economic values, our commitment to democracy, and so many more examples I will unpack—are directly opposed to the will of our Lord. From the very hand that penned the Declaration of Independence all the way to the present, American values have persistently grown further and further from God’s Kingdom.
In this comparison, I am seeking hope. I hope to show that the Kingdom of God isn’t just different from the United States–it’s infinitely better. I hope to show American Christians that all of the dreams, desires, and ambitions they have invested in the United States will become something so much more glorious when we fully entrust them to God. I hope to show that if God’s people in this country will choose to live for him, he will use us to accomplish more good than a worldly nation could ever hope to achieve.
After all, Jesus is better than anything else. It’s about time we remembered that.