Tell the Truth

I can’t help but laugh at the idea that this administration seems so concerned with unifying the country, at least when it comes to what happens in my classroom. 

Toward the end of January, President Trump signed an executive order that struck much closer to home than the rest of his slough of acts. I forgive you for not remembering—there’s been a lot going on. This particular order essentially commands that I should be providing my students with a “patriotic education”. In case you’re wondering what that means, the president’s staff chose to get quite explicit. Apparently, I need to be teaching American history in a way that, among other things…

• Champions “the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified”.

• Emphasizes that the “celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper”.

• Proclaims a “unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles”. 

If I choose to not teach in this way, the act declares that I am a part of a widespread conspiracy to radically indoctrinate my students that threatens to undermine the entirety of American society. 

Call me old fashioned, but I just wish someone would buy me a cup of coffee before they accuse me of unraveling the fabric of our nation.

Selfishly, I’m grateful for this order. It continues the Trump administration’s trend of clarifying that trying to honor our God and our country at the same time is simply not possible. “America’s foundational principles” include championing individual liberty—something we’ve already shown flies directly in the face of what it means to follow Jesus. As for our nation’s “aspirations”, the greed inherent to our capitalist economy is far from the generosity God commands. And any real Christian should be far too busy proclaiming Jesus to waste time advancing “America’s greatness”. 

I also have the advantage of not having to worry about how this will affect my teaching. I work at a private school, so as long as my community of families and administrators chooses to follow Jesus over our nation, I’m fine. My public school colleagues, however, are not so fortunate. They are now stuck wrestling with two difficult options. Do they teach American history as it actually is—warts and all—and risk getting fired, or their school losing funding? Or do they provide this “patriotic education” that seeks to advance an imaginary America? They’ll be teaching a lie, but that might be what they have to do to appease the powers that be. 

In case it’s not obvious, teachers—especially history teachers—shouldn’t have to wrestle over whether to lie to their students. The people of God should be making more noise about this than anyone, since we are people of the truth. Our nation is inviting us to lie, simply for the sake of making that nation look good. Once again, to champion America in the way it demands, we would have to move further from the will of God. 

Our God, after all, is not afraid to tell the truth. We see this in the way Scripture handles history—even that of Jesus himself. Take, for example, Jesus’ genealogy as presented in the Gospel of Matthew. We need to realize that every name on this list represents an entire life, and most of them included some profoundly dark moments. Yet unlike America, Scripture is willing to be honest with the muck of its own past. When Matthew mentions that “David was the father of Solomon,” he includes that Solomon’s “mother had been Uriah’s wife.” In this one line, Matthew reminds any of his Jewish readers of a story we’ve discussed—one full of lust, adultery, lies, and murder. If you’re trying to tell the greatness of Jesus in the style of America, you leave that story out. 

Here, then, we find another way in which our nation and the Kingdom of God could not be more different. America—at least under President Trump—demands that people proclaim this country’s greatness without reservation or caveat. “America: Love it or Leave it”, as the bumper sticker says. 

In Jesus we find a very different understanding of greatness. As recorded in Philippians, our Lord…

being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Jesus didn’t insist on his own greatness. He was willing to live the life of a servant so that God’s glory might be shown through human meekness. Christians can follow this example when we too resist the urge to insist we be recognized. After all—as Paul wrote—God’s power is “made perfect in weakness”. We should do as Paul did, boasting “all the more gladly about [our] weakness.” We can “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when [we are] weak,” there we find our true strength—not from our own greatness, but that of our Lord. 

That’s why I will continue to delight in showing my students the weakness of America. Every day for as long as I am able, I will remind my students why—while our nation has done some good—it will forever pale in comparison to the greatness of God. I will remind them to dream of justice and goodness so much more than America could ever hope to achieve. I will remind them to live for God, not country.