Wedge Issues: On God and Country

July 4th falling on a Sunday this year presented a unique opportunity for Christian groups to spotlight the idea of the USA as a Christian nation. My own church had a sermon titled: "Is America still a Christian nation?" In fairness I can't speak to it directly because I was not in attendance this Sunday, however I would like to discuss how religion should or shouldn't play a role in our country and society.

I think the debate I've been hearing is a little be short sighted. The questions are usually "Are we a Christian nation?", or "Were we a Christian nation?". We should be asking "What does it mean to be a Christian nation?" and "Should we be a Christian nation?"

Were/Are we a Christian Nation?

There was a large group of people that played a role in the foundations of our country. Some of them were Christians in the traditional sense but many of the more well known ones were Deists. In a nutshell Deists believe in God but they do not believe he intervenes in human affairs. Arguably I think someone could claim to be a Christian and be a deist as well. The point I make is people didn't really have the same beliefs at that time as they do now. Not only that but the founders were individuals. It's silly to say "this is what the founders believed ... " because as a group they did not all believe the same thing. No one understands everything the founders intended and I think before anyone can truly form an opinion, one has to do more study than a quick Internet search.

What does it mean to be a "Christian nation"?

Now I will go on the record to say that there is overwhelming evidence the founders intended the US government to be secular. I believe they also intended that people be able to believe and worship (or not) as they choose. Morality is definitely an underpinning in our founding but one look at Buddhism will tell you that Christians don't have a monopoly on that. The idea of democracy and the rule of law come from classical Greek and Roman times. So I think we can definitively say the government is not "Christian".

Now I think it could be argued that the US started out as a "Christian nation" in the sense that most people were Christians at the time of the founding, that's technically true even now. But obviously tons of people who say they are Christian are so in name only, and that was almost certainly true 234 years ago as well. So I don't think we can say the people make it Christian anymore than it can be called a nation of dog owners. Nearly 40% of us own a dogs. (which is the same as the percentage of people who attend church weekly!). But to call it a dog-nation would probably draw a bit of protest from the slightly smaller but still large group of people who own cats.

I think the biggest problem with saying it's a Christian nation is that it just isn't clearly defined what that means. The thing that scares me is there are some people who seem to believe we should become a theocracy. Do we really want to become the middle-east? Theocracy hasn't worked out so well there.

Should we be a "Christian nation"?

So should we be a "Christian nation"? I think this is where we need to look at what Jesus had to say about it:

Matthew 22:15-21 is where Jesus tells the Pharisees to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's". While the discussion is about taxes specifically I think Jesus is pretty clear that our allegiance is to God not to any man-made institution.

Mark 13: The disciples are amazed at the massive temple buildings. Jesus explains that it will pass away. Jesus goes on to say that there will be wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters and other turmoil but that they should stay focused on God.

Luke 4:5-8 is where Satan is tempting Jesus by offering him power of the nations. This passage is very interesting because it states that God has given Satan power over the earthly nations and he had that power to give it to Jesus. Jesus himself does not accept this offer, he stays focused on God's plan.

John 18:36 Jesus states that his Kingdom is not on earth.

Throughout the gospels Jesus talks about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom.

Secondly Jesus never talked about loving only certain people. There are TONS of examples but my favorite is the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. The Samaritans were the lowest of the low in Jewish society and yet Jesus showed how even they could love and be loved. The idea is the love of God transcends nation, tribe or race.

Christianity as a religion is about churches and corporate worship but what sets Christianity apart is it's description of an individual's relationship to God. Paul says it very well in Philippians 2:12 "work out your salvation with fear and trembling". Our individual relationship to God is what truly matters. If we are worried about being a Christian nation; we are trying to work out other people's salvation for them - which is in essence "helping God".

I've said it before but I want to be clear: we cannot help God. God does not need us to accomplish his plan. God includes us because he loves us but trying to save people We can be used by God to tell others about him but God is the one who ultimately leads people to Christ. Being a "Christian nation" says to a non-believer that we will convert people by force.

Another thing the term "Christian nation" suggests is that we will defend God's name. God doesn't need us to defend his name. He is all powerful, he can defend his own name. In the end every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. God isn't smiting people, he's giving them time to turn to him. We should not be threatening people in the defense of God's name.

I'm not talking just about physical force either. Becoming political, trying to pass laws that make Christians more equal than others are just as bad as using military force outside our borders.

Finally being a "Christian nation" suggests that we believe we are justified in our actions. Unfortunately we and our leaders are human. The best leaders are ones who admit their mistakes and learn from them. The worst leaders are ones who pick a direction and justify it with an ideology to the exclusion of all critics.

No we should not call ourselves Christian nation. We should be Christians. Once we love everyone equally regardless of where they come from, regardless of who they are or what sins they have committed; THEN we can call ourselves a Christian nation. Of course if we truly follow Jesus's example then the concept of a nation is meaningless anyway.