America: Idol?

The Wrong Focus in Worship

Can you picture Israel in the Old Testament walking into the Temple preparing for a special Sabbath gathering, and beginning their gathering with songs praising…Israel?  Thereafter, can you imagine the entire gathering standing and pledging their allegiance to…Israel?  And, at the conclusion of the service, after a brief message is shared about how God has favored Israel, they ask all of the warriors of Israel in their midst to stand and recognized as the “reason why Israel is the greatest nation and the chosen people of the world”? 

I don’t know about you, but this sounds to me like a “wrath of God in the Old Testament” moment waiting to happen! 

Seriously, I believe that if we read such an account, we would likely cringe and expect some sort of divine correction, or at least imagine a prophet rising up in their midst speaking against using the worship time set aside for the God of Israel to praise Israel!

Yet, all over the U.S. this coming Sunday, the Sunday after Independence Day (July 4^th), very similar services will take place.  These services will exalt America, its politics, and its soldiers, and not Israel’s (although these services tend to be occasions when American is strongly compared to Israel as the “Chosen” nation).  Many of the same people – clergy and non-clergy alike – who would be quick to chastise Israel (or most any other country) for taking up valuable worship time devoted to God and use it to exalt a nation, will do just that this Sunday.  These services will receive much praise from many of the congregants.  In fact, many of these services will evoke more hand raising and shouting and tears than most any service of the year.

We know that Israel consistently got in trouble in the Old Testament for their extreme nationalism: isolating themselves and keeping God’s blessings to themselves, even though Abraham’s original calling was to be “the father of many nations” (see Genesis 17:3).  God’s blessings were to be shared with all the world, as Jesus the Messiah reminded His original disciples (see Matthew 28:18-20). 

Yet, nationalism is a tempting idol.  We all long for a strong identity, and identifying with the nation of our birth – especially a nation that has the unique strengths financially and militarily as the U.S. does – is certainly normal, as long as we keep one thing in mind.

Thankfulness, Not Self-Reliance

If we can remember that all we have as a nation is a gift from God, and that God is the one who ultimately measures the success and strength of a nation - not its money, its military might, or even its creativity and hard work – then perhaps our worship services during times of the year when our nation celebrates its own accomplishments and memorials would be less like the worship of idols.  Perhaps they would be more like services of humble thanksgiving to the God who is the giver of all good things.  The emphasis that often characterizes the worship services around holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day are often more about how self-reliant and strong America is, and how because we are America, we are free to be Christian (or not).  We thank our military (and we should of course be thankful for men and women who serve) for “dying for our freedoms”, as if to say: “Jesus, you provided a nice example, but if it were not for our military, we would be in big trouble!” 

However, the biblical response would seem to be more like this: “No matter how strong our military and economy may be, without you, Lord, we would be in big trouble!”  This is more than semantics: it is sound biblical theology.  It is the kind of theology that avoids idolizing America, its resources, and its military.

A Different Language

The reason this approach is foreign to Americans, I believe, is that we have throughout our history allowed the language of politics, money, and military to bleed into the language of worship and theology.  We mix these together in what often becomes an idolatrous recipe.  We see our political leaders – especially those affiliated with our own parties of choice – as messiahs!  If only the correct party would win all the seats, if only there were legalized prayer in schools, if only the right man (or woman) were president, then we would be “one nation under God” again!

Here is the real story, though: Every single political party that has been in power in the nearly 240 years of our country’s official existence has had scandals and has done and said things that can easily be shown to go against the ways of Jesus outlined in Scripture.  Even the most pious of our presidents have had at least one skeleton in their closets, proving that they themselves are not “the answer.” 

Also, even in the last 40 years, each of the two major parties has been in power in Congress and in the White House at one time or another, yet we have not achieved the Utopian dream that their supporters (and the folks on the radio and TV) would have us believe would be the case!  Also, our military has done some things to be proud of, but it has also been led by flawed men and women who at times have carried out missions which have placed a dark shadow over the very values we say we stand for as a nation.  Speaking of the values we say we stand for, most of the very men who wrote “all men are created equal” in our founding documents would not affirm the rights of women to vote and owned other human beings as slaves!  Some even wrote that certain men with lighter skin color should not have too much power to make decisions, because they could not be trusted.

The Truth That Brings Real Freedom

That means that on Sunday mornings as we gather to worship God, anything that exalts any nation, party, group, or pledge above our ultimate commitment to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has no place in a worship gathering.  I am not saying that such declarations and times of honoring have no place at all among Christians.  Even the Bible reminds us that is acceptable to honor our leaders and to be thankful for the blessings of our nation.  However, that does not give any of us the right to set aside any worship time to bring the language of politics – including things like the pledge of allegiance to any flag – into Sunday morning worship hour.  Nor does it give us the right to substitute a proclamation of the Holy Scriptures during the sermon for a (usually very slanted and inaccurate) history lesson proclaiming any nation’s exceptionalism. 

We would be best served exalting Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, and who is the only source of lasting freedom and peace.  Lord knows that with all of our economic and military might and our lofty words we have not yet been able to bring about lasting peace in our world.  In exalting Christ, we can and should take time to thank Him for the blessings that our nation has received.  At the same time, it would be beneficial to engage in some repentance: II Chronicles 7:14 says that the people of God are to “humble ourselves, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways,” so that our nation can be “healed.”  This implies that we are not self-reliant, nor are we perfect.  We are in need of healing, as one glimpse at the neighborhoods of any town or at any TV news program would remind us.  We can express thanks to men and women who serve in various ways, including our military, without stating that our hope is in war and fighting: “Some trust in horses, some in chariots” – instruments of war – “but we trust in the name of the LORD our God,” as Psalm 20:7 reminds. 

We can declare the need for our nation to “return to righteousness” even as we humbly acknowledge that we ourselves as the Church in America have sometimes been an obstacle rather than a help in moving in that direction (often by exalting politics over good theology and acting in arrogance instead of humility). 

An Important Note

Personally, I think I would be considered a patriotic person.  I am glad to be an American, and I have many generations of relatives, men and women, who have served the nation through a variety of venues, including the U.S. Military.  However, over 30 years ago, when I asked Jesus Christ to become my Lord and Savior, I stated that I wanted His ways above all else. I recognized that my only hope and peace would be from Him.  I declared that everything else – even my citizenship as a Texan and as an American – would not take priority over my citizenship in the Kingdom of God, which is a worldwide Kingdom and is the only one that will outlast all of the kingdoms of the world.  For me, that means that I can be a thankful and hopefully helpful citizen of the country of my birth.  I can speak up when my country is doing something right, and I can speak up when I feel my country is doing something wrong (it does a lot of both at times!). 

I can honor those who have sacrificed their lives and their comforts so that others can be more comfortable and have the chance at meaningful lives by thanking God for good examples.  I can seek to be more like those good examples God has sent my way.  I can also, as I do in this article, remind brothers and sisters that ultimately our hope is not found in any nation, no matter how strong or good, but in the One who is the founder and Lord of the Kingdom that will never end.  And He shall reign forever and ever.  Hallelujah.  Try that this Fourth of July weekend, and every Sunday for that matter, and maybe God will indeed continue to bless America.