Where Is the Christian Nation?
Is the U.S. a Christian nation? For most of us we already know the answer, but is the answer we give the same as everyone else? I guess it depends on who you ask.
There have been many accomplishments that have come through the growth of Christianity in the U.S. since the Mayflower landed on our eastern shores. We have a church in almost every town, seminaries stretch across the country, the freedom to worship and practice our faith remains part of the founding principles in our constitution, billions of dollars donated to helping the poor and destitute across our nation and the world, and missions organizations have sent thousands of missionaries to spread the word of God across the globe, doing untold good and translating the Bible into hundreds of languages.
On the other hand, our nation has done some great evils by taking the name of Christianity and smearing it with dirt and shame. An almost complete destruction of the Native American tribes, buying and selling of slaves through centuries and denying them the basic freedoms that most of us had, segregating people based on their skin color, implementing laws that benefits a group a people over others, and many more evils.
Can you say it is a Christian nation for some and not for others?
So, my question to you is, which one is it?
The answer is simple, neither, because the true Christian nation is borderless and is not a country. Jesus says in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
This other place will be the new heaven and new earth (see Rev. 21:1). God will be our king and we will live under a loving and just ruler and in a perfect monarchy.
There is a reason why Jesus came, not to set up an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly one. An earthly kingdom is doomed to fail. Why?
The answer is simple: we are born with original sin. Our abilities and talents will be corrupted by that which consumes us. As Lord Acton famously said,
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
We do not need this quote to understand the meaning. We see it carried out all around us and even in the Bible.
As Christians we are also susceptible to that corruption power can bring. In the Bible, David committed adultery and killed to hide it and his son Solomon was considered the worst king of all by leading the Israelites astray to worship false gods.
Matter of fact, every king in the Old Testament was corrupt to some degree. It is interesting when you see what God told the people of Israel when they wanted to get a king.
Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the vest of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (2nd Samuel 8:10-18, NIV)
I’ve come to mediate on John 2:24-25 to truly understand why Jesus said what he did.
Jesus would not entrust himself to man because He knew what was in their hearts. Of all people, Jesus knew that which man wants is not what God wants.
I think we need to take hold of this for ourselves. If we entrust ourselves to one man or one nation, we will not find salvation or goodness. We must entrust ourselves to only Jesus and His kingdom.
I wish the term “Christian nation” would not refer to a country, but to our brothers and sisters all over the world. That it will be synonymous with being a part of God’s kingdom, not based on nationality, ethnicity, race, culture, or gender.
The true followers of Jesus who love and care for others and want to spread the Word of God to those around them.
We have more in common with our Christian family than anyone else. What separates us is instead our personal political values and our thoughts about how Christian we can make our own country. We look to convince our neighbor more to hold our own political values rather than sharing about the one true King and His kingdom.
Does this mean that we should stop celebrating the national Independence Day of our country? I am not saying that.
We can be proud of the place in which we live. But we must acknowledge the fact that this country is far from perfect and has done as much or more evil than good.
The world will never be our home and will never be free from the corruption of sin. The moment you believe that one law or one president will make everything right is the moment where you are putting more faith into your political system than in God.
What we should do is celebrate the coming of the true Kingdom that we are a part of. We need to put more effort to celebrate Easter than any other day of the year. Without Jesus we would not have the hope and salvation that all of us desperately needed.
We should never stop standing up for what is right, but we do so as a citizen of God’s kingdom, not as a citizen of a country.
Who do you serve? An earthly king or the true King?
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