Thanksgiving To Whom?

The Bible tells us that God has ordained countries, nations of the earth, and we have been placed in certain locations in order that we might exhibit a Christian testimony and stand for His principles. In Acts 17, Paul states:
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

The Bible shows us how we are to regard the country in which we live - we should always desire for the people around us to come to know Christ, and for God's principles to be exalted in our land. It is sad to see how some have sought to suppress the Christian influence in our nation.  But, while we are not called to worship a nation or a symbol of it, that doesn't mean that we should not possess concern for our country, exalting God first and desiring to see Him exalted in all that we are involved in.  During this season of Thanksgiving, we can be grateful for the rich history of our nation and the influence of the Scriptures on our founding.

+++++

Because we love God and He is active in our lives, we can radiate an attitude of thanksgiving to Him for who He is, what He has done in bringing us salvation, and what He continues to do in and around our lives. 1st Timothy chapter 4 states:
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

This coming Thursday, we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day - it is a Federal holiday, and while the original meaning of the holiday has been somewhat diluted in some circles, it's important to remind ourselves of how that first Thanksgiving came to be.

J. Warner Wallace, writing on his website, ColdCaseChristianity.com, highlighted that among those who came to the New World seeking a new life, there was a significant number of members of the English Separatist Church, which he describes as "a Puritan sect of Christianity."  He writes that...

... They fled their homeland so they could pursue God in a way they considered to be truer to the teaching of the Bible. This group successfully escaped religious persecution from the Church of England, but eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life. They observed the lifestyles of those around them and believed they were in an ungodly land. So once again, they pushed on toward a new place where they could both worship the Biblical God of Christianity and live in a way honorable to this God.

He notes there were also other Christians on the Mayflower, but not necessarily Puritans. He writes:

Whether they were part of the Puritan group or simply along to assist them and make a new life for themselves, everyone shared a fervent and pervasive Protestant faith permeating all aspects of their lives. So, when the pilgrims made ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11th, 1620, they were also grounded in their faith as Christians. In less than a year, they suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 members, but they never lost their faith.

At the end of the harvest of 1621, the pilgrims decided to celebrate. The pilgrims brought with them both religious and secular customs from their homeland. Among these customs were the tradition of a secular harvest festival and the tradition of a religious holy day of thanksgiving. These were two separate celebrations for the original pilgrims, but both celebrations had strong religious overtones.

So, the first Thanksgiving on this continent was a significantly religious occasion. So were subsequent observances; Wallace says, "Thanksgiving celebrations followed for many years, and often became part of the political and corporate life of larger groups as the colonies grew and formed in the New World. On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, met to decide how to best express their thanks to God in a corporate celebration of thanksgiving." He also notes that the original colonies celebrated a day of Thanksgiving in 1777, for their "first joint thanksgiving holiday." Presidents Washington and Lincoln also proclaimed days of Thanksgiving, with Lincoln establishing an annual day of Thanksgiving in November.

Wallace, the cold case detective, also wrote this: "Regardless of how people may feel about the Thanksgiving Holiday, one thing should be obvious to even the most casual observer of history: Thanksgiving was (and still is) founded on the Christian notion we have something to be thankful for and someone to be thankful to."

So, it is clear that Thanksgiving is a distinctly religious holiday, centered on giving thanks to the God of the Bible.  In a day in which you have some who would want to separate Christianity from our practice of patriotism, this reminds us that we can and should give God praise for His blessings on our nation. Now, it has become popular - and misguided - to brand Christians who love their country as "Christian nationalists."  There's even a group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism. 

Pushback against that insulting term, the definition of which seems to be a moving target, occurred at the Family Research Council's Pray Vote Stand Townhall in Virginia a few months ago. An article at The Washington Stand notes that a panel of guests commented on the Biblical role of Christians in national life.  One of them was Mark David Hall, a past Meeting House guest who is a professor at George Fox University.  The article noted, concerning the term, "Christian nationalism:"

If it truly is a misnomer intended to shame believers who are bringing biblical hope and truth into a dark world, Hall says Christians ought to simply identify as followers of Christ.

“I think we, as Christians, should be first and foremost in addressing these in our own lives and the lives of our churches and the lives of our community,” he said. “Maybe many of these problems are best addressed without political institutions, right, through churches and voluntary organizations and that sort of thing.”

Dr. Stephen Coughlin of Unconstrained Analytics, "dissected how the term has been wielded by critics and political counterparts." He added: “Patriotic Christians will become now Christian nationalists, and it will be defined negatively.”

Former member of Congress Michele Bachmann stated: “It’s highly consequential when the Word of God is pervasive in a nation,” adding, “What does a godly pastor do? What does a godly church do? They inform the faithful, and they inspire the faithful to bring biblical values into their own lives, into their family’s life, into their business’s life, into their community’s life, into the political life of the nation, and that is how a nation can be a nation that serves the Lord ...”

So, the question is, on this Thanksgiving Day, which falls this year just over a month before the celebration of the birth of our Savior, are we allowing God's Word to be, as former Rep. Bachmann says, "pervasive?"  Are God's Word and the presence of Christ central to our identity, or merely sidelights that we attempt to embrace when it may be advantageous to us?

For many of the celebrants of that First Thanksgiving, their devotion to Christ influenced them to the degree that they were willing to leave one country and sail across an ocean in search of religious freedom.  We can consider whether or not our approach to our Christian faith really moves us. It's more than just wearing a label, it's living a life. And, when we see God move through us, we can give glory and honor - thanksgiving - to Him!