Good Citizens

We are not of this world; the Bible tells us we are citizens of heaven. But, we live in this world, and we are citizens of a country, a state, a county, and perhaps a city. We have a space in which we are placed, and Philippians 3 gives us direction in how to deal with that:
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Our heavenly citizenship and earthly citizenship fuse together when we recognize that we are to live out the principles of the heavenly Kingdom here on earth. Our nation is not a theocracy, but we can recognize that the Bible shows us the best way to interact with one another; so we should be desirous to bring those principles into the way we are governed.  If the government is to maintain order by upholding good and punishing evil, according to the Bible, then we have to look toward the definition of good and evil - those are concepts that are not subjective, but authoritatively set by Almighty God.

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There is a passage of Scripture in Psalm 33 that reminds us of what lies in store for a nation that devotes itself to God and that God is watching and involved in the way that human government operates:
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth...

One of the areas about which there seems to be no absence of discussion in the Christian community at large has to do with how we are to relate to our country.  There is a new statement on what has been termed, in a derogatory way, "Christian nationalism," which is an attempt to enter into this debate and perhaps even to sanitize the term.

Fact is, Christians should bring our worldview based on Scripture to every area of life. The great preacher Adrian Rogers, who is heard weeknights at 6:30 on Faith Radio, made this statement: "It's inconceivable that God would ordain human government and then tell his people to stay out of it. If that is true, who does that lead to run it?"  That was published in a recent article on the NotTheBee.com website, which is a division of The Babylon Bee.  

It includes more quotes from Dr. Rogers:

Patriotism is not bad. When our government is good we praise our government. This scripture says "give honor to whom honor is due..."

Patriotism, love of the fatherland, is not wrong. We are to give honor to whom honor is due.

Next, we are to preach to our country... God's people dare not be silent. We will be civil. But we won't be silent... As long as they're killing babies and practicing infanticide, I will not be silent. As long as we have a government that is trying to normalize sexual perversion, I will not be silent. As long as they're handing out condoms to high school and junior high school students in so-called God blessed America, I will not be silent. And as long as a free born American is told he cannot pray out loud anywhere, I will not be silent...

We must say to our government, whatever is morally wrong is not politically right!

The Love Worth Finding website has a transcript and outline of Dr. Rogers' message on "Christian Citizenship." After he declared that we are to "preach to our country," he reminded the audience:

We will be civil, but we won’t be silent. Nathan warned David. Elijah preached to Ahab. Eleazar warned Jehoshaphat. Daniel preached to Nebuchadnezzar. Moses warned Pharaoh. John the Baptist preached to Herod.

Rogers went on to say:

We pay for our government; we pray for our government; we praise our government; we preach to our government; and we participate in our government. Notice again in Romans 13 verse 7. We’re to render all their due, custom to whom custom and so forth. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar.” And Jesus said, “Render to God the things that belong to God.” To God is our highest, greatest allegiance. But we don’t have a Caesar as they did then, so when you read a Scripture, you ask yourself this question; “What did it mean then? How does it apply now? And then how does it apply to me personally? What is our Caesar? What is our government?” 

Our government is, “A government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” And I’m telling you, friend, if you do not participate in your government, you have not rendered to your Caesar the things that belong to your Caesar. If, for example, you do not vote, if you do not inform yourself, in my estimation, you have disobeyed the Lord Jesus Christ. It is inconceivable that God would’ve ordained human government and told His people to stay out of it. If that is true, who does that leave to run it? Use your head. We as Christians are to participate, not on the basis of parties or persons or politics or policies but principles. We are to be informed.

Whether or not a Christian embraces the phrase "Christian nationalism," I would submit that the NotThe Bee.com article offers some perspective on the way we should regard our country and relationship to it; the article notes: "Christians ought to favor a nation that rules in accordance to God's law." It also offers a statement consistent with the Bible: "Punishing good is bad but punishing evil is righteous."

Mark David Hall, professor at George Fox University, was on the program recently to discuss the concept of "Christian nationalism," which is a term that he and I agree that Christians who love their country and could be considered patriotic should not embrace.  He wrote in a piece for the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University: "Although some scholars believe nationalism can be healthy, others warn of the danger of an inordinate love of country, perhaps such a disordered love that would lead one to follow one’s country 'right or wrong...' Christians must reject this approach; our ultimate allegiance is to the King of Kings, not a particular nation state. There is nothing wrong with loving one’s country, but it should  be a properly ordered love that does not result in blind obedience. This proper love of country is best referred to as patriotism..."

Hall goes on to say:

There are excellent reasons for Christians to reject both what the critics call Christian nationalism and what its proponents call Christian nationalism. Instead, Christian should be patriotic, and we must bring our faith into the public square to advocate for liberty, justice, and equality for all. We cannot let critics shame us into privatizing our faith and abandoning our responsibility to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7).

You could make the case the Sean Feucht made recently - his quotes are included in a derogatory Newsweek article, in which he is quoted as asking, "You want God to come on over and take over the government?" He answered, "Yes!" The article went on to say:

"We want God to be in control of everything! We want believers to be the ones writing the laws! Yes! Guilty as charged," Feucht said. He added that, "We wouldn't be a disciple of Jesus if we didn't believe that."

Now, granted, this was spoken at what was termed a political rally, at which a group of pastors gathered to support a particular candidate. But the sentiments are worth considering, I believe. There is not a Biblical prohibition on supporting for or even encouraging people to vote for particular candidates - as it's been said, we should make sure that we are supporting the candidate who best lines up with our Christian values.  And, we may not all agree on that.  But, we can discuss it in a civil manner! 

In the piece, the professor offers defense of religious liberty, which is the cornerstone upon which our nation was founded.  So, we can consider some simple principles.  For one thing, God is not against us loving our country.  Paul at Mars Hill, quoted in the book of Acts, pointed out how people have been organized into nations, which was done by God's hand.  But, he also related that we are to possess the attitude, "in Him we live, and move, and have our being."  So, we are to recognize God first, our allegiance is to Him ultimately; but that does not preclude us from loving the country in which He has placed us.  

And, that's where our citizenship in heaven and our earthly citizenship intersect.  We are to work for the benefit of these authoritative units: nation, state, municipality, in order that God might be glorified. So many of our laws reflect the principles of Scripture and laws for the betterment of a society are encased within the Ten Commandments. So, we are to function as good citizens, advocating for freedom of religion and taking advantage of that liberty afforded to us so that we might influence good laws, laws that are inspired by godly wisdom and are not hostile toward people of faith. We can choose and support candidates that best line up with our deeply held Scriptural beliefs.  As Dr. Rogers said, God didn't ordain human government and tell Christians to stay out of it.