I don’t believe the column that follows is what Baptist and Reflector Editor Lonnie Wilkey had in mind when he asked me to write something about Independence Day.
“Since you’re a veteran,” Lonnie began in an email, “Would you write a column about the importance of Independence Day and what it means to you, both as a Christian and one who has served his country?”
I reluctantly agreed.
I’m conflicted between my deep appreciation for being a U.S. citizen and for what we are becoming as a nation. It seems disingenuous for us to collectively be rah-rah-rah-rah-sis-boom-bah on July 4th then return to a fragmented, mean-spirited society drifting along an undercurrent of hostility the other 364 days of the year. Does anyone else find it ironic that we are called the United – joined together for a common purpose or by common feelings – States when we seemingly become less united by the day?
Our nation was united on that famous day when men representing 13 colonies voted unanimously to declare independence from Britain stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” [Sic].
Eleven years later, the Constitution’s framers agreed on five profound principles found in the document’s preamble: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” [Sic].
“Liberty” is the uncompromising ideal of both documents. However, liberty is both “the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views,” and “the power to act as one pleases.”
Liberty is worth pursuing. Liberty is rooted in God’s nature and “endowed by [our] Creator.” Jesus Christ is humanity’s Liberator – the One who sets captives free from sin and death. The Apostle Paul says much about freedom and liberty and the spiritual oppression from which Christ freed us. Then, turning to “responsible freedom” (my words not his), he authored Romans 14 to explain liberty comes with the expectation of responsibility for the benefit of others.
However, liberty and independence in our culture have become license for self-centered action devoid of responsibility.
In his book, The Constitution of Liberty, political scientist/economist Friedrich Hayek wrote, “The belief in individual responsibility has always been strong when people believed in individual freedom.” But he observed where liberty and responsibility were once closely connected, responsibility has increasingly become the forgotten friend of liberty.
I have personally felt a growing tension over the past 10 years between being a citizen of the Eternal Kingdom and being a citizen of the United States. That is not a political statement. I’m troubled by the imbalance of Christians too often being far more salt than light. I wonder where our society would be if we’d given as much fervor to gospel proclamation and humble service as we have to political posturing.
So where should followers of Christ land on this Independence Day and how can we best serve our beloved nation? The answer is clearly found in II Chronicles, chapter 7.
First, passionately pursue humility. Christians desperately need to capture the attitude of humility as desperately as we need to reconnect responsibility to liberty.
Second, repent. In the context of II Chronicles 6 and 7, the nation was not broken because of the pagans. The nation was broken because God’s people were acting like pagans. There’s a lesson here. May God’s people today turn from political idol worship, contempt for people who don’t look like us, love of money and power, and from religious legalism.
Third, pray. Pray for ourselves and for revival, pray for our nation, pray we will have an eternal impact in a temporal world, and pray masses come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result.
Finally, proclaim. No initiative or agenda to which we’ve attached ourselves in this world has any permanent significance. None. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for a lasting, desirable future. May we proclaim His salvation more in the days ahead than we do the agendas of our preferred political candidates.
It is right and good on this Independence Day to remember the incredible grace bestowed upon our country and the great liberty from which we’ve benefited. But as Christians and people with dual citizenship, may we also remember on this Independence Day the great responsibility we have to our God and to others.
