On July 4, 1776, the
Declaration of Independence was finalized.
It was signed by most of the 56 delegates on August 2nd,
though a few had to sign it a little later.
It was primarily a document declaring the right of people to rule
themselves, and that when that God-given right is taken away, they have the
right to throw off the oppressive rule by force, if necessary.
This doctrine can be a little
difficult for thinking Christians to reconcile with biblical doctrines. Most American Christians don’t give it much
thought. We just make some sort of leap in
logic whereby the doctrine of democracy and the doctrine of the preeminence of
God meld together. Patriotism, then,
becomes almost a religious duty rather than a competitor with divine devotion.
Now before you exit from this
page with indignation, let me explain that I am a patriotic fellow. I hang the Stars and Stripes up on every
national holiday, pay all my taxes (even those the IRS would probably never
know I had), obey most laws (I have been known to add five or ten miles per
hour to the posted speed limit), recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing the
national anthem without holding back, and would have served in the military had
the government needed me. I oppose
communism, socialism and all other forms of government that would deny people
what the founding fathers fought and died to defend.
However, I am opposed to the
regular display of Old Glory during worship services. I would not hesitate to break a civil law if
it meant obeying God’s law. The situation
would have to be very unusual, but I imagine there could be a circumstance that
would result in me going to jail rather than paying a specific tax I knew would
be used to accomplish an egregious sin. In
other words, my loyalty is to God first.
Everything else would have to vie for second place.
I am one of those irritating
people who love to pressure others for logical conclusions to what they assert
as truth. If you tell me we should stand
when reading scripture, I will ask you to give me a biblical basis for that
belief. If you tell me I need to wear a
certain style of clothing when I attend a service, I will ask if that means we
should have a dress code enforcer at the front door when people arrive on
Sunday morning. And I expect others to
require the same from me. So, you may
want to ask me how I justify being a patriotic American as well as a devoted
follower of Christ.
I have heard the argument that
Jesus was plainly opposed to mixing government politics and spiritual
life. This seems to be the message of,
“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.” But the Old Testament is filled with examples
of government and religion being mixed, even nearly identical. And there are the New Testament examples of
Roman authorities becoming Christians and being told they need not change their
professions. They could be Christians
and still be loyal to the government.
This topic demands much more space than I am willing to use here, and it
is not really a point I wish to emphasize right now, so I’ll leave it at that
and move on.
Freedom and responsibility are
the subjects I would like to discuss.
The Declaration of Independence is all about these two concepts. The American British subjects were being
oppressed by their king. They were being
unfairly taxed, underrepresented, and made to drink tea instead of coffee (Just
wanted to see if you were still with me).
Their solution was a government of the people, by the people and for the
people; democracy. This form of
government seemed to them to be the one that offered the greatest amount of
individual and state freedom.
God has given us a great deal of
freedom. The Declaration of Independence
acknowledges this by asserting we are endowed by our Creator with certain
inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While these may be important gifts God wills
us to have, he is more concerned about our spiritual liberty. He has given us the freedom to become his for
eternity. He wants us to have a
wonderfully abundant life. He wants us
to be free to serve him and each other.
He wants us to be more than happy.
He wants us to be full of joy.
All of this can be accomplished without being born into a
democracy. A Christian can experience
God’s freedom even if our democracy becomes an oppressive oligarchy. The gospel message is actually a declaration
of spiritual independence. Maybe it is
this spiritual freedom we Christians have that make the idea of political
freedom so attractive.
The great theologian, pastor and
Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, observed that real leadership derives
its authority from God. Illegitimate
authority is self-derived and autocratic.
A legitimate leader must continually remind his followers of his limited
authority and spur them on to responsibility.
The good leader serves others. I
could accept several, maybe many, different forms of government rule over me,
but there is one that stands out as better in my estimation. The democracy or republic form of government,
when properly exercised, limits the authority of any one person and demands
responsibility from its citizens. This
may not result in a nation that serves God, but it does prevent one that is
oppressed by a megalomaniac.
I will celebrate Independence
Day on the 4th. I am blessed
to have been dropped into this country through no effort of my own. I will continue to pray that God bless this
country. But, even more important, I
will continue to celebrate my freedom in Christ every day. And if it ever comes to choosing between the
two, there is no contest.
Your thoughts?
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