God shed His grace on thee.

I feel like I need to start this off with some disclamatory statements, so that you hear exactly what I intend to stay.

I love America. I'm proud to be a citizen of this country. I would never willingly live anywhere else, and I would never want to be a citizen of anywhere else. I am proud of my heritage as an American. I'm proud to have many family members who are or were members of the Armed Forces. I love being American, and will always proudly claim the title.

I also love and appreciate the Armed Forces. They do an invaluable, dangerous work with a level of courage, sacrifice, and determination that most civilians couldn't muster. I have deep and abiding respect for those who serve this country, even the ones who became politicians.

That stated...

I don't want to go to church this Sunday. I don't have to teach Bible study, so I'm tempted to skip out. This Sunday is the "Fourth of July weekend" service. And every year, it makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

Each year, we have a service of "patriotic" music. We sing "America the Beautiful" and "God Bless America" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." We pay tribute to the military.

I'm not opposed to any of these. I like patriotic music. Just not in Sunday church.

I don't feel right singing what are essentially hymns praising the attributes of my country during the same hour and in the same place where I normally sing hymns praising the attributes of my God. Something about that feels very wrong to me.

I would be more than happy to have the church do a patriotic service on Sunday evening, or on Tuesday itself. That's not a problem. But on Sunday morning, when the people normally sing of God and the preacher delivers a message from God's Word, we will be singing about "purple mountains' majesty" and hearing the testimony of a fighter pilot.

And that doesn't sit well.

I think people swing too far in both directions, when it comes to the interplay between faith and country. Some people completely eschew their nationality and claim "Christian only"; usually these are the same people who are stauch critics of the government in much of what it does. On the other extreme are those whose faith is inexorably tied in with their sense of national identity. On this side of things, you get the "America is God's Favored Nation" crowd, where being the people of God and the people of the United States are too similar.

I think the first group of people are wrong. America is not our enemy...not yet. I think that believers have a civil responsibility to work within the system and to promote justice. I don't think you should agree with the government all the time, of course. But there's a difference between whining and working. Sometimes, folks forget which is which.

I think the second group are also wrong. I do believe America has been blessed, for whatever God's purpose is. We have reaped the benefit of His favor, as have other nations, but this doesn't make the U. S. "favored." On the contrary, what it makes us is responsible. We have been given much; much is also required of us.

And the fact of things is, we cannot put our faith in this government or any other. Of course, many folks (especially in the second group) would say that their faith isn't really in the government. But I ask, "Why do you turn first to government to solve problems that are heart-problems and community-problems? Where is the church's role? Why do you think 'legislation' before 'education' or even 'prayer'?"

This is what it will come down to, kids--and I know I'm going to sound like a whack-job conspiracist for a second, but hang with me: this government will eventually turn against our faith, either outright or in the context of "tolerance" and "pluralism." [It hasn't happened yet, so if you think it has already, take a step outside and have a look at what's happening to believers in other countries--get a dose of reality, in other words.] Eventually in this country, it will happen. It always happens. And when that day comes, we who bear the name of Christ will have to decide which of our loyalties are stronger--to the Party, or to the Lamb?

[When I say "party," I'm pretty sure you know who I'm talking about. Fact is, the tie between God and Country is strongest seen on the Republican side of things. But that does not excuse my brothers and sisters of the Democrat Party. We can all potentially fall into this trap of developing an unhealthy allegiance to political ideology and identity that usurps the place of our faith.]

Don't delude yourself into thinking it won't happen in this "Christian" nation. It will. And it may even happen in our lifetime, though I pray it doesn't. We have to ask ourselves now, before that moment comes, whether or not we will choose to be Christians first or Americans first.

This is not to say that I don't think highly-nationalistic believers will choose to stand for Jesus if the day comes. Though some may fall, I have hope that most will make the right choice. However, if your faith is deeply entrenched in your political or national identity, it makes that eventual division harder and harder to take. It will be a painful break.

Back to the issue of church services. I don't worry about my church as it is now. If the day came soon when that dreadful question is raised, I don't doubt for a moment that the leadership of my church would say, "We stand with Christ in all things."

But the patriotic services make me uncomfortable, because while there is now a clear division in the church's priorities between faith and national pride, these services seem to scoot the latter an inch closer to the former. Over the years, the space between may start to shrink. And the closer our corporate faith is to our national pride, the harder and more painful it will be to "love the one and hate the other."

This sounds like a lot of useless grousing. But it's not. I'm just worried. I'm worried about the "big-c" Church, especially those of us in the "big-w" Western tradition of it. I'm worried about believers in this country, and believers in my particular chosen political party. I worry that we should strive harder to keep our loyalties clear. The Kingdom we seek is not of this world. Our citizenship is truly elsewhere.

I love this country. I do, I love America. But I love God more. And I want love God so much more that it seems like I hate America by comparison. And if--no, when--the day comes that those two part ways irreconcilably, I pray that I will let go of the red, white, and blue, and cling ever more desperately to the cross.

So this Sunday, when I go to church (of course I'll go, I won't just skip), I may not sing all the songs, but I'll pray for the country, that it won't destroy itself, and I'll pray for the Church, that she will cling ever closer to her Savior--the bringer of true independence.