Christians & Patriotism
It’s Fourth of July, the day we Americans celebrate our independence from Great Britain and more generally, celebrate our freedom. Being an American is truly a great thing: we live in the most wealthy and powerful nation in the world. We enjoy a level of freedom unknown through most of history. This is truly wonderful. The question I want to consider is this: how should Christians express patriotism? While there is a danger in ingratitude for our country, there is also a danger blending patriotism and Christianity in a way that is border-line syncretistic and idolatrous. Here are some biblical principles to guide our thinking. 1. Christian patriotism is marked by neighbor-love. Simply defined, patriotism is simply a love and a gratitude for your own country. As Christians, we should be able to recognize that it is not a bad thing at all to love your fellow-citizens and your homeland (provided we don’t love only our fellow-citizens). We are called to “love your neighbor as yourself,
