“America is great because America is good. Whenever America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”[1]
When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776, John Adams wrote home to his wife Abigail that it would be a day “celebrated by succeeding generations by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty, and pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.”
And well we should celebrate it. I am so thankful to God that I live in these United States. I have never lived in another country so I cannot compare, but I am grateful to live here instead of in places desperate for the freedoms we so often take for granted. Being born here is both a privilege and a responsibility. Celebrating July 4 humbles me. We as Americans are in a sense “trustees” of this great heritage of freedom that has been given to us.
THE “GROUND RULES” FOR LIBERTY
Historian Page Smith writes that this country was formed out of certain ideas, ideas about humanity and how people can best live with each other.[2] Central to our foundational documents were two important “Big Ideas.” You might call these Big Ideas the “ground rules” for liberty, the foundations that established the United States. The first Big Idea is at the heart of the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This central idea is that every human being has dignity and worth, an idea that grows directly from the Jewish and Christian teaching that every person is made in the image of God, is loved unconditionally by God, and deserves respect, freedom, and protection.
The second Big Idea is critical to guaranteeing the dignity of every human. The second Big Idea is that humans are flawed, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is also a Christian idea. Although every human should be treated with dignity and respect, humans are also flawed creations bent on selfishness and the pursuit of power. This idea is embedded all throughout our Constitution, which is a beautifully crafted scheme of checks and balances so that no person, party, or group gains too much power. James Madison, the brilliant drafter of the Constitution, recognized that a government must always be careful to protect those who are not in the majority: “Madison’s exegesis is his view of the extreme precariousness of all political arrangements. While none could be perfect, the best must somehow provide a kind of antidote to human selfishness.”[3]
PRESERVING OUR LIBERTY
How do we preserve our freedoms, our liberty? American history has in one way or another been the struggle to preserve the freedom and dignity for every person, regardless of race, gender, class, or any other distinction. As Martin Luther King, Jr. had so eloquently called for in his “I Have a Dream” speech, through much struggle that same check drawn on the Declaration must be allowed to be cashed by all people.
This is where the church, the people of God, can and must make a real impact on our communities and even on the future of the United States. Just as the teachings of Jesus and the work of the Spirit through Christians throughout history have transformed society, so the Spirit working through the church has fueled social changes in American history to help ensure liberty for people of all races, color, creed, and gender. Notable examples include the abolition of slavery, prison reform, women’s rights, and the civil rights movement.
Is it possible that you and I, as people redeemed by Jesus, can be used by God in this generation, in our divided time? I think so, but it begins by recognizing two other important ideas. These two other ideas come straight from Scripture, and they help preserve liberty.
LOVE OF COUNTRY, NOT POLITICAL IDOLATRY
Although no nation (nor any human for that matter) is without faults, America has a rich history and has a critical role in supporting freedom and democracy in our world today. It is a good thing to love this country and to show honor to our heroes where honor is due. It is a good thing to honor and emulate the noble accomplishments in our history, while at the same time recognizing and learning from America’s mistakes.
While love of country is good, if it is not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus, it can become a god in itself, and this is especially so when power becomes more important than principal. As C. S. Lewis said, love of country can become “a demon when it becomes a god.”[4] I think this is the first thing we must recognize: when Christians become too aligned with any one political party, there is a grave danger in becoming just another tool to be used by politicians. Politicians have always recognized the power of religion and have tried to use it to further their own political purposes. Christians should be suspicious and critical of politics and should not hesitate to renounce politicians who lie, belittle, or cause unnecessary divisions. The church should be the “conscience of the state,” not the lackey of any politician.
As N.T. Wright reminds us:
As Christians, our role in society is not to wring our hands at the corruption of power or simply pick a candidate that supports one or another supposedly Christian policy. The Christian role, as part of naming the name of the crucified and risen Jesus on territory presently occupied by idols, is to speak the truth to power and especially to speak up for those with no power at all.[5]
ALL PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD
Part of our role in preserving liberty is also to remember that this world matters, and that what happens to all people in this world desperately matters to God. One cannot read the Torah (particularly Deuteronomy) or the Old Testament prophets without realizing that God hates religion that is divorced from the love and care of all people, particularly the poor and marginalized. The prophet Jeremiah told King Jehoahaz that to care for people was what it meant to know God and to govern well: “ ‘Do no wrong or violence to the resident immigrant, the fatherless, the widow…Your father [King Josiah] gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?’ says the Lord. ‘But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly’” (Jer. 22:16-17; see also, e.g., Isaiah 1:16-23; 3:5; 10:1; Jer. 5:27-29; 9:23,24; Amos 2:6; Hosea 4:1; 6:5,6).
As Christians, we pray that God’s will be done “on earth at is it in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). That includes having the same burning compassion God has for all people. As Kaitlynn Schiess writes, a type of “spiritualizing” of our faith has blinded our eyes “to see the material and social commands that the New Testament gives the church—to fight prejudice and classism (1 Cor. 11:18-22); rectify injustices (Acts 6:1-7); oppose racism (Eph. 2:11-22), and prioritize the needs of the poor (James 2:1-12).”[6]
As Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool….But if the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace.[7]
LIVING OUT THE REIGN OF JESUS IN THE UNITED STATES
Jesus said his disciples are both the salt and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-16). Salt to preserve and restore; light to reflect the ways of God so that people can see the way to God. The community of Jesus is an alternative community, different from the power-hungry, ruthless world, but also praying for and loving that world. We know that God is King, and he has brought his reign through the power of his love, not the love of power. As Wright notes:
At the heart of the gospel is a redefinition of power. The gospel of Jesus summons us to believe that the power of self-giving love unveiled on the cross is the real thing, the real power that made the world in the first place and is now in the business of remaking it; and that the other forms of “power,” the corrupt and self-serving ways in which the world is so often run are the distortion. A central part of our vocation is, prayerfully and thoughtfully, to remind people with power, both official (government ministers) and unofficial (backstreet bullies), that there is a different way to be human. A true way. The Jesus way.[8]
This July 4th, go out and celebrate our freedoms! And thank God for freedom and for all those in our history who, through their character and selflessness, have suffered to preserve that freedom for us.
*Portions of this blog were taken from my blog posted on June 28, 2023.
[1] While this quote is often attributable to Alexis de Tocqueville, there is no evidence he actually said or wrote it. Historians have traced it back to a book published in 1835 by Andrew Reed and James Matheson, British ministers who had visited the United States.
[2] Page Smith, The Shaping of America: A People’s History of the Young Republic (Vol. 3) (Penguin, 1980), xx.
[3] Smith, 71.
[4] C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (New York: Hartcourt and Brace, 1960), 39.
[5] N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion (HarperOne, 2016), 400.
[6] Kaitlynn Schiess, The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of our Neighbor (IVP, 2020), 80.
[7] Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (Fortress Press, 1970), 64.
[8] Wright, 401.