Friday, August
4, 2017
The Lord says, “People of Israel, you are my
servants. People of Jacob, I chose you. You are from the family of my friend Abraham. I took you from places far away on the earth and
called you from a faraway country. I
said, ‘You are my servants.’ I have
chosen you and have not turned against you.
So don’t worry, because I am with you.
Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my
right hand that saves you. Isaiah
41:8-10(NCV)
God’s promise to
Abraham was this: “At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons had the same father, our father
Isaac. But before the two boys were
born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.” This was before the boys had done anything
good or bad. God said this so that the
one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God
wanted to call, not because of anything he did. Romans 9:9-12(NCV)
In a recent
article my friend and fellow UMC pastor, Drew McIntyre, made the point that
Christians who are not careful about it can fall into the trap of patriotism gone bad! This is a condition that occurs when being patriotic (loving your
country, because there is an intrinsic goodness in its DNA, such as fairness, justice,
and lofty goals, only achievable by self-sacrifice and mercy) turns to nationalism (using the power
of a strong government for selfish reasons).
Now, that’s
my description of the point; here’s how Drew put it:
Our job as Christians is not, first, to make history turn out right.
Let us be known, first, for whose we are, not what we stand
against.[ii]
Both Isaiah
and the apostle Paul underscore the point that God is not interested in our
politics per se; God is
rather, working all things together
for good(Romans 8:28) that agree with His divine plan,
not according to the Republican or Democratic Party platform.
To be a
follower of Jesus Christ often means we are called to swim upstream against the
rushing water of nationalism, or any other kind of ism that would try to co-opt the faith which was once delivered to the saints(Jude
1:3).
The heavyweight
slugfest we are
witnessing in the arenas of the American democratic process are at once
unsettling, disheartening, unraveling to the peace, uncharitable, disingenuous,
arrogant and selfishly dismantling any reason for respect in public
discourse. To the Resolute Desk to the
Seats of Congress, Fox and CNN, may I say, Ladies and Gentlemen…breathe…please!
Just BREATHE! Take a
deep breath away from the vitriol, accusations and childishness; the answer to the
problem of mudslinging is not more
mud!
Godly
purpose is never served well with evil deportment! That is not to say God cannot accomplish His
purpose, even in the face of evil people and behavior, but should we adopt evil
as our methodology for Christ’s mission…or even civil government? I think not, and neither did Paul:
Well then,
should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his
wonderful grace? Romans 6:1(NLT)
If America
is to continue (or perhaps more accurately regain) being worthy of patriotic support, it is time to
quit all this nationalistic pride and look once again to choosing the way of
the cross.
For You Today
Today
I’d like to let my colleague, Drew McIntyre have the last word:
NOTES
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