Should Christians Be Patriotic?
As we look toward July 4th here in the U.S., I know some Christians struggle to process how exactly they should feel about such patriotic holidays. And frankly, other Christians could do with a bit more struggling. I wanted to offer five brief thoughts from Scripture that, together, form the fabric of how I think about patriotism and Christian faithfulness, especially on holidays like the 4th. 1. Our Citizenship Is In Heaven The most important thing Scripture says about any national identity is that it is relativized by God’s kingdom. We are citizens of heaven, migrants and exiles on earth, in this world but of the world to come (Philippians 3:20, 1 Peter 2:11, Hebrews 11:13-16, John 17:14-19). As such, our devotion and loyalty to any earthly power should come with a huge asterisk. Our first allegiance is not to our country. It isn’t even a tie or a close second. Jesus and His priorities should define us, regardless of when and where we live on earth. If our hope is in political leader...
