Tomorrow we celebrate the 4th of July and there will be expressions of patriotism everywhere, as it should be. But as Christians expressing love for our country, do we really love America, or just the idea of America?
I just returned from hanging out with some folks in inner city Montgomery. They are doing ministry in a really bad part of town and I am joining them. We were talking about the neighborhood and they told me that within a few blocks, there are eight traditional, building-oriented churches, many of them Baptist and conservative theologically. In those few blocks there are also crack houses, gangs, prostitutions, other illegal drugs, family breakdown, school drop outs, joblessness, immorality, prostitution, etc. I asked them what the "churches" were doing and they said, "nothing." They just meet on Sundays and do not interact with the community. The people in bondage to sin think that they know what Christianity is about, but they do not know its power. They have been innoculated against it.
So, when does loving America mean that the Church will truly turn our hearts toward the cities and bring hope and deliverance? Do we think that our God is so anemic that He cannot change our cities and neighborhoods? Is He ineffective, or have we just lost our hope, our courage, and the power of God? Isaiah 61:1-4 tells us that we will be restored by the Lord and will become oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. Then, it says that those who have been restored will "rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." Exactly when are we going to take this seriously and be a part of what God wants to do in our land? When will we stop condemning and running away and start rebuilding and restoring? I know that many people are doing this and I praise God. The Church is awakening, I feel, to it's role as restorer of places long devastated.
True patriots are those who do more than dress up in red, white, and blue and wave the flag. They are those who love America as it is and actually love it enough to see her people in need and do something about it. This is happening in the floods in the Midwest and it happened after Katrina on the Gulf Coast. It happens everytime we give ourselves away for others. I cannot say that I love humanity if I do not love individuals. I cannot say that I love America if I do not weep over her sins and cry out to God to heal her brokenness and be a part of bringing that healing to those in need, whether rich or poor. Loving America does not mean that I love a make-believe version of our country rooted in an idyllic past. Loving America means that I take her as she is and re-introduce her to Jesus, one person, one home, one neighborhood, and one city at a time. Loving America means that I love her as Jesus would love her - sacrificially, laying down my life for her and her people - not just loving what she provides me.
Do we really love America? If we love God then we will love people, and that's where it all starts.
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