This is independence week. We need to take some time to celebrate the heritage of our great nation. Last year I wrote some things that I think are pertinent, so I am going to post them again.
Now I know that what I am going to say is probably not a politically correct statement. I know that people from other nations love their country and feel that their nation is great as well. I believe they should. I have traveled to many countries in our world and appreciate their cultures, their history and their people. This does not change the fact that the United States of America has achieved a place in history that no other nation has ever attained. More people want to come to our shores than have ever wanted to come to any nation in history. This nation is unique.
No other nation has obtained the global dominance that the United States has without a doctrine of world conquest. American culture has conquered many parts of the world, but not through war or oppression. It has dominated because of the vast number of people who desire to partake of it. It is, again, not popular to say this but more people in the world want what we have than what their own national culture offers. That is not our fault. Nothing stops other nations from embracing the principles that have produced our culture. As a matter of fact if they would embrace the basic principles that have produced what is the United States, they could easily mold them into their own national culture and create a unique version of this wonderful way of life that we enjoy here.
What are these basic principles? There are many, but they all rest upon one fundamental thing without which the United States of America would not be what it is. Liberty. Liberty is the key. Those who came to this nation came for liberty. Those who founded this nation founded it for liberty. Liberty is not the thing that made the United States what it is, it is the thing that allowed it to become what it is.
As I have been meditating on this I have found that this same liberty is at the foundation of New Testament Christianity. In the verse above Paul boldly states that the Galatian Christians were called to liberty. I believe he is writing to all Christians. The heart of Christianity is liberty. In Paul’s day it was liberty from the Mosaic law which was the religious system that had brought us to Christ. The law gave us rules to live by that regulated behavior outwardly. God had promised that there would be a day when a new covenant would come that would regulate behavior inwardly (Jer. 31:31-34.) Christianity was the fulfillment of that prophecy.
I had a discussion once with a German pastor who could not accept the idea that liberty was a right of man. His problem with liberty was that my liberty might cause him harm. He was right to a degree. The solution to this problem is also in the above verse. Liberty must be tempered by love. His solution was to temper liberty by government. The same argument the Jews used against Paul. This makes liberty subject to law not law subject to liberty. Liberty will always be the casualty. However when we use liberty to serve others then love controls behavior.
This brings me to the final thought I want to share. The United States is not what it is just because of liberty. It is because of liberty nurtured in an environment of Christian love. The Pilgrims that came to the new world in 1620 came to found a colony where loving liberty would reign. The founding fathers, many of which did not support organized religion per se, did stress in their writings that the idea of liberty in America would not work without the controlling factor of the love of God.
Many in the church would say that we should be a Christian nation. I agree if we understand what that means. If we understand what that meant to those who founded our Nation. If it means a theocracy controlled by the church, I don’t agree. Once the church as an entity gains control it will have to put an end to liberty. True Christianity demands a society where men are free to choose their path. Once that is no longer available, once you have to be a Christian, biblical Christianity is dead.
If you mean a nation influenced by Christian principles and where Christians and Christianity have a voice in the public debate then I agree. Without Christian love there would be no United States as we know it. Without the liberty to chose there would be no fertile ground for Christianity to grow and develop. The Pilgrims knew this. The founders knew this. We must continue to make room for the influence of Christian love in the seed bed of liberty to produce an atmosphere where men can reach their highest potential. Where we are free to choose our path and where God is free to deal with the hearts of men everywhere.
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