I’ve been wrestling with a thought for a while. I have wanted to write about it for a long time now but debated how it would be received. I think it’s finally got to the point where I no longer care because it needs to be said (or re-said because I’m sure I’m not the first to say it). We are at the point that our Vice President is quoting Bible verses and replacing the name of Jesus with the American flag. I think there is a simple truth that we need to admit as a country.
The United States of America is not the nation of Israel.
Our nation is not God’s chosen people. We need to stop thinking God wants us to “get back” to being a Christian nation. I can’t find a single Bible verse that would support the claim that we are to be a Christian nation. I don’t see a single command from Jesus that would support that claim.
Heading into another election in a few months, the rhetoric gets louder than usual. We are told we have to support the politicians that will make the laws that make us more Christian (how does that even work). We are told that in order to fix the wrong in this world, we must get back to the Christian nation we once were (we should probably look a little closer at history for that claim but that is a rabbit trail for another post). I am not saying that we shouldn’t vote for people who uphold the values we hold true, but we do need to remember that the most important value in the eyes of Jesus is loving others.
We need to stop trying to make America a Christian nation by laws and instead make it a Christian nation by love. I know it is a crazy idea, but what if we just loved people instead of trying to force them to live a certain way? What if we loved people instead of painting “the other side” as this big bad monster that came straight from Hell and is wrecking the nation? David French wrote an article recently showing that historically the President (and most politicians on a national level) has very little impact of the abortion rate (you can view the article and the data he uses to support his claim HERE). Laws don’t equal love and Jesus didn’t send us out to the world to create them.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18:20 (NIV)
I’m not supporting anarchy here. Laws have a place in our society but as Christians our goal should not be to create them to force people to live the “Christian way.” America is not Israel. We never were and we will never be. Jesus died to bring all nations to Him. We should do the same. We don’t need to get back to being a Christian nation. We need to get back to Jesus.
until next time…