Recently I read about celebrities who are “embarrassed to be an American.”
I, on the other hand, get goosebumps when I hear “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I feel the urge to sing along to the tune of “God Bless America.”
So, on this 250th celebration of our country, yes, I feel patriotic.
I love my country—not with a haughty arrogance that excludes others. Not with a heart that seeks to justify or overlook its failures.
I love the principles on which our country was founded.
Core Values
America is not a “Christian nation”; it is not a theocracy. A true belief in Jesus Christ can’t be forced, anyway. True Christianity is not a mental assent to a religion; it’s a transformation of the heart that cannot be coerced. So, in the USA, our Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion.
But America was founded on core values that have their roots in Christianity. Our Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Using words like “self-evident” presupposes an acceptance of common values. Where did we get the idea that we’re all created equal?
All humans are created in the image of God (imago dei).
The concept comes from the Judeo-Christian belief that human life is sacred because every human being is created in the image of God. That is, we share traits in common with our Creator: the ability to reason, the capacity to love, the awareness of right and wrong, the ingenuity to invent and design, and the job of stewarding creation.
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 ESV
All human life is equally valuable.
Not all civilizations held the belief that all human life is equally valuable. In the Roman empire, where Christianity took root, males had power over females, and free men had more value than slaves. Infanticide was widely practiced. In fact, the earliest codification of Roman law made it mandatory for a father to kill his visibly deformed newborn.
The Apostle Paul, as a Roman citizen, made the bold statement about Christianity: ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
God is the One who endows us with equal rights.
The government doesn’t bestow equal rights. The Declaration of Independence says our equality comes from our Creator.
A Nation that Wrestles
Through the last 250 years, we’ve struggled to live up to our core values. Our “founding fathers,” the signers of the Declaration of Independence, had lofty ideals for this new nation of ours. But in their personal lives, they didn’t always live up to those ideals.
As a nation, we went to war to prove that “all men” meant men of every color.
Later, our nation wrestled with idea that “all men” actually meant “all humans.” The Bible gives examples of how Jesus valued, befriended, and elevated women. Women are equal in importance, so, we’ve had to amend our Constitution to better reflect our true values.
And today, we still wrestle to live up to the core values rooted in Christian beliefs.
We ask difficult questions.
What happens when one individual’s right to life infringes on another’s right to pursue happiness?
If someone has the right to pursue their own brand of happiness, does another person have the liberty to say they disapprove?
Do we protect the liberty of all people, even those who deny others the right to life and pursuit of happiness? Those who steal and kill, those who abuse and defraud and devalue others?
Grateful to Be an American
I thank God for the freedoms I have as an American.
Here in America, with all our divisions and dissentions, we still have the right to assemble, to speak freely, and to seek truth. We have the right to disagree.
Happiness is not guaranteed. Prosperity is not promised. But here in America, we have the freedom to pursue happiness and economic stability.
That freedom doesn’t equal entitlement. Rather, it comes with responsibility. We have the freedom and responsibility to find meaningful work so we can support our families. This aligns with biblical teaching; each of us should work to earn our own living. (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12)
Praying for Our Country
This July 4th, on America’s 250th birthday, many of us will freely gather with friends and family. We’ll enjoy an abundance of food, and we’ll openly engage in conversations about our beliefs, our opinions, and our viewpoints on events in our country.
As my friends and I gather, we’ll also pray. We’ll ask God to guide our leaders, protect our country, and preserve our freedom so we may continue to live in peace and freely share our faith.
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV
May we never forget our Creator, and may we never take those freedoms for granted.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to get teary-eyed when I hear, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.”
I pray that those who are ashamed of their country will realize what a privilege they have to express that opinion.
Flag images courtesy of Aaron Burden and Christina Glebova on Unsplash
Jet image courtesy of Joe Desousa on Unsplash
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