In my first church out of seminary, I preached a sermon in which I mentioned specific atrocities of the 20th century as illustrations of human sinfulness. After the service a man came up to me livid that I had singled out Nazi Germany as an example of evil. Flummoxed, I asked him, how could he possibly object to that?
He had been a 16-year-old Austrian drafted by the Nazis in 1945 but who never saw the battlefield before the war ended. He was shipped off by the Soviets to a gulag along with thousands of other draftees where they experienced years of deprivation, forced labor, and torture. With emotion, he recalled the period after World War II in which millions of ethnic Germans were displaced and persecuted across Eastern Europe simply for being German.
Historians estimate that anywhere from 500,000 to three million ethnic Germans died as a result of this anti-German persecution. Many died from direct political violence as vengeance for what the Nazis had done. This man’s point was not that the Holocaust was not wicked, but that many Germans suffered who were not complicit in their government’s atrocities.
Sin not only separates us from the love of God, but it causes divisions between humans as well. The pages of Scripture are filled with examples of divisions between families, tribes, and nations as a result of Adam’s fall. One of the primary reasons for these sinful divisions is the tendency towards partiality and partisan bias, which makes us quick to point out the faults of other groups while turning a blind eye towards our own.
The good news is that Christ Jesus came into the world to forgive the sins of those who believe in him and to bring about a new community, the Church. By his Spirit, Jesus removes the dividing walls that naturally set people apart and create hostility. He gives us a meal where we put our knees under the same table, where we identify with him and each other. There is now neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) All who believe are included as equals in Christ’s kingdom by grace.
This is why Paul condemned the Corinthians for excluding the poor at the Lord’s Table (I Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:17-33), and James warned about partiality (2:1-9). Jesus called both Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot as apostles, requiring them to put aside their political differences for a greater kingdom. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, for Christ’s kingdom would not advance by human force, but only by the preaching of the gospel to needy sinners.
The church is a colony of heaven whose members are marked by their shared unity in Christ, not class or nationality. Like John’s heavenly vision, when the world looks at the church, they should see people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)
And yet here, as members of Christ’s church, we are still citizens of particular lands. The Reformed tradition, via the Westminster Confession of Faith, has always permitted Christians to serve as magistrates, including the bearing of arms for national defense (Romans 13:1-7; WCF 23.2). As a veteran of the armed forces, I am proud of my service to our country. Commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1989, I served in an infantry battalion during Desert Storm, where I witnessed firsthand the sad price paid by Iraqi soldiers pressed into service by a dictator concerned only for his own power.
Through it all, I understood my love for country and love for Christ to be fully compatible.
Chris Hutchinson | “The Limits Of Patriotism” | July 13, 2024
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Very kind, thank you for posting, Scott.
Thanks for your good work!
Thanks for clearly stating that our loyalty is first and foremost to King Jesus. Many have been duped into believing that the defense of a “Christian” nation is a Christian duty at all costs.
It may be that what is perceived as defense of a ” Christian” nation, is in fact love of God and of neighbor. When we speak of a brother or sister being duped, we make assumptions which may in fact be false.
I am reminded of the words of Machen in Christianity and Liberalism;
“It is usually considered good practice to examine a thing for one’s self before echoing the vulgar ridicule of it.”
Before we throw to the wolves, those for whom Christ died, we ought be sure we are speaking the truth.
Phil,
Can you elaborate, i.e., articulate more fully what you mean by “what is perceived as a defense”? E.g., are you suggesting that people are defending Christian Nationalism?
Are you suggesting that we can’t criticize Christian Nationalism because advocates are Christians?
Hope you are not equating loyalty to Jesus with loyalty to country. There’s danger in interpreting nationalism (be it “Christian” or something else) as “love of God and of neighbor”.
Mitiku,
I think Chris is doing just the opposite.
See our resource page on so-called Christian Nationalism:
https://heidelblog.net/christian-nationalism
Thanks, Scott.
Great to read Chris Hutchinson’s article. It seems to me that he strikes the right path for us as ministers, elders, and church members.