Christ First and Your Country Is Important Too

Photo by Vladislav Klapin

“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the [Jewish people] for the truthfulness of God in order to confirm the promises to the (Jewish) ancestors, and as a result the (other) nations may glorify God for (God’s) mercy.” –The Apostle Paul (Romans 15:8–9)

“I call myself a nationalist, but my nationalism is as wide as the universe; it embraces all nations. My nationalism includes the prosperity of all nations. . . . I want a strong India able to transfuse its strength to other nations.” –Mahatma Gandhi (quoted in “Autobiography of a Yogi”)

I have known people who possess poor relationships with their family and, often enough, for very understandable reasons. But notwithstanding these cases, to be frank, I am suspect of people who do not have a natural affinity for their own family members—that is, who do not prioritize their concern for parents, children, siblings, etc.

Jesus did teach that his followers, over against his biological relatives, foremost represented his family. Yet, while he was suffering on the cross, he directed one of his disciples to care for his mother in his absence as if she were the disciple’s own (John 19:25–27). Jesus was clearly not aloof to the proper human impulse to uniquely love, respect, and support members of one’s own immediate social group, which is, moreover, assumed in the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1–3; see also especially 1 Timothy 5:8 and Galatians 6:10).

Beyond more immediate family, I am similarly suspect of people who do not seemingly have a love for their own country. That is, persons who do not see their country’s particular history, traditions, prosperity, and protection as having any special significance to them—persons who are not, then, patriotic.

I would initially point out here that Jesus understood the beneficiaries of his mission to be firstly his own people, the nation of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Paul, the Jewish “apostle to the (other) nations,” likewise understood the significance of his own ministry and the gospel itself to be firstly for Israel (Romans 1:16; 11:1–5, 11–27).

Yes, both the formation and actions of modern nation-states, let alone the nations of old, invariably include morally troubling dimensions. Nations can commit atrocities against other nations and their governments can do harm towards even those living within their borders. Indeed, Israel’s history recorded in the Bible portrays them as both the victim of other nations’ violence and the perpetrators of such.

But the biblical vision of justice is found neither in the demise of Israel nor that of the other nations. Rather, it is found in both Israel and the other nations once and for all coming to obey God’s instructions for all humankind, and thus peace finally prevailing throughout the world (see especially Isaiah 2:1–4). As Paul says in the book of Acts, God “made all the nations” and “appointed . . . the boundaries of their land” (Acts 17:26 NIV). A multiplicity of nations is, then, part of God’s (good) design for creation.

I am an American Patriot. I am also a Christian. My highest allegiance is to Jesus Christ and the people of God. But, notwithstanding its ills, I also have an allegiance to my own country. That doesn’t mean I should overlook my country’s wrongdoing (no more than its right-doing!), or that I view human dignity and individual rights as subordinate to the collective interests of the nation in which I live (I do not!). It does mean, however, that, despite its problems, I identify as a member of it, deeply respect its traditions, and seek its greatest good.

According to the biblical record, an early attempt at “globalism” appears in Genesis chapter 11, in the tower of Babel story. Here, the peoples of the world are portrayed as coming together as “one.” But this development is viewed as a problem by God. That much power being consolidated among a single group would certainly lead to trouble. God’s response was to confuse their sole language. Because they could no longer communicate with each other, the people are dispersed, and an unhealthy exercise of human power is diffused (Genesis 11:1–9).

In Acts, we read a story that puts a twist on the events surrounding Babel. As the story goes, the first group of Jewish Christ followers were awaiting the promised coming of God’s Spirit who would empower their mission to make disciples (Acts 1:4–8). When the Spirit suddenly came, Jews from different parts of the Greco Roman world who had been gathering in Jerusalem for the annual Feast of Pentecost found that they could then, miraculously, hear everyone speaking in their own languages “about the wonderful things God has done!” (Acts 2:5–11 NLT).

What’s important here is that rather than being made to now speak only one language, and in this way understand the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection and universal lordship, they could understand a multiplicity of languages. The unmistakable idea is that the social particularities of the people participating in this phenomenon were preserved even as they embraced the good news concerning Jesus.

In other words, the universal scope of the gospel is shown to embrace our differences. A consistent theme that we see throughout the New Testament is that the unity and equality for which the gospel calls necessarily exists amidst the diversity of peoples. The justice that it will ultimately achieve will, once more, include rather than do away with the many nations of the world. In all, loving your country and identifying with it are not merely compatible with Christianity, but implications of it. Happy Independence Day!