July 4, Patriotism, and Identity in Christ
July 4 is approaching, and we will celebrate our independence as Americans. I love July 4! I love the fireworks, being with my family, and grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. I love being able to celebrate living in this incredible country where I am free to worship Christ and pursue God’s calling on my life.
I am grateful for those who have given their lives to secure our independence and freedom, and I appreciate those who have served and are currently serving in our military to ensure those freedoms continue.
I love the United States of America, and I would not want to live anywhere else. Many of you feel the same way and look forward to celebrating on July 4 as well.
However, as we commemorate our citizenship as Americans, may we not place more value on being American citizens over citizens of heaven.
CITIZENS OF HEAVEN
As believers in Christ, our primary identity is found in being citizens of heaven.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he says, “For our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20)
This is particularly important for those who lived in the colony of Philippi at this time. See, Philippi was a colony of actual citizens of Rome. Why is this important? Well, not all people who had been conquered by the Roman Empire during this time lived as actual citizens, but the people here did, which meant they got special privileges as actual citizens.
So, the people in Philippi were grateful for their citizenship, and they showed allegiance to Rome. They took pride in being citizens of the Roman Empire. You might even say that most of them found their identity in being Roman citizens.
Therefore, when Paul writes to them and teaches them that their citizenship was in heaven, that was a big deal. He was saying that they may be citizens of Rome who live in Philippi, but their primary citizenship was found in heaven.
But how is that possible? If heaven is a place people go when they die, then how could Paul say that they were already a citizen of heaven now?
SPIRITUAL CITIZENS
Paul was saying that the believers in Philippi were already citizens of heaven because they were spiritually seated there with Christ.
He mentions this in several places in Scripture.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)
Paul says, “You have been (past tense) raised with Christ.” In other words, you are already spiritually seated in heaven. Your citizenship resides in heaven with Jesus.
Paul says something very similar in Ephesians 2.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus… (Ephesians 2:6)
Paul says that they may live physically here in this world, but they are already spiritually seated in heaven with Jesus. They are citizens of God’s Kingdom.
Paul isn’t the only one to talk about this in the Bible. Look at what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9-12.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God…11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners”… (1 Peter 2:9-12)
Peter tells them that they are no longer primarily identified as citizens of this world, but that they are temporary residents of this world because their ultimate citizenship is now in heaven.
AMBASSADORS OF HEAVEN
As temporary residents and foreigners in this world, that makes us ambassadors. Paul highlights this in 2 Corinthians 5.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
As believers in Christ, we are no longer primary citizens of this world or whatever country we live in, but rather ambassadors of heaven.
We live in this world as a citizen of heaven and represent where we are now ultimately from to those who live in this world.
So, you and I may live in the United States of America, and we may be a citizen of this country; however, it is no longer our primary citizenship. Our primary citizenship is found in heaven.
In other words, we are not “American Christians.” We are Christians who live in America as ambassadors of heaven.
Jesus is living in us and through us to show His love, mercy, and grace to those in America (and around the world) who have not received it yet.
HOW DO WE LIVE AS AMBASSADORS OF HEAVEN IN AMERICA?
WE WORSHIP CHRIST, NOT AMERICA
While it is certainly appropriate to celebrate our citizenship as American citizens and the freedoms we have, many Christians seem to take it further.
The way I see many believers talk about their American citizenship, patriotism, and political ideologies, it looks like worship. It seems like we sometimes feel like we need America to matter and be significant because we are drawing our meaning and purpose from being U.S. citizens over and above citizens of heaven. This leads us to worship our country over Jesus.
I’ve even seen local churches who refer to themselves as the “Patriot Church.” This places our patriotism on the level of idolatry.
We are first and foremost citizens of heaven, and the King of the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus. He is who we worship, and He is who we draw our meaning and purpose from.
We can love America and be grateful for where God has placed us as ambassadors, but as we look at the way we are celebrating our freedoms, if it creeps into more of a worship of America over Christ, then that is probably not coming from Jesus but our flesh and the ruler of this world.
WE VALUE, LOVE, AND SERVE ALL PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES
Sometimes it feels like when we celebrate being from America that we do so in an exalted prideful way as if to say we are better than the other parts of the world. We see ourselves as greater people in some way and look down on other countries and those who live there.
But again, if we see our primary identity as being an American citizen then we will need to act as if we are better than those around the world because it would be how we find our meaning and purpose. With this mentality, the rest of the world is our enemy.
But did you know that you have more in common with someone who is Christian and a citizen of China (or any other country) than with someone who is not a Christian and is an American citizen?
It’s true because our identity is found in who we are in Christ, and if our primary identity is found in being a citizen of heaven, then we can humbly celebrate where we live and still value, love, and serve people all over the world.
Matthew 28 tells us that we are to “go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS.”
We are to value the people in other places as those created in the image of God, and we are to love them and serve them, not lord it over them.
And as we keep our focus on Christ and who we are in Him, then He will lead us to do just that.
GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES, NOT YOUR VERSION OF BETTER AMERICAN CITIZENS
Let’s be honest, we all have our own version of what it looks like to be the best American citizen we could be.
We all have our thoughts on what political party you should belong to, what you do or don’t do with the flag, what you do or don’t do with the National Anthem, and how you support or don’t support certain groups in the country.
And for many of us, even as Christians, it seems like the primary goal we have in life is to convince people we are right about the best way to live as an American citizen and to bring them over to our way of thinking and doing things.
We make comments about these things in our conversations with other people. We make post after post on social media about all the wrong ways people are living as American citizens and about the right way to do things as American citizens.
Many of us spend a lot of time talking about and posting about how bad people are who associate with a certain political party and the policies they want to implement. We gang up with as many people who believe the same way about these kinds of things as we do, and we talk about these other people with pure hatred and as if they are our enemies.
But here is the truth. . . you have more in common with someone who is a Christian and not part of your political party than you do with someone who is not a Christian and a member of your political party. And even if someone is not a Christian, Jesus will always lead you and me to love, serve, and point them to His grace.
Unfortunately, that is not how we tend to see it. Instead, we focus so much of our time on trying to convince people how they could be better American citizens. In other words, we are spending most of our time trying to make disciples of America (our version of it) instead of making disciples of Christ.
When we do this kind of thing, that is a reflection of not understanding our true identity. That is a misunderstanding of our primary identity being a citizen of America instead of being a citizen of heaven.
And when we understand that, then we will begin to see the shift from spending all of our energy trying to convince people about the best way to live as American citizens to spending our time and energy allowing Christ to work in us and through us to make disciples of Him.
CONCLUSION
So, let’s celebrate July 4 with zeal. Let’s celebrate the freedoms we have and the people who have given their lives in service to our country to provide the freedoms we do have. Let’s be grateful for the place the Lord allows us to live in and how He wants us to live as citizens of this country He has placed us in.
But let’s not worship America over Christ. Let’s not live in pride and exalt ourselves over people in other parts of the world. Let’s look for Jesus to make disciples through us instead of us trying to make better American citizens.
Let’s be about His Kingdom work that He is doing in and through us in our country and all throughout the world.
