Faithful Celebrations

We celebrate the birth of a nation this month. For some, it is such an important a celebration as to compete with their Christian faith. For others, it is even more important than their faith. Others cannot see a difference between one and the other. Celebrating a national holiday is not a problem. Confusing a national holiday with Christianity, however, raises all sorts of flags.

One church I served had a rotating system of who was in charge of special music for the month. I was not kept in the loop, but for the most part, that was not an issue. Then one Sunday around July 4th, the special music for the service began with the national anthem. Okay, no big deal, at least the anthem made some reference to God. Then the music continued. The choir sang the anthems for each branch of the US military, including the Coast Guard, followed by a medley of armed services anthems. By the time the special music was over, the time frame allotted for worship was over. It had taken up more than half of the service. I closed the service with no sermon, Scripture reading, or congregational hymn, moving straight to the benediction.

I was at a loss as to how to proceed. This was the first Anglo congregation I had served as pastor. I had never experienced anything anywhere close to this worship of the state before. The message was clear that the congregation held their patriotism far ahead of any Christian identity. That congregation was not quite composed of Christian nationalists, but they were close to it. Their faith was fused with their national identity and perhaps subservient to their allegiance to the state.

Rather than forcing their brand of faith upon the state as a tool for advancing God’s Reign (that would be Christian nationalism), they were bringing their patriotic worship into the church to set God aside. That was probably not the overt intent, but it was the message communicated.

Neither approach is appropriate. Serving as pastor for a diverse Latino congregation, I would never have considered tailoring a service to celebrate the US’s independence, nor that of Mexico, Peru, Colombia, or Argentina. The shared faith of the congregation necessarily stretched beyond any particular nationalism. A service might reference a special day in a national calendar, but no one would view government as an instrument for advancing God’s Reign.

That’s the major problem with Christian nationalism. It does not care enough about the character of the gospel. It’s major concern is wielding the power of the state. As long as it retains the name Christian, that power can be used for whatever purpose, independently of God’s purposes. At the end of the day, it’s not Christian at all. It is simply nationalism parading as Christianity. Christian faith is not built by wielding political power. It advances on the power of love.

We have much to celebrate. Our greatest celebration, however, should always be the riches of God’s love and grace in Christ Jesus.



— ©Copyright 2023, Christopher B. Harbin 



http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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