Today at noon (Washington D. C. time), President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America. The theme of the inauguration will be “America United,” which was a major emphasis of the Biden/Harris campaign. According to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, this theme “reflects the beginning of a new national journey that restores the soul of America, brings the country together, and creates a path to a brighter future.”
That’s a loaded statement, and given Biden’s checklist for his first day in office, our nation’s journey toward unity and a brighter future may be a long one.
In fact, the only nation that will ever unify all of its citizens and give them a bright future in the ultimate sense is the “holy nation” of “God’s own special people” — those he called “out of darkness and into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9). The subjects of God’s eternal kingdom are those who, by grace through faith, have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (Eph. 2:8-10). He is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). The apostle Paul reminds us, “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).
So in a very real sense, Christians are dual citizens. We are citizens of God’s kingdom, and we are citizens of the earthly nation to which we belong. For this reason we are to “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” (1 Pet. 3:13), to pray for our governmental leaders for the sake of the gospel (1 Tim. 2:1-4), to pay “taxes to whom taxes are owed” (Rom. 13:7), “to be obedient, to be ready for every good work … and to show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:1-2). These are some of our primary biblical responsibilities as Christians in relation to human government.
But is there also biblical support for patriotism? Theologian Wayne Grudem seems to think so, and I’m inclined to agree. Not a blind patriotism, but a genuine patriotism, “which always seeks to promote the good of the nation [and] would honestly criticize the government and its leaders when they do things contrary to biblical moral standards.” [Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible, p. 109]
The Old Testament saint Job affirmed that God “makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away” (Job 12:23). Grudem rightly notes,
One benefit of the existence of nations is that they divide and disperse government power throughout the earth. In this way they prevent the rule of any one worldwide dictator, which would be more horrible than any single evil government, both because it would affect everyone on earth and because there would be no other nation that could challenge it. History has shown repeatedly that rulers with unchecked and unlimited power become more and more corrupt.
God not only establishes nations, but he also enriches them through the wholesome influence of his people. When the Lord sent the people of Israel into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Lord said, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:7).
So God’s establishment of individual nations, coupled with the biblical commands to pray and give thanks for our government leaders, to show proper respect and support for them, along with a readiness to do good and seek the welfare of the nation where God has placed us – all indicate that Christians can be true patriots, even as we testify that we are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13) and that our ultimate allegiance is to Christ and his kingdom.
Tomorrow, in part 2 of this article, we’ll consider seven benefits of patriotism. In the meantime, let us pray today for the peaceful transfer of power and for God’s continued blessings on the United States of America, so that we might be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.