The Wonder and Weight of Being Born American

Here on July 4th I thought I would take the few quiet moments I have before heading out to blow stuff up (in celebration of the freedom to blow stuff up, of course), to do what every other blogger is doing – comment on America.

 I was born in Turkey, but only because my father was in the Air Force. We moved to Montana when I was a year old (they have lots of missile silos there), and I graduated from Great Falls High. So now you know two important things: I grew up in a military family and a fairly small, reasonably isolated city in the middle of the plains (the only thing historically notable about my home town is that Lewis and Clark had to take their boats out of the Missouri there and portage around the giant waterfalls).

I’ve spent the last 16 years of my life in Western Washington, mostly in the Seattle area. So in the next two years, that balance will tip, and I will have spent half my life in each place – both of which have radically different views on America and what it means to be an American.

You also know (unless this is your first visit), that I am a disciple of Jesus and have spent the last 16 years pursuing and practicing pastoral ministry. So I have what may be considered three potentially conflicting views on the nation I didn’t choose to be born in, but am proud to call my country.

It’s popular today to say incendiary things about America. Phrases like “imperialism”, “injustice”, “oppression” and “downright mean” have been used to describe our nation. On the other side of the fence are died in the wool patriot types who respond with, “America – love it or leave it!” and the like. As followers of Christ, we can find in our ranks those who adhere to each extreme – those who see America as a land of great evil and injustice, and those who see her as God’s new chosen people, incapable of doing any wrong.

I don’t identify with either extreme. I love America, but my devotion to my country is limited by the nature of what America is – a human nation. While I could make the case that the American Experiment is one of the freest, fairest, and just forms of government ever conceived, at the end of the day, it is still only an earthly kingdom.

As followers of Christ, our first allegiance is not to a country, a flag, a system of government, a history, an ideology, a political party, or a group of people – it is to the Creator and His kingdom. This is why Jesus taught us to pray for His kingdom to come and why he actively rejected the zealot and nationalist arguments that His purpose as Messiah was to overthrow Rome and “restore the kingdom to Israel.” His mission was to open the doors of the Kingdom to come to everyone who would hear, receive, and live by His words.

As such, our primary concern is for ALL the people of the world, not just the people of America. Our mission is not to propagate a government, a culture, or a way of life. It is to carry the life-giving words of Jesus to the ends of the earth, to make disciples in every nation, and wait expectantly for the return of our King.

This does not mean, however, that we disconnect from our country or culture (as so many Christians have tried to do). It does not mean that we can’t see the positive in our nation and celebrate its strengths. It DOES mean that this are not the things we live and die for.

So this doesn’t get TOO long, allow me to post some random rants in the form of bullet points – here is what I am thinking:

• Americans have a free and prosperous culture. This is a potentially great benefit to the cause of Christ. I believe we who are given such incredible resources should not feel guilty, but rather blessed and also do everything in our power to maximize the resources we have been given to serve the cause of Christ. The New Testament teaches us the we are all given different measures of grace, and those who receive much will be held responsible for what they do with it. This is a great privilege and a great responsibility.
   
• America is not without faults and far from perfect, and pointing out that fact is not un-patriotic. In a free society, we should hold our leaders to a high standard and speak out when they deviate from that standard.
   
• Our goal as people of faith is not to make a “more Christian” nation – it is to use the freedoms we have to tell everyone we can of true freedom and hope in Jesus – to use our freedom to fulfill Christ’s commands. From that perspective, I am thankful to be an American and have the immense opportunities we have.
   
• Jesus did not die to form the United States. We, like every other nation, will be judged by our actions, and must walk humbly in light of that.
   
• As a follower of Jesus, I do not revel in or celebrate war, I pray for peace. But I also recognize that in a fallen world, the use of force is sometimes necessary to prevent or combat evil. I actively pray that world leaders, including our leaders, will know the difference.
   

I love being an American. I believe our founding fathers truly acknowledged God’s existence, and that led them to form a nation with freedom and responsibility. Not perfect, but perhaps the closest human governments have ever come to a free, fair, and open society.

I also believe that America, like every nation before it or to come after, pales in comparison to the Kingdom to come. I believe Paul when he reminds us “this world in its present form is passing away.”

I got to see Rich Mullins in Seattle before he died suddenly in a car wreck. It was a moving experience. He was so humble and genuine and loved Jesus in a way you could hear in his music, but feel when you saw him in person. It was a free show at SPU. At the end of the concert, the crowd, like crowds do) chanted for an encore. Rich came back and led in some popular worship tunes from his guitar. At the end of one the whole crowd sang together a Capella, and when the sound died down and the song was over, we looked up and he was just gone.

I say that to say this – to me, no one has captured the balance, the weightiness and wonder of what it is to be an American and a Christ follower better than Rich Mullins. He expresses both the greatness and imperfection of our country, without resorting to bitter vitriol. I leave you with the lyrics of “Land of My Sojourn”. The best way I can think to explain how I feel is this line :

 
“Nobody tells you when you get born here
How much you’ll come to love it
And how you’ll never belong here
So I call you my country
And I’ll be lonely for my home
I wish that I could take you there with me”
 

Enjoy. And happy Independence Day.

“And the coal trucks come a-runnin’
With their bellies full of coal
And their big wheels a-hummin’
Down this road that lies open like the soul of a woman
Who hid the spies who were lookin’
For the land of the milk and the honey
And this road she is a woman
She was made from a rib
Cut from the sides of these mountains
Oh these great sleeping Adams
Who are lonely even here in paradise
Lonely for somebody to kiss them
and I’ll sing my song ~ and I’ll sing my song
In the land of my sojourn

And the lady in the harbor
She still holds her torch out
To those huddled masses who are
Yearning for a freedom that still eludes them
The immigrant’s children see their brightest dreams shattered
Here on the New Jersey shoreline in the
Greed and the glitter of those high-tech casinos
But some mendicants wander off into a cathedral
And they stoop in the silence
And there their prayers are still whispered
And I’ll sing their song, and I’ll sing their song
In the land of my sojourn

Nobody tells you when you get born here
How much you’ll come to love it
And how you’ll never belong here
So I call you my country
And I’ll be lonely for my home
And I wish that I could take you there with me

And down the brown brick spine of some dirty blind alley
All those drain pipes are drippin’ out the last Sons Of Thunder
While off in the distance the smoke stacks
Were belching back this city’s best answer

And the countryside was pocked
With all of those mail pouch posters
Thrown up on the rotting sideboards of
These rundown stables like the one that Christ was born in
When the old world started dying
And the new world started coming on
And I’ll sing His song, and I’ll sing His song
In the land of my sojourn

And I will sing His song
In the land of my sojourn”