There are some Christians in the United States who believe it is inappropriate for men and women of faith to be patriotic or to observe any patriotic holiday.
In the kindest way possible, may I suggest to them that they need to study more of what the Bible teaches regarding honor and gratitude? Consider, for example, this verse:
“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (I Peter 2:17)
“All men” means everybody. By default, we should treat everyone with kindness, courtesy, and respect — and extend honor or esteem to everyone. That obviously includes (though it’s certainly not limited to) our veterans.
“Love the brotherhood” refers to the church – our brothers and sisters in Christ. The command to “fear God” is a call to give Him our highest reverence, worship, and allegiance. And then Peter closes this verse with an exhortation to “honour the king.” Some translations refer to “the emperor,” since the Roman Empire was indeed presided over by an emperor. At the time of Peter’s writing, that emperor was Nero.
Many Christians in America today assume the application for us is to honor the president. Nope! That’s too limiting. It’s sloppy exegesis. The real application is to honor the government or the nation-state. Don’t believe me? Well, consider this…
In the ancient world, the king (or emperor) was the state. There was no meaningful distinction. This is incidentally the case with some monarchies even today. King Charles III isn’t just the monarch of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. He embodies the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth.
So, yes, we should show honor and respect to the president of the United States. But that’s because we are to show respect and honor to the United States! We are to show respect to our flag, our Constitution, and all the men and women in various and official capacities of service to the United States — national, state, and local.
Theologically speaking, what I say about Christians in the United States is of course also true for Christians who are citizens of other nations in the world. However…
If you’re a Christian living in the United States, may I suggest you have ample reasons to be particularly grateful for the blessings we have in this country?
I reject any kind of chest-thumping nationalism that is based on pride or some kind of twisted, blood-and-soil identity. Americans are not any better than any other people group or nationality on earth. I want to be clear on that.
Nevertheless, we have a lot of blessings in this country — things we too often take for granted. As but one example, we take for granted our relatively stable system of government that is underscored by the longest-serving written constitution in the world today. That’s just one example!
We have our problems as well as our sins and shortcomings. Name one nation-state, community, or people group that doesn’t. But we also have many blessings. We have many things for which we should be grateful.
And it’s not wrong to thank our veterans accordingly.
There are others who believe it’s wrong for Christians to observe Veterans Day because (they say) we shouldn’t celebrate war. On this point, I partly agree. We should not celebrate war.
We should, in fact, “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14b).
But there’s another part to that verse that I just quoted. Here is the full verse: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)
We should SEEK peace, but it’s not always possible to HAVE peace in the face of evil. Not everyone will “depart from evil and do good.” Many (unfortunately) practice evil. That’s why God ordained civil government. I encourage you to read all of Romans 13:1-7. It explains why God gave us government. But I especially want to call your attention to this verse:
“For he [the ruler] is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Romans 13:4)
This is why we have men and women in uniform protecting us. It’s why we have law enforcement, a criminal justice system, and the military.
I’m aware that, sometimes, rulers (and those in law enforcement and/or the military) can themselves become unjust, corrupt, or evil. Paul was also aware of this. And God is certainly aware of this. And that opens up a whole other discussion, which I can address more fully in a later post.
For now, I will simply say this…
Since we have human beings (for all their sins, shortcomings, and imperfections) serving as our civil rulers (as well as in the military, law enforcement, etc, etc.), it’s IMPERATIVE that we heed Paul’s exhortation in his letter to Timothy:
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” (I Timothy 2:1-2)
So before you complain, worry, get distressed, or start talking about civil disobedience, resistance, or worse…. Make sure you’re CONSISTENTLY and PASSIONATELY following I Timothy 2:1-2.
Because there’s evil in the world, and since we are currently IN this world, we NEED civil government.
And we need men and women who take time from their lives to serve in civil government – including in law enforcement and in our military.
As a Christian living in the United States, I am grateful to those men and women who serve in uniform to help keep me, my loved ones, and my fellow citizens safe.
So to any veteran or member of the Armed Services reading this, I say…
Thank you.
