Can I Be a Christian and a Patriot?

We are living in times where there is a powerful tug-of-war over huge issues. Even Christians are debating things that are, thankfully, causing a great deal of study and thought. We dare not just answer with our own opinions or with concepts that have not been studied in light of Scripture.

One of those issues is patriotism. In an election year, that issue is always heightened, but also, with the great civic and social unrest of the last few months, this discussion has only gained more traction. Honestly, these are the types of issues we need to consider deeply, and often. The truth is quite nuanced, I believe. This post will surely not answer every question, but might give us all some food for thought on the question of “Can a Christian be a Patriot?”

As usual, there are two extremes, and the truth, I believe, lies in more of a balance. However, we must also admit that there is no verse or passage that gives us every answer as to how this balance should play out in our lives. I hope to show some principles, though, that might help us all know how to navigate these waters.

But first, to the extremes.

On one hand, there are those who basically think that a nation (I’m obviously writing from an American perspective) is always God’s doing and, so, we are just to go along with the nation. After all, Romans 13 teaches us to obey those who have the rule and Scripture clearly teaches that government is part of God’s plan for the organization of humankind and, even, of punishing those who do evil. There is also the truth that God used a nation (i.e., Israel) to shine His light in Old Testament times and used other nations (e.g. Babylon, Assyria, etc.) to punish when His people did not obey.

However, what if the state is ungodly or is even demanding that Christians disobey the ways of God? What if, to put it in First Century terms, we are told to say that Caesar is king? Certainly, there is no way a Christian could simply bow the knee to ungodly demands. So, we cannot conclude that the nation is “equal” with God or that it is always on God’s side.

On the other hand, there are those who want to see the state–virtually any state or government–as an enemy of God’s will. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) is used as the only passage and there is no balance given. Christians are then often told to be disobedient or to eschew any laws whatsoever.

(I even read about one religious leader a few years ago who refused to get a driver’s license in his state because he claimed that “King Jesus” was his leader. The church he worked for literally printed their own licenses to prove the point. Needless to say, a little time in jail changed his theology after awhile.)

We simply cannot have that viewpoint and balance it with Romans 13 as well as commands to honor those in leadership (cf. 1 Peter 2:17).

The truth, it seems, is found in balancing those two extremes. Christians are to honor their leaders, but we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). In other words, we obey our laws (national, state, etc.) unless they clearly conflict with something God has directed in Scripture. With those things in mind, then, much is left up to Christian liberty, but we can be grateful for the freedoms we have while not treating our “rights” as the main thing in our lives.

How might that play out? Some examples to consider:

• In our current situation, a government may tell congregations that they need to wear masks in order to keep people safe. However, if they directed that those masks have an ungodly message on them, Christians would then have to avoid wearing the mask. Or if a government demanded that Christians not sing in praise to God–which is a direct command from Him–Christians would have to disobey that demand in order to please God. We can sing with masks on, but we must sing to be pleasing to Him.
• A Christian may choose to fly an American flag in front of his/her house in order to show that they love their country or to show gratitude for a military personell in their family. Such is fine. But if the government began to mandate that Christians bow down to the flag in some sort of worshipful way, there would be no way a Christian could obey that, since our worship is always and only to be directed to God.
• A Christian may vote (and, it could be argued, should vote), but he or she must never believe that any politician or party is “the savior” of the nation. It is only righteousness that exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34), not any human leader.
• A Christian may sing patriotic songs or tear up when a beautiful rendition of one is played at a concert, but his or her emotions should always be stirred more than the death of Jesus and the power of His resurrection.

In reality, all this is about balance and realizing that, as we often sing, this world is not ultimately our home. In the Old Testament, God’s people were taken into captivity due to their sin. Interestingly, though, they were told:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; takes wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But 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.”

(Jeremiah 29:4-7, emphasis added)

May I paraphrase? God told those going into exile in a strange land to live their lives, but also try to make the place they were going better even though they were going to be exiles! However, there was a flip side:

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

(Jeremiah 29:8-9)

Again, may I paraphrase? Making the land you are in better does not include changing your morality or religion to something that is against the God of heaven!

In the New Testament, Christians are reminded often of this same imagery, in that we are exiles in a strange land (for example, 1 Peter 2:11 calls Christians “sojourners and exiles”). However, that state as an exile is not because of being taken into captivity; it is simply because our true home is in heaven. We live here on the earth, preparing to go there for everlasting life.

Is it not possible that the same message, in principle, is to be our mandate for how to live here? We should seek to make things better here on the earth (and within our nations, states, etc.) without compromising Biblical teachings. That, it would seem, would include a certain level of patriotism, so that we can see the good in our nation while working to improve the bad. It means we can honor those who have done their best to lift people up from poverty or slavery or other ills, while recognizing that they were flawed people (as we all are).

So, to the question, Can I be a patriot and a Christian, the answer really is “yes” and “no.”

On the “yes” side…I certainly can be patriotic, being grateful for what I have and using the earthly citizenship I have to make the world a better place for as many as possible, both here and abroad, and both now and looking to the future.

But…on the “no” side…I cannot become so patriotic that I fail to see the negative and begin to treat the nation as god. Only Jehovah can occupy the throne of my heart.

I am proud to be from America and I am grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy simply by being part of this nation. I want my children to grow up respecting our leaders and laws and being grateful for the good that so many have done to bring us to where we are, from civic leaders to politicians to military veterans and more. I want them to learn how to respect our history and be grateful for the flag (and other symbols) that represents our nation. I want them to appreciate the sacrifice and determination that founded and continued our nation.

That said, I also want them to know that America has never been perfect because we are made up of flawed individuals. I want them to know about slavery and Jim Crow and other terrible flaws in our history.

But, above all, I want them to be able to use our place in this nation as a way to honor God and spread His Word. Above all, I want them to be thankful that we are not asked to bend the knee to any other king but Jesus. I want them to place their hand over their heart for the national anthem, knowing above all that their heart is always in the hands of the eternal God.