Making a Statement

There are two groups of people who come out to the streets on Friday afternoons in Roseburg, Oregon.

One group stands on the sidewalk of a major street wearing red and holding signs saying "We support our troops!" or waving American flags.


The other group stands a block away wearing all black and holding signs that say, "End violence, promote peace!", "Women in black mourn violence", "Grow beyond violence", etc.


People wave and honk as they drive by the group they support and I always find it interesting to see how the sign-holders and drivers react to each other.

Reclamation

My point in all of this talk about patriotism really has nothing to do with America. I believe our loyalty and our allegiance belong to God alone. I simply use our dedication to America as an example of how willing we are to devote ourselves to earthly causes. 

I think it is high time that Christians begin to reclaim a few things in this world. Many symbols or ideas are from God and yet the very mention of them today draws your thoughts to a particular group or place. Here are just a few I can think of:

Rainbow--Homosexuals

Hope--Barack Obama 

Freedom--United States of America

Peace--Hippies

The rainbow is a symbol of God's promise to his people. I wish more churches had rainbows in their buildings along with crosses. People need to be reminded that our God loves us, protects us and has made promises to us he will forever keep. 

Our hope comes from God. He is the only one who holds our tomorrows and thus, the can give us hope for them. When we trust a person to give us hope, we are telling God that He isn't big enough to care for all of our needs. We are saying we need a person here on earth to really take care of things. 

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Now this is not talking about the freedom of speech or freedom from oppressive leaders. The freedom Paul writes about is freedom from the law. I missed the scripture where we were told the Christian life is one of freedom and independence. We are told there will be hardships and persecution and that we are to count them as blessings. Let's spend our time freeing others from the bondage of sin instead of reveling in the fact that we live in the land of the free.

I have a bracelet with a peace sign on it and TONS of people have called me a hippie or said something to that effect when they see me wearing it. Why aren't Christians the most vocal people fighting for peace in this world? Wouldn't it be great if those who followed Christ were known for promoting and working towards peace?

I wonder which of these statements would infuriate more people? 

1) Obama is the greatest leader America has ever seen.

2) Christianity isn't relevant in today's world.

3) George Bush was the worst President in American History.

Why are we SO quick to become passionate/angry/excited about politics and so slow to do the same when it comes to eternal matters?

And I'm proud to be an...

I have been thinking a lot about patriotism/American pride/freedom lately. I think part of this is because I have seen a lot of patriotic displays recently with Memorial Day last month and the Independence Day coming up next month. 

With that in mind, I would like to share my thoughts with you on the subject. Before I begin, however, I want to make a few disclaimers. I do not hate America. I am VERY grateful to have been given so many opportunities that I might not have been afforded in another country. If anything, my travels abroad have shown me many great things about the U.S. Nothing I say is intended to hurt or offend anyone. That is the beauty of my blog...I get to say what I want! :) haha  I do not believe that people with pride in America don't love Jesus. I believe the real question is loyalty. 

Now, I think I will probably do several posts about these subjects so that I don't end up with one incredibly long blog post that is too long for any person to read. I will begin with patriotism. Here are a few quotes on the subject that I really enjoy:

"Patriotism is the conviction that your country is better than everyone else's because you were born in it." -George Bernard Shaw

"The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair."  -H.L. Mencken

"During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism."  -Howard Thurman

"When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism as the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" -Pablo Casals

Patriotism is such an interesting thing when you really think about it. Why does it make me a bad American citizen if I don't proclaim that it is the greatest country in the history of mankind? What is it about America that inherently makes it #1? Would these same Patriotic Americans be chanting: "Uruguay! All the way!" if they were born in a different country? When did Christian and Patriot become synonymous? I genuinely don't have answers to all of these questions. If I did, I'd be writing a New York Times best-selling book instead of a blog that 3 people read :) 

I leave you with a picture of a bumper sticker and t-shirt that I have seen several times. It is really quite appalling to me that someone would even make this design...and certainly that thousands of people would support it!