Home’s Mountain Charm Marries Past and Future

Remaining Patriotic in the Looming Shadow of Persecution

If I were to ask any group what has changed in the last fifteen months, I would get a list full of changes, “because of COVID”. We have seen unprecedented change in the last year. Some changes have been great, while others not so great. One change I have wrestled with the most has been some of our government’s flagrant opposition to the people’s freedom of gathered worship. A freedom so dearly fought for in the founding of our nation that it made its way into our founding documents. In fact, freedom of worship was one of the core reasons so many early colonists left Great Britain. The Great Ejection along with the scenes of preachers publicly tortured unto death were ingrained in the minds of the people living in the new world. Similar to how people speak of the day Kennedy was shot or of 9/11, the colonists would have shared stories of these events for generations. The people wanted freedom of expression, and the only way they knew to achieve this freedom was to separate from the totalitarianism and corruption present within the nation of Great Britain.

Religious freedom was the very thing at stake when The Church of England instituted The Act of Uniformity. This act prescribed that any minister who refused to conform to the Book of Common Prayer by St Bartholomew’s Day 1662 should be ejected from the Church of England. After this, over 2000 Puritian preachers were expelled from their pulpits, in what is now known as “The Great Ejection”. This effectively meant that unless a minister submitted to a state sanctioned gospel, he could not freely preach. It was this event which coincided with increased state sanctioned persecution that forced many to leave for the new world with the hope of exercising liberties endowed by the Creator. This desire for a free nation fueled the drafters’ zeal as they penned words which declared our nation’s independence. They are clear as we read their words today, “We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” The interesting point here is that the drafters of the Declaration of Independence did not create these freedoms of which they wrote, they only recognized and sought to protect the rights as given by the Creator.

So, how should Christian citizens of the United States express devotion and virgrous support for our nation as that nation falters to protect our freedoms for which it was founded? The early Christians did not get off easy when it came to supporting the Roman Empire in the time of Nero. Peter exhorts the Christians of

Will Griffin is the Director of Adult Discipleship and Digital Ministries at Clayton Baptist Church. He and his wife Ashley are lifelong citizens of Rabun County.

Rome to live distinctly from those other citizens around them. In the opening of his first letter, Peter refers to his audience as “aliens”. In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter “[urges them] as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul”. Later, Peter drives the nail home with this passage, “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God. Honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17, NASB). He advocates for living within the present governmental institutions, even though the lives and livelihoods of Christians were at stake. Peter even calls on the Roman believers to show honor to the king, yes even Nero! But, Peter does not speak of outright conformity. He encourages them to live as outsiders. If the Christian citizens of Rome were encouraged in this way, how would God encourage us to live in this present situation?

Further, this call is not unique to citizens of Rome. Through Jeremiah, God encourages the people of Israel to set roots into the places they find themselves exiled. Specifically He encourages them to build houses, plant gardens, take wives, have generations of offspring, to seek the welfare of the place God has sent them, and to pray on its behalf (Jeremiah 29:4-7). One should be reminded, these were exile cities, not exactly friendly territories. So how much more should we as citizens of these United States of America do these same things within and for our own country? We are undoubtedly called to support the nation in which we reside, especially the one of which we are citizens.

Paul makes a very clear statement that “whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement.” (Romans 13:2 NASB). But, this is not blind submission to every governmental presence or policy. This comes after Paul has clearly laid out the Gospel. Christian submission to Government is an outworking or a fruit of the Gospel. There are such cases where government policy hinders the free work of the Gospel. In such cases we as Christians are called to accountability to God. In these cases we are called to respectfully or civilly disobey the governing authorities. This is demonstrated to name one example in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Some well known writers of history have offered good examples to follow, Francis Schaffer makes some good points on Civil Disobedience. But as one writer frames the question, “ The problem is not whether to disobey the government when it demands disobedience to God, but whether the Christian citizen is obligated to force the government itself to stop disobeying God” (McQuilkin, Roberson and Paul Copan, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking the way of wisdom. 3rd ed. Intervarsity, Downers Grove. Pg. 563). Ultimately, patriotism is not mere nationalism. We are not looking for a utopian America. We are looking to the coming of the perfect Kingdom. No matter who is in office, or what the current policy is, we as Christians can see how God is using the present governmental institution for His own glory. Patriotism is one method God calls us to give Him glory for what He has done and is doing with the institution of government. As we Christians are great patriots, we will seize hold of great opportunities to point to the one True King!