This 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in which the leaders of the 13 colonies told the British king, “We’re going to govern ourselves now,” is an occasion for national celebration. It’s a time for gatherings with family and friends, homemade ice cream and four kinds of meats on the grill, and patriotic speeches and songs and parades. For Whitney and me, it’s live music and fireworks tonight with a few thousand of our friends at Centennial Park in downtown Midland.

This one is special. It demands reflection and appreciation. Ritual and tradition.

And gratitude to God.

Thank God for the United States of America.

It’s not perfect, of course. But on this side of glory, until that great day when God’s Kingdom finally comes in all its fullness, I do believe our form of government as a representative republic, as a liberal democracy in the strict academic sense of the term, is the best possible type of government in world history. I believe the ideals set forth in our nation’s founding documents do reflect ideas that originate with Christianity–all people are equal and deserving of equal dignity and freedoms and rights is but one of those. And I think our government and our culture give Christians here optimum conditions for practicing our discipleship to our Lord. There’s not another nation on the planet in which Christians are more allowed and better able to love God and love neighbor, and more allowed and better able to shape the culture and the state in decidedly Christian ways. The American Way allows us to feed the hungry, to clothe the poor, to visit the sick, to welcome the foreigner–a couple million of them as they root on their soccer teams–to adopt kids, to protest injustice, to love and appreciate the lovable and unlovable people all around us.

Now, what we do with those liberties and freedoms is another issue.

Enjoying favored status in the nation for over two centuries comes with its own set of temptations for Christians. And it seems like we’re beginning to feel the problems that come when we understand our national rulers as receiving their power and authority from the people and not from God. Christians should be on the front lines of reminding our leaders that they are given their positions by the Lord and they are ultimately accountable to him. We could do a better job with that in word and deed.

But that’s a topic for another post.

For today, let’s thank God for the USA.

Thank God that we live in this country at this time. Thank God for the freedoms, the opportunities, and the relative peace in our land. Give thanks for your neighbors, for your school board, for interstate highways and double cheeseburgers. Express gratitude for community, for constitutional amendments, for your favorite baseball team, and the streaming service that allows you to watch them.

The Bible tells us to pray for our country and its leaders. The Bible commands us to make our homes where God has placed us, to build and settle here, to work for the good of our land. And be thankful.

Peace,
Allan