Independence Day and America's Churches

Churches today struggle to balance our worship of God with our love for America, a struggle that’s especially visible on Independence Day.

The danger is that, on one hand, we lose sight of Jesus in patriotic images and sentiment. On the other hand, we don’t give the nation’s legacy of biblical faith its due. It’s the same issue that Jesus laid out when he called the people of his own day to honor the government even as they worshiped God. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” he says in Mark 12:17, although I often wish he would have been a little more specific about just how to achieve the balance.

A few years ago LifeWay Research published the results of a survey of Protestant ministers regarding their attitudes toward Independence Day worship services. Much of the data is what you’d expect but the more you drill down into it, the more some surprising details come to light.

First, almost every church gives at least some attention to the patriotic themes of the day.

“Our nation’s birthday weekend celebration impacts almost 9 in 10 church services,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “As people remember veterans, service members and patriotism, it is natural for churches to seek to apply theology to these cultural activities.”

Not surprisingly, more conservative denominations give more attention to expressing patriotism as part of worship around Independence Day than liberal groups.

Denomination also plays a role in pastors’ views on the importance of patriotic elements in worship services around the July Fourth holiday. Pentecostals (82 percent) are most likely among Protestant pastors to agree on their importance, while Baptists (67 percent) are more likely to agree than Lutherans (51 percent), Methodists (50 percent) and Presbyterian/Reformed (47 percent).

Finally, the survey confirms the general observation that age and region tend to affect the inclusion of patriotic themes in worship on the day.

Pastors 65 and older are more likely to say it’s important to incorporate patriotic elements in worship services the week of July Fourth (78 percent) than pastors 18-44 years old (44 percent). Pastors in the West (67 percent) are more likely to hold that view than pastors in the Northeast (55 percent) and Midwest (54 percent).

When Independence Day comes around each year, I think there are compelling reasons for churches to do all they can to worship in a way that includes our nation’s religious heritage. It’s impossible to ignore the impact of the Christian faith on America’s beginnings.

For example, Thomas Jefferson may not have been an orthodox Christian, but biblical truth informed his convictions about liberty. “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” he wrote to begin the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Another example is John Adams, maybe the most devout of all the founding fathers, who spoke for most of the rest when he affirmed that, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

The First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion is the result of Baptist preacher John Leland’s influence on the amendment’s author James Madison. It enshrines the freedom of religion as the foundation of all other freedoms: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Independence Day worship celebrations serve the vital purpose of keeping America’s Christian foundation in view of our congregations.

Beyond the Christian roots of our modern freedoms, there’s another reason for churches to celebrate Independence Day. I know from first-hand experience the authentic faith that motivates many of the men and women who serve in the nation’s armed forces. Churches should provide on this day each year the opportunity in public worship to recognize them and encourage them as they integrate their faith in God with their service to our nation.

But there’s another side of the problem that churches need to understand. If they’re not careful, Independence Day worship services can dilute or even compromise biblical principles. There are several reasons for this, I think.

First, there’s our tradition of civil religion. Civil religion is a version of Christianity used in public functions to provide a religious overlay to government and political functions without actually giving credence to biblical content. An example is the phrase “In God we trust” that is printed on our currency. Other examples are the “under God” clause in the Pledge of Allegiance and the practice of elected leaders taking their oaths of office while placing their hands on a Bible.

I’m not saying that civil religion is a bad thing. Any reminder of God and biblical truth in the public square can be a blessing and many people who use the phrases and actions of civil religion act in earnest. I’m simply saying that these kinds of words and phrases when used in government-endorsed functions serve a political purpose not a religious one.

The problem is how civil religion can hide the distinctiveness of the Christian gospel with a veneer of political correctness and civic responsibility. If in an Independence Day worship service, for example, an American flag is the most prominently displayed decoration in the worship space, that may be a sign that biblical religion has been set aside for the sake of national pride. I see nothing wrong with decorating our churches with a modest amount of patriotic reminders of the day’s significance, but we place our higher allegiance in jeopardy when we don’t pay careful attention to how we use symbols that inform worship.

Another factor churches need to take into account in patriotic worship services is the persecution against Christians that many levels of government are now involved in. While President Trump’s administration doesn’t pose the same level of opposition to the public expression of biblical faith as previous administrations, it’s still a current in American political life and a challenge for modern American churches that previous generations didn’t have to face.

A more subtle danger is when patriotic worship services become de facto political rallies. I’m not denying the need for Christians to be politically active and, especially, to support public officials who will defend unborn life, biblical marriage and the freedom of Christian conscience in the public square. What I’m passionate about, though, is for churches to keep their eyes on Jesus. Worship services that lose sight of the priority of Jesus for the sake of political expediency will end up with empty worship on one hand and poor politics on the other. We best serve our nation in the same way we best serve our Lord, by keeping our eyes on him.

George W. Truett, pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, Texas, on May 16, 1920, preached a sermon on the steps of the United States Capitol Building called “Baptists and Religious Liberty.” His sermon captures exactly the balance I’m trying to describe. (for the record, the Southern Baptist Convention today has no preacher even remotely as capable as Truett).

“Baptists have one consistent record concerning liberty throughout all their long and eventful history. They have never been a party to oppression of conscience. They have forever been the unwavering champions of liberty, both religious and civil. Their contention now, is, and has been, and, please God, must ever be, that it is the natural and fundamental and indefeasible right of every human being to worship God or not, according to the dictates of his conscience, and, as long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others, he is to be held accountable alone to God for all religious beliefs and practices.”

“Although the Baptist is the very antithesis of his Catholic neighbor in religious conceptions and contentions, yet the Baptist will whole-heartedly contend that his Catholic neighbor shall have his candles and incense and sanctus bell and rosary, and whatever else he wishes in the expression of his worship. A Baptist would rise at midnight to plead for absolute religious liberty for his Catholic neighbor, and for his Jewish neighbor, and for everybody else.”

America is facing challenges today like never before. We have threats on the international level to our national security—China, Russia and North Korea are serious about contesting the United States for world influence. Our national debt of over $30 trillion threatens our economic well being. The increasing polarization and animosity that marks our politics casts doubt about our future as a united people. The moral and spiritual collapse that many studies have confirmed doesn’t bode well for the kind of nation our children and grandchildren will live in.

It’s against that dark background that today’s churches must answer the hard question, Where does loyalty to our country fit into the worship of our God?

In his book of Philippians, the apostle Paul answers the question for us. He doesn’t point to political clout, expressions of national power, calls for judicial activism or proclamations of judgment. Instead, he offers the American church a different answer altogether, an answer that flows from the church’s dynamic and life-giving relationship with our Savior, an answer that’s so counter-cultural that it has an impact greater than any other . The answer, he says, is joy.

We rejoice that the gospel is advancing because of its opponents.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel (Philippians 1:12)

Paul writes his letter to the Philippians from a prison cell in Rome where he has been placed because of his gospel preaching. But even confined as he is, he’s yet confident that his circumstances will result in the advancement of the gospel. The same is true for us. For every American believer dealing with opposition to their faith—in business, in government, in military service, in school—we need to keep in mind that God is still at work. The very opposition we may be encountering provides a platform for the gospel we believe.

We rejoice that our witness shines brighter against the darkness of cultural decline.

…that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life (Philippians 2:15-16)

In the declining moral standards and spiritual convictions of modern America, the witness of Christians to a more holy, sane and coherent way of life has a greater appeal than we can imagine.

We rejoice that our citizenship in heaven is better than our citizenship in the United States.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20)

Just as people in the ancient world aspired to Roman citizenship, so people in the modern world yearn to become citizens of America. The privileges and benefits that our nation provides to its people are greater than those of any other nation. And yet, Paul tells us, citizenship in heaven carries even greater privileges.

We rejoice that God gives us peace during even the most troubling times.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

In a time like ours, when politics are unstable and political leaders uncertain, there’s no reason for believers to live in fear, anxiety or doubt. The peace of God, his Word promises, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I began this essay with the question, Should patriotism have a place in church? Of course it should! Our unique blessings as Americans require that we give honor to where it is due. At the same time, we must be careful to keep patriotism in its place. Jesus is our Lord, and we owe our deepest allegiance to him alone.

This essay is an edited form a previous essay.