His Kingdom and My Country

On this Fourth of July, 2013, I am mourning the loss of my country. And I mourn for several reasons.

1. I mourn first and foremost that so many of my American countrymen have rejected the God whose merciful goodness secured liberty for so many generations in our land.

2. I mourn because those who have foolishly cast aside God, His Ten Commandments, and His gracious offer of salvation through Jesus Christ are, at this moment, hell bound – not something to be taken lightly.

3. I mourn because God is responding to our national rejection of Him by withdrawing His hand of blessing and protection on our land and, in essence, letting us have what we want. (Deuteronomy 28:15-68, Romans 1:24-32)

4. I mourn because the precious liberties that we have taken for granted for so long, are being systematically stripped away.

5. I mourn because our Constitution is being shredded by our Congress, our Chief Executive, and our Supreme Court – yes, all three branches.

6. I mourn because my children and grandchildren will, barring a supernatural intervention from God, suffer under the hand of a greater and greater tyranny.

7. And I mourn greatly because so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ seem completely oblivious to what is going on.

Toward point # 7 I add that many well meaning brothers and sisters in the Lord are quick to remind me that we are citizens of God’s kingdom. To that odd reminder, I respond …

“Yes. Yes, I am aware of this. So what is your point? Is it that my country doesn’t matter? Is it that God has no concern for things here on planet earth, or for that matter, no concern for or interest in things political? Is it that the liberties and countless blessings we Americans have enjoyed for so many generations are merely an illusion, something insignificant, unimportant, irrelevant maybe? What? What is your point?

“Or maybe you are suggesting that I am not as spiritual as you, that somehow I am not seeing the big picture, that I am too earthly minded.

“May I suggest to you that … if things continue on the course whereupon we find ourselves … that the day will likely come when most of your liberties – the liberties you now appear to take for granted – will be gone. In that day you will yet remain here, on terra firma, still citizens of God’s kingdom, and yet you will have to scratch out your flesh and blood existence on this planet earth with far less of everything that you enjoy today, including the most important blessing of all—your freedom. In this state, where the blessings you have long enjoyed as an American are now much diminished, you too might begin to long for the political liberties you now chide me for defending.

“Just some thoughts for you to consider.”

I do not yet know what it is like to live under tyranny, although I am beginning to get a slight taste of it. Because I tend to be outspoken in my defense of political liberty, and the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, I deal with the fear that the things I write and speak and communicate are being read and listened to by the “watchers” in Washington. Yes, I might be considered “an enemy of the state” – a “small potatoes” one compared to some, but an enemy nonetheless. It is no secret anymore. They are listening in. And I suppose if I were to give it a great deal of thought, I might cower back, retreat, quiet myself, second-guess.

But it is too late. My “fingerprints” are on too many things already.

Be careful. If you are reading this, you might eventually be connected to me.

No. I still do not know what it is like to live under tyranny, under the jack-boot of a control-driven, heavy-handed national government, drunk on its own power. For the moment, this kind of tyranny is in our minds – our fears perhaps – but not yet fully materialized. But as we are seeing, the machinery for such oppression is now largely in place. Does this not trouble you?

Many others in ours and our parent’s lifetimes have known this kind of tyranny. The Jews and other undesirables in Hitler’s death camps. Conscienced Russians in Soviet gulags. Enemies of Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Fidel Castro, and countless other tin-pot dictators throughout recent history.

Yes. God’s Kingdom is alive and well. Our King sits confidently upon His throne in heaven, managing the nations, achieving His will every day in our time-space world. It is a marvel to behold – this nation-managing-kingdom-raising-up-and-bringing-down-thing that our God does so well. Watching it unfold strengthens my faith in Him and fuels me to strive with all my being to live with His kingdom in mind. I am grateful for it. And I look forward to heaven more every day, to be delivered from this earthly, decaying shell which is both my home and His temporary temple as He lives in me.

Today, my 61st Fourth of July, is without question, a most painful one for me. This Fourth I celebrate the privilege of being born-again into His unshakable kingdom, while at the same time, I mourn the loss of my earthly country. Celebrating God’s kingdom and mourning for one’s country are NOT mutually exclusive by the way, and those who try and pretend that they are only fool themselves.

As a kingdom citizen, I yet remain earth-bound, living in a fallen and darkened world. However, it is a world that has been made a bit better by a nation that came into being exactly 237 years ago today – in 1776. This new nation codified its essential ideas and ideals of liberty and self-government eleven years later – in 1787. What ensued brought about an amazing leap forward in technology, material wealth, political philosophy, and above all, a leap forward for the gospel to be carried into all the world.

No. America is not, nor was it ever, the kingdom of God. Nor will it ever be. Nor could it ever be. However, whether we acknowledge it or not, God’s kingdom has, despite our country’s blemishes, historically flourished in our land. Perhaps here more-so than in any other place or time in human history.

Today, the kingdom of God is sadly diminished in America. It is diminished because His ways, His laws, His divine principles for good and healthy living – including self-government on both the personal and community level – have been rejected on a large scale. And so I say to those who take their God-given American liberties lightly, those who look at folks like me with a slight touch of “I know better,” those who cannot, or will not mourn with me for America’s demise, I mourn for you.