This year, the United States will celebrate 250 years of freedom. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the colonies announced their intention to be independent of the British Crown. It took a war and political machinations for the nascent government to adopt the Constitution in 1787 and begin operating under it in 1789.
It is right to celebrate the beauty of the American experiment while also lamenting where we have gone wrong. The biblical worldview affords the nuance to celebrate and lament.
As a nation, we will celebrate 250 years of freedom in an experiment of government unrivaled in world history.
Our nation’s founding is worth thanksgiving and celebration. Even the deist, Benjamin Franklin, recognized the hand of providence at our nation’s beginning.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
1787 speech to the Constitutional Convention when he urged the congress to pray.
God has richly blessed the United States of America. Like the founders of the past, it is appropriate to credit God for the freedoms and blessings of our nation.
Our first two Presidents understood the intersection between morality and religion. Washington observed in his farewell address:
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens.
George Washington in his farewell Presidential address.
Washington recognized that the nation’s prospects depended on a moral and religious people. John Adams penned much the same thing:
Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Gallantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
John Adams’ letter written to Massachusetts Militia.
Washington and Adams were men of their time. Living at the height of the Enlightenment and in between the two Great Awakenings that shaped the religious landscape of America, our first two Presidents were steeped in a Judeo-Christian worldview. The design of the nation codified these principles in our Constitution where the first amendment guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and press.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The privilege of our freedoms in the first amendment necessitates the responsibility to practice those freedoms with a moral compass. Few will doubt in looking back at the past 250 years that we have drifted significantly from true North.
Those who apologize for our nation’s founding and reject the Judeo-Christian framework are quick to point out the inconsistencies in our national history such as slavery and women’s rights.
Those who celebrate our founding and long for a return to biblical morality bemoan the moral and ethical drift over the past hundred years.
Even as we celebrate our heritage of freedom, it is proper that we lament how far our nation has moved from the worldviews of its founding.
As Christians we should lament the moral and ideological shifts in our nation’s politics, ethics, and values.
While we are not God’s chosen people of the Old Testament, Israel’s prophets preached about idolatry, injustice, and morality in ways that intersect with our concerns regarding the morality, or rather amorality, of our nation. We should heed their warnings, apply their prescriptions, and lament our sinfulness. Isaiah warned:
For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.Isaiah 60:12
Two hundred and fifty years seems like a long time. In light of our own lifespan, it is. In light of civilization history, we are but a young nation. The Roman Empire lasted in some fashion around 2,000 years. And though Israel has not been a world power during her history, Israel has never ceased to exist as a culture and people since their being sent to Egypt as slaves some 4,000 years ago. The USA is still relatively new in exploring and applying the experiment of our founding.
This lengthening view of time and history affords Christians a helpful perspective on this 250th celebration. As citizens of this great land, we can and should celebrate joyfully the freedoms and blessings that come with living in the USA. We should study our history and rejoice where our founders got so many things right.
As citizens of the heaven, the eternal kingdom, we can and should lament where our nation has gone astray. The history of God’s intervention in the world is a history of patience, perseverance, mercy, grace, and judgment. Even in judgment God is gracious. The plagues on Egypt in the book of Exodus invited repentance that Pharaoh resented. Throughout their wilderness journey Israel tested the Lord with idolatry, unbelief, and complaint. While God judged some rebels directly, he showed exceeding patience and grace to bring his wandering people after forty years into the Promised Land. Over and over again, God’s judgments are couched in patience, invitations, and opportunities for repentance. Christians living in the US today should not see the delay of judgment as God’s neglect nor as his approval. Rather, we should see his delay as patience and, even more, invitation for repentance.
This July 4, celebrate. Relish freedom. Enjoy the fireworks’ symbolism of “bombs bursting in air” as our flag and nation still stood.
This July 4, lament. Confess and repent. Pray for this great country. Plead that God would continue to “shed his grace” on us. Pray that we would return to him.
For more on religious freedom and being Baptists, check out this four part series from Baptist Press.
Photo by iStrfry , Marcus on Unsplash