BaptistWay: When God is unpatriotic

• The BaptistWay lesson for April 13 focuses on Jeremiah 21:1-10; 38:1-6.

A disclaimer

Perhaps the title of this lesson already has set you on edge. “How could God not be patriotic,” you might ask? From its inception, America has possessed a strong Christian presence. During the Cold War, this Christian presence became intertwined with our sense of patriotism. This was when the phrase “under God” was added to our Pledge of Allegiance and “in God we trust” to our money. I’m not asserting either of these things was a bad idea, but it is important to consider our motivations behind doing them.

Since atheism was the philosophy espoused by communist Russia, Christianity became touted as the “default religion” of America. While I do not doubt the sincerity of many then and now who desire to claim and stand on our Christian heritage, I find it necessary to distinguish between our nation and our Christianity. In other words, being a Christian and an American are not synonymous. The more aware we are of that, the more faithful we can be to God, in spite of our feelings about politics and national identity.

When God turns against his nation

Last week, we looked at Jeremiah 29:11 in the context of what it said about God’s people as a whole. We noted in spite of the good things this verse promised, difficult times inevitably would be ahead. God did not value them as an institution as much as he did a people. He was not against allowing them to be overcome by a foreign nation to ensure the future of their faithfulness to him. We see this sentiment put to the test in our text when Nebuchadnezzar attacks Israel and King Zedekiah sends a priest and a messenger to ask Jeremiah to plead to God for deliverance. The king’s basis for this hope lies in what he knows God has done for his nation in the past (v. 2).

One of the most dangerous things we can do as people and a nation is live in the past. As a pastor, I regularly hear elderly church-goers lament the passing of America’s “Golden Years.” I used to make light of this, thinking they simply needed to “get over it” and quit living in the past. I’ve since realized why this is easier said than done. The version of America they came to believe in is not the version they see today. This is sad enough, but there’s more to their grief than that. Often, it is accompanied by an implicit understanding that a failure to live up to our heritage to be a Christian nation implies a failure on God’s part to bless our founding. They wonder, “Where did we go wrong?”

We must remember being part of a successful nation is not synonymous with being a successful disciple. Just as Israel is told to continue with business as usual while living in less than desirable circumstances (29:4-6), so should we.

In spite of the failure that surrounds us, God provides ways for us to be faithful to him. For Zedekiah’s people, this would occur after God allowed the Babylonians to conquer Israel (vv. 3-7). Fortunately, the ill fate of the nation did not dictate the fate of the people (v. 9). Surrendering to the Babylonians was difficult. As the people of God, Israel expected divine favor in the form of prosperity and success. This would come to them, but not in the way they expected. Through terrible defeat and loss, God proved his faithfulness stretched beyond national identities and boundaries.

Getting over ourselves

Just as it is difficult for some elderly church members to get over the decline of America as they knew it, it was difficult for Zedekiah and his people to accept that their nation was going to be defeated. As Jeremiah responds to Zedekiah’s request for deliverance, his officials became greatly disturbed. When they brought Jeremiah’s message back to the king, they told him: “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin” (v. 5). The officials sincerely believed this statement. The problem with their assessment is the assumption that the people needed to hear what they wanted to hear.

We do not always get what we want. We do not always need to be encouraged and uplifted. Sometimes we need to be confronted with reality. God is not always pleased with our country or even our churches. To borrow a partial quote from Baptist historian Bill Leonard, much of our country is held captive “to a form of religion more akin to American enterprise than Christian theology.” If we are going to get on with God’s business in our churches in America, we must possess the humility to get over ourselves.