3. Embracing Our Unique Christian Identity
Slide 4 of 4
As a final extension of our discipleship, we can love our nation by being strange in the right ways. What might that look like? As I suggest in Thinking Christian, “We need not resign ourselves to live in a world without hope for imminent change and ultimate transformation. God breaks into our settled world, alerting those with eyes to see and ears to hear of his presence. Our unique view of the world results in ‘foolish’ practices like prayer, fasting, Sabbath, and hospitality. Displaying the wisdom of God by engaging in wise practices…practices that appear foolish to the world…makes Christians strange.” We become strange in the right ways as we adopt and embody patterns of living that acknowledge the Triune God.
There is a reason that James describes “religion that is pure and undefiled in the eyes of the father” as involving care for the vulnerable (“orphans and widows”) and remaining apart (“unstained”) by the world (Jam 1:27). First, our faith does not stop with a love of God but extends out to a love of neighbor. As we “visit” the vulnerable, we imitate Christ by using what we have to serve others rather than serving ourselves (Phil 2:6). As we continually meet with, share in, and lament the difficulties of others, we demonstrate the love of Christ and look ahead to the time when God will eliminate suffering and death (Rev 21:4).
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.” – Philippians 2:6 NLT
Second, in remaining “unstained” by the world, we provide a clear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. We will never be perfect, but as we hold our shape in a world that seeks to mold us into something other than the image of Christ, we showcase God’s work in our lives. When we adopt the world’s practices and perspectives, we will ultimately encourage false hope.
Part of loving our nation requires that we allow our nation to be what it is supposed to be and do what it is supposed to do with the authority God has given it. When we give our nation more authority than God has given it, we ask it to carry a burden it is unequipped to carry. Surely, our nation may pick up that weight on its own, but Christians who love their nation should allow the nation to exist within its natural limitations.
Loving our nation well can involve a range of activities, but all of those activities must be grounded in an uncompromising loyalty to and love for God. Our commitment to God requires discipleship. We must learn to imitate Christ by living according to the patterns of life he exhibited. Discipleship is crucial if the church and its members are to learn to love our nation on God’s terms rather than our own.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/LeoPatrizi
Christianity.com.
