Don McGee

American Citizen or Heavenly Ambassador

By Don McGee

In these days of world-wide turmoil and international confrontations it is quite natural for people to take strong stands along the lines of nationalism. At times these conflicts place Christians in something of a quandary, for they find themselves torn between national loyalties and certain biblical mandates they sometimes interpret as being at odds with their patriotism.

Nationalism is not an evil thing; it was God’s idea to begin with. God told Noah to fill the earth after the flood, but his descendants did not do this. In fact, they chose to do exactly the opposite in that they basically migrated as a single entity to the land of Shinar. And, it was there that the “whole earth used the same language and the same words” (Genesis 11:1ff) and decided they would “...build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Their desire was to be unified and independent of God, both of which were violations of His orders.

The means God used to break up their united rebellion was the disturbance of their only language. By divine intervention He caused the one big group to be broken up by the imposition of different languages among the people. We are not told how God chose different people for different languages, but He did. This, by the way, was a precedent for the different human languages that were imparted to different people on Pentecost, thus the words used on that day were not gibberish, but genuine languages that could be both spoken and written.

The result of Babel was the beginning of nationalism. Through millennia God made distinctions between various groups by using national boundaries:

and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having

determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should

seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from

each one of us (Acts 17:26,27)

Yet, even with borders the primary aim of nations was, and is, to seek God. Those words, “that they should seek God”, make clear that being loyal to one’s country does not necessarily prohibit a person from serving God. The purpose of nationalism was to prevent the kind of world-wide unity that separates the human race from God. He never intended it to be a hindrance or distraction to serving Him. When that happens something is out of kilter, and it is not God. In each instance where conflict between the two arises it is because of nationalistic pride that deifies the state and its government while minimizing, or totally eradicating, the person and position of God. Though communism is the best example of this, yet a republic can also do it as the country morphs into a totally secular society.

Christians are stewards of God’s blessings. Those include intellect, family, wealth, influence, talent, liberty; anything given to us by Him for use in His work and for our enjoyment. Those blessings are to be protected, and at times such protection requires the use of deadly force against an enemy whose purpose is to destroy or irrevocably alter what God has given us. That is sometimes called nationalism or patriotism. And, defense of national blessings does not automatically void a Christian’s responsibilities as an ambassador for Christ. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Though few, there are some people who believe our Christian convictions demand we have no part in any form of physical altercation. Many years ago a Christian man once told a group of us that if an intruder came into his house to do harm to his family, he would not defend them because in doing so he might have to bring harm to the intruder. He said he would pray. Even as a young kid this did not make sense to me at all — are we not to protect our families?

Other Christians take the perceived nationalism/discipleship conflict in somewhat of a different direction. That is, they choose to not bear arms in defense of our country. These men are called “conscientious objectors”. While some refuse military service to any degree, many do not object to being in the military. It is just that, for religious reasons, they do not want to carry weapons into combat.

Though many of us do not agree with such a conclusion, yet we must not get the wrong idea about some of those men. Often they serve as combat medics, and some of those guys are as brave and fearless as any other man. Three Army combat medics have received the Medal of Honor, with Desmond Doss being the first one. Over 100 men owe their lives to his heroic actions.

On the other end of the spectrum are those Christians who see no conflict at all, and are always ready to campaign for candidates, write letters, run for office, contribute money, etc. Many join the armed forces with some even learning classified and highly efficient Special Forces skills with a desire to “take out our enemies”. Those men are wholly dedicated to God, but have no scruples at all about bearing arms in defense of American ideals.

Further, it seems the issue of secular nationalism vs. spiritual ambassadorship goes even deeper than the carrying of weapons into combat, etc. It reaches to the level of not simply being non-nationalistic, but of being anti-nationalistic. Some Christians even choose to not vote regarding candidates, referendums, taxes, etc. They, in essence, divest themselves of every privilege and responsibility of citizenship they possibly can with their justification being, “God is in control anyway, and will orchestrate His will to be done. Why should I get involved?” This eerily parallels pure Calvinism and its logical conclusion; that is, why evangelize if everybody is destined to heaven or hell by God’s sovereignty and no one can do anything about it?

The real crux, however, comes when a Christian’s devotion to his country trumps his devotion to God. Admittedly, the answers to such questions become more complex as more details and “what ifs” are added to the situations. In the analysis, though, a person must act on his conscience as it is impressed by the Holy Spirit’s conviction. In some situations whether an action is right or wrong is very clear; at other times it is not so clear.

Three hypothetical situations might illustrate different aspects of this dilemma.

A 22 year-old Christian who is an Army sniper kills a sworn enemy of the United States. Is this action unjustifiable homicide, or is it the lawful killing of an enemy? Is it ever wrong to kill an enemy? Is this action consistent with this soldier’s first duty which is to be an Ambassador for Christ to those around him? Does God allow such action in defense of one’s country? Is being a soldier OK, but being in combat arms is not OK?

There are several things to consider about this scenario. First, it is not uncommon. Second, once the shot is taken there is no taking it back. Third, a soldier’s mind must be made up before the situation presents itself; there is no time for debate once the scene begins to be played out. Fourth, what effect will this have on his life, his family and his church some years down the road?

A young Marine, who is a Christian, calls in an airstrike on an enemy position and a civilian is killed. He is court-martialed. The military prosecutor, who is also a Christian, knows it was an unpreventable accident, but is ordered to “prosecute without prejudice” anyway due to the political climate. Does the prosecutor press with all his legal skills to convict his Christian brother? Could he worship God in the same congregation with the accused the following Sunday, and share the Lord’s Supper with him? Should the accused simply accept his Christian brother’s prosecution as “just doing his job”?

Both these men have publicly confessed Jesus as their Savior, and both have taken the same oath regarding their service in defense of our country. Do their commitments to Jesus Christ represent just another problem in this whole issue of citizenship vs. discipleship? Is the real problem political perception as defined by the government?

Consider one more hypothetical situation. The President of the United States pulls the plug on all support of Israel while knowing this is practically an open invitation to her enemies to launch an imminent and overwhelming attack. A Christian, who is a high-level civilian employee in the government, is responsible for putting the logistics part of the president’s order into effect immediately. He knows what is coming and that the spare parts for the American-made missile defense system are critical to Israel’s defense. He also knows the scriptures very well regarding God’s judgment upon any nation that goes against His clear commands regarding the nation of Israel and the Jews. What does he do?

The first two hypothetical scenarios have probably happened any number of times in our nation’s history. What we need to understand, though, is the third one is a very real showdown that is indeed coming. The day is very rapidly approaching when our country will make a critical decision that will put her at complete odds with God over Israel. One does not need to be a State Department diplomat to see America is rapidly moving to an anti-Israel stance. And, what

must be clearly understood is this is not simply about a person siding with Israel over America, or vice-versa. It is about someone deciding if they really believe their citizenship is here on earth, or in heaven. That is the heart of the whole issue!

Israel is biblically destined to face her rapidly approaching desolation alone; no nation will come to her aid (Zechariah 14). Those events will happen during the tribulation period, but the truth is the entire planet is living in their shadow this very day. As the American president continues to signal his faltering, hesitant and oftentimes belligerent attitude toward Israel, her enemies are emboldened and continue to build arsenals and develop plans for a devastating attack.

What are Christians to do? We are to remember that though God ordained nationalism, and though it is often necessary to fight to preserve our national liberty, and though it is good to honor our constitution, flag and way of life, yet we must never forget that we do those things solely as earthly, and thus temporary, inhabitants of this country. God’s design is for man to have nationalistic loyalties, but they are to never supersede a Christian’s heavenly citizenship and unreserved stand on God’s word. It is vital to remember that our residence, our home, our own country is elsewhere; our capitol city has an Architect and Builder who is God (Hebrews 11:10). We are here as His ambassadors, and though we have roots here, yet they are temporal and are destined to be pulled out faster than a single blink of an eye.

To think this way is not to be unpatriotic, or some such treasonous thing. Rather, it is to believe what God has said about life, sin, atonement and eternity. There is nothing, absolutely nothing including America and her God-given constitution that can make this world sin-free, or in any way move it back toward its pristine condition at creation. Though proper in their rightful context, yet patriotism does not equate to salvation and nationalism does not equate to Edenic restoration. We must never forget that this world, including our own beloved country, indeed has a king it serves, and his name is not Jesus. Make no mistake about it; our country is under the strong influence of demonic forces whose purpose is to destroy. America, as much as we love her, is not God’s final masterpiece of godliness and liberty. She, too, is under the curse as a result of man’s rebellion against God.

In a few days we will celebrate our 234th year of independence. What a blessing God has granted us! But, maybe this year in addition to thanking God we are not British subjects, we might also make a “declaration of dependence” upon Him. No, it won’t stop God’s imminent and inevitable judgment, but it will serve to demonstrate that our being subjects of the King of kings and Lord of lords trumps our earthly nationalism.

Don McGee's email: csm01@att.net