Rethinking America
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I have been a patriot for both Texas and the United States for most of my life. I am an Eagle Scout, and I was involved in many honor guards. I did flag ceremonies on the Texas Senate floor, for the governor and for US Senators and even a first lady. I love the United States.
But then I met Jesus. As the Holy Spirit began to reshape my thinking, I started thinking about history through a biblical lens, and my patriotic fervor began to wain. I am still very thankful for the freedoms we enjoy and the prosperity God has blessed our country with. But while our country and state were founded by a group of men that included several professing followers of Jesus, I began to see that they did not found our country with entirely biblical motives.
The ideas of liberty, self-determination and a limited government with checks and balances are inherently biblical. But the idea of rebellion against a king is unbiblical. I realize I’m going for a sacred cow here, but as we celebrate the 4th of July, I would like to invite you to rethink your perspective.
Consider this core idea in the Declaration of Independence, whose signing we will celebrate on Tuesday: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” Now let’s look at how this stacks up to what the Bible says.
GOVERNMENT POWER
Jefferson wrote that the power of government comes from the people, but the Bible says, “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Romans 13:1b) Jesus even had the audacity to tell Pontius Pilate, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11) Even if he was mismanaging the colonies, King George III, along with so many European kings and queens before him, at least looked at the source of their authority. On this issue, the colonists were in the wrong.
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE
Since the government’s power does not come from the people, the people do not have the right to overthrow or create governments. God himself does that. The Bible proclaims, “[God] made from one man 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 would seek God.” (Acts 17:26) It wasn’t George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or any of the other founding fathers who created our nation. If you take this verse seriously, it was God acting graciously despite their sin and rebellion.
REBELLION
Romans 13:2 says, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” Typically, the short word we give to “opposing the ordinance of God” is sin. Rebellion against any government then, accoring to the Bible, is sin.
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
One of the main rally calls of the Revolutionary War was, “No taxation without representation.” But this was a completely new idea in the world. For all of human history until 1776, all taxation was without representation. Compare “taxation without representation” to the original audience the Bible commands to “submit to governing authorities.” Instead of taxing people unjustly, Roman Caesars made street lamps out of crucified Christians wrapped in tar-soaked rags and set on fire. Seems like a more grievous violation than high tax rates to help repay debt from a war fought to protect the people being taxed.
This Fourth of July, consider the source of our liberty and prosperity accurately and the biblical way we respond to our current government. Happy Fourth of July!