Any Day Now Blog

https://afa.net/the-stand/faith/2018/01/is-it-wrong-to-love-my-country-patriotism-and-the-bible/

(Editor’s Note: This was posted on The Stand in January 2018. It still holds true today and may be even more timely in today’s cultural climate.)

It might seem shocking to some people that a concept like “nationalism” or “patriotism” would be controversial in America. However, when a country is as politically polarized as ours, everything seems controversial. A nation that is splitting apart into hostile and warring factions is going to argue about even the most basic ideas. 

These controversies intrude not only into family discussions around the Thanksgiving table but also into many church discussions in the Sunday school classroom. After all, Christians in America are Americans, too. 

Is it wrong for Christians to love their country? Can they be patriotic? Are such sentiments a manifestation of idolatry or, at best, a worldly attachment to a temporal entity? 

Of course, before we decide whether or not it is appropriate for a Christian to engage in it, we should make sure we understand what “it” is. 

The word patriotism has a long etymological history, dating back to the Roman republic. However, its current usage is fairly simple, meaning “love for or devotion to one’s country” (Merriam-Webster). 

Nationalism is a bit more complex. The word includes the idea of patriotism but begins with something even deeper: “a sense of national consciousness” (Merriam-Webster). In order to love one’s country, there first has to exist a something to love. There has to be a sense of “we” that is distinct from a sense of “them” – i.e., the people who aren’t “we.” 

Now that we have the basics down, let’s examine the key questions. In this process, I’m going to start small and work my way up to the concept of nationalism. 

The way we are 

Humans are social beings. Not only were we created for relationship with God, we were created to relate to other human beings as an expression of that primary affiliation. After creating Adam, God said in Genesis 2, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (vs. 18). 

Of course, the creation of Eve not only doubled the number of people on earth, it established an entirely new dynamic; the more individuals that were added to the human race, the more complex that dynamic became. Think of it this way: A single man shipwrecked on a deserted island is different than two men being shipwrecked. With two, suddenly it matters who makes decisions affecting, say, the supply of rainwater or food. Questions arise over issues like ownership of property or division of labor. And when one woman is added…well, you get the idea. 

So it is no surprise that, as communities of people in human history became larger, the complexity of relationships grew. Where customs might have sufficed when a group was small, laws became necessary when the group was large. The patriarch of a family might give way to a chieftain, in turn giving way to a king ruling through a bureaucracy. Etc. 

Now, inside these larger communities, there is a natural affinity for those with whom we are the closest. The tendency for most people is to give to those for whom we have a natural bond. This is why Jesus said, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47). Jesus understood that the human tendency is to be generous to family and friends. This is not evil; it is natural. This closeness is the glue that holds societies together. Love and compassion create a potent union between a husband and wife; the natural love between parents and children creates a powerful bond unifying the family; strong families produce vibrant communities; these larger groups generate a stable and thriving nation. 

No sane Christian asks the question, “Is it OK to love my family?” God designed us to love them. The teachings of Jesus assume that this is the way things naturally are, such as when He states that even the wicked “know how to give good gifts to [their] children” (Luke 11:13). This natural love is expressed by devotion, loyalty, and sacrifice. 

The Christian is called to make sure he or she excels in this kind of love. For example, in the famous marriage passage in Ephesians 5: 25-33, husbands are commanded to “love their own wives as their own bodies.” This love is expressed when the husband “nourishes and cherishes” his wife; he is to sacrifice for her “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” 

The Bible takes this responsibility so seriously that Paul says, “[I]f anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). 

Drawing a larger circle 

In the same way, then, why would someone suggest that it is wrong to love one’s nation? Isn’t a nation merely an aggregate of thousands of families that naturally love each other? I am called to love my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:31). Do I draw the line in my neighborhood only, or expand it to include my nation? 

What does that love look like? Surely, it would include the vision and hard work necessary to better my nation and make it prosperous! If we were talking about building a business, would we even question such work? We would expect the founder of a business to have a vision, build it to last, protect it, and make it profitable. A business is a heart-and-soul endeavor, expressing the creativity God has placed in those fashioned in His image. 

This is not idolatry. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), for example, there is no rebuke of the servants that invested well and prospered the master’s business. In fact, the opposite is true. These faithful servants were praised. 

So why is that different from Christians loving their nation and trying to build it the best they can? Are we not to glorify God in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:31), at school, work, in marriage, family – and beyond? If love for family includes devotion, loyalty, and sacrifice, why shouldn’t it also include love for nation? 

The Bible makes clear that love for the people that make up someone’s nation is just as normal and natural as love for family. David showed concern for the spiritual life of his countrymen, whom he calls “my people” (Psalm 59:11). The prophet Jeremiah mourns the fate of his countrymen as well, saying, “Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land” (Jeremiah 8:19). 

Who can forget the powerful sentiments expressed by the apostle Paul, lamenting the rejection of Christ by unbelieving Jews: “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites” (Romans 9:2-4). 

Paul did not think it a strange thing that his own heart broke for his “kinsmen according to the flesh,” nor that he would have sacrificed himself for their sake if he could have brought them to Christ. 

We are on solid biblical ground to assert that it is normal, natural, and pleasing to God that we love our country and the people in it and that we seek the benefit of those who live in it. 

Biblical limitations and expansions 

However, there are two additional, very important biblical considerations to take into account. 

First, God has set limits to human affection, prohibiting the exaltation of natural love to a place that supersedes love for Him. 

I said earlier that, not only were we created for relationship with God, we were created for relationships with other human beings as an expression of that primary affiliation. That is the proper order of things; reversing it is idolatry. 

In fact, Jesus made this a test of true discipleship, because natural bonds of love and devotion can tempt the Christian to spiritual infidelity. He said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). The person who loves family more than Christ will eventually abandon Him; the person who loves Christ more than family will remain faithful, even when faced with family betrayal and death (vv. 21, 34-36). 

The same is true for love of country. The Christian must always love God enough to refuse complicity with national and cultural evil. How many white Christians, rather than standing against the evil of Jim Crow laws, instead embraced the wickedness of racism in the South? How many Christians in Germany embraced the hell-inspired nationalism of Nazism, rather than reject it because of devotion to Jesus? 

Second, God has called the Christian to go beyond the smaller circle of natural love to the unlimited circle of supernatural love. 

While there is nothing wrong – and everything right – with love for family and friends, this is to be enlarged in the Christian life by an ever-expanding generosity. Such love serves as an expression of God’s love. After all, divine blessing is motivated by unmerited grace. You don’t have to be a part of the “insider” group to receive from God. 

Jesus said the Father “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5: 45). 

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:46-47, that if Christians only love those who are close to them, “what reward do you have?” Unbelievers love those inside the smaller circle. If you only do the same, “what more are you doing than others?” What’s so supernatural about your life if you restrict your love to family and friends? What evidence is there that God indwells you? 

There’s even more. Jesus challenges His people to bless the people in the larger circle without thought of repayment! He said: “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:12-14). 

Expanding this to our discussion of love of country, I think this means the Christian should consider helping even those outside the borders of their own nation. Certainly, this includes the preaching of the gospel in obedience to the Great Commission, but wouldn’t it also include giving aid to work that meets physical needs as well? I think it absolutely does. 

It would be strange to hear a Christian insist that we should not love our country, as it becomes clear in the New Testament that the love that characterizes the life of the Christian is not to have limits. That limitless circle would, by definition, include our nation – and beyond.

Have you been wondering why you should intercede for people you don’t like? Have you been at a loss for words for HOW on earth to pray for people whom hate God and hate everything He stands for?

If so, I want to encourage you today with the Word of God—and equip you to pray in power even for people you don’t like.

First, why should you pray for people you don’t like?

This is the easiest question we address today: we pray for people we don’t like because Jesus commanded that we should. For example, in Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus told us:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

The Word of God is clear that we should pray for people we don’t like—even for people who persecute us. But why? WHY would the Lord command us to do such a thing?

The answer is twofold:

1. According to Matthew 5:43-48, obeying God in this area makes us like Him. After all, each and every one of us were God’s enemies before we gave our lives to Jesus. Yet, God in His mercy forgave us. We deserved to die in our sins, but Jesus gave His own life for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8); while we were still the enemies of God.
2. We are to pray for people we don’t like because our prayers open the door on the earth for God to move.

Psalm 115:16 tells us: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men.”

This means that the Lord has delegated stewardship of the earth to us. Jesus has ultimate authority, but He has made us His “middle-managers,” if you will. And since He has delegated stewardship over the earth to us, placing us in authority over it, He needs us to pray and ask Him to move in order for Him to have permission to move on the earth. (For more about the authority delegated to us, read President Biden’s Administration and the Sovereignty of God.)

This is why your prayers are so important, even when you’re praying for someone you don’t like.

But you don’t have to pray the same way for the ungodly as you do for the righteous—and that’s a big key to effective prayer.

When you’re praying for the righteous, you can and should pray for all the blessings to come into their lives that God promises to the righteous! After all, they meet the conditions! Anyone who is obeying God has the right by covenant to receive all of God’s blessings!

But people who are not obeying God do not meet the conditions to receive His blessings. For those people, therefore, we must pray differently. We pray:

1. For them to be saved and give their lives to Jesus, for it is not God’s will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2. We ask the Lord to change their hearts and make them aware of their need for Him.
3. We ask Him to convict them of their sin; to show them Jesus, so they will know what righteousness looks like; and to convict them of judgment, showing them that there is no hope or future in their sin.
4. We ask God to loose Heaven into their lives and that He would change their hearts so that such a blessing is even possible.
5. We pray that the Lord would bind them and prevent them from doing evil.

John 16:7-11 says this:

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Holy Spirit’s job on the earth is to convict the world—to convict both sinners and the righteous—of their sin; of what righteousness looks like and why they need to be righteous; and to convict them of judgment. Therefore, our prayers along these three points release Him and give Him permission to work in this way among the wicked.

Additionally, however, we also need to pray to bind evil. As an intercessor for the great nation of America, this means:

• We ask the Lord to give us righteous leaders.
• We ask the Lord to remove any leader who is not leading the country into the ways of God.
• We ask the Lord to restore the great Restrainer of evil—Holy Spirit Himself—into our governments at every level (including at the local level), so that evil will be restrained and prevented.
• We ask the Lord to compel our leaders to walk in the ways of God and speak the words of God, even if they have zero intention of doing so.

Remember the story of Balaam in Numbers 22? Balaam was paid by a wicked ruler to speak curses over Israel. However, the Angel of the Lord—whom the Bible indicates is the preincarnate Christ—came personally to stand against Balaam, saying: “Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me” (Numbers 22:32b). In this passage, someone who claimed to be from God was exposed by the Lord Himself as walking in perversity, and God Himself came to stand against him!

However, the story didn’t stop there. The next day, even though Balaam’s way was perverse, God placed His own words in Balaam’s mouth and he spoke a major blessing over the people of Israel—despite that fact that he had begun his journey and been paid to do harm to God’s people!

Wow! What a story!

We actually see scenarios repeated over and over like this in the New Testament. One after the other, pagan kings rise up in the nations around Israel—but God uses them to accomplish His own purposes toward Israel. Yes, sometimes those purposes are for discipline. Sometimes, however, God uses the pagan kings for the preservation of His people … and sometimes He converts them.

The ways of God are perfect, and they are past finding out.

This doesn’t mean we should ever agree with lies or injustice.

We should never turn a blind eye to evil. We should never “look the other way” and ignore anything that goes against the Word of God.

As it says in Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” We have to remember this: our convictions, prayers, and conversations must remain 100% aligned with the entirety of God’s inerrant, infallible Word—the Bible.

But it does mean that we must pray for our leaders, for our family and friends, and for everyone else—whether we like them or not.

We must ask the Lord to accomplish His purposes in them and through them. We must remember:

• That God loves sinners as much as He loves His children;
• That the heart of God breaks whenever He sees anyone caught up in sin; therefore, we must pray in sympathy with His heart so that His plans can come forth.

When we see things from God’s perspective, it suddenly becomes easier to pray that His Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth—even in the lives of people we don’t like—just like His will is done in Heaven. When we are willing to admit that God can work even the plots of men out for the good of His people and His Kingdom, then it becomes easier to pray along those lines.

Again, the people we are praying for don’t have to have any intention of honoring God in order for God to use them. God is able to use people, nations, and kingdoms for His purposes even when the people are completely unaware that He is doing so.

So beloved, in these trying times, I encourage you: Don’t fall into sin by refusing to pray for those who hate you. Let’s respond rightly, in accordance with God’s Word, whether you are faced with a neighbor you don’t like, a friend who mistreats you, or a national situation or leader you’d rather not pray for.

Anything less is rebelling against God.

The truth is that we, as intercessors are not accountable for the actions of people for whom we pray. However, we are accountable for responding rightly, and for obeying God in personal holiness by yielding to His command to pray.

Therefore, beloved, if you are dealing with someone who hates you, please understand that God loves them too. Pray that righteousness and justice, which are the foundations of God’s throne, would be established in your life and in the lives of every person around you. Pray for every person and situation in sympathy with the heart of Jesus, that Jesus would no longer be grieved.

And as we pray, let’s believe God together that He really meant it when He said:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Check out this warning about not praying from leaders from an IFA intercessor: I’M NOT GOING TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN

Jamie Rohrbaugh is an author and speaker who equips people to walk in the manifest presence and power of God. Jamie blogs for a global readership at FromHisPresence.com, where she writes about radical prayer, the prophetic word, the supernatural lifestyle, inner healing, and Kingdom wealth. She is a frequent contributor to Charisma Magazine, The Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, and various other ministry outlets. You can download her free ebook containing 555 names of God for prayer and worship here(Photo Credit: Unsplash.)

2Pe 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.