Patriotic Songs in Worship - and religious rabbit trails

Let me say at the outset that I'll make some statements that en vogue to debate right now.  Religious heritage, identity, etc. are all such a challenging issue for folks.  Feel free to comment and agree or disagree with what I have to say.  Just don't shoot down my entire post because I get one side illustration out of whack with your thoughts.  Thanks!!!



I normally shy away from using patriotic songs in our worship services because frankly, there are better songs that we more easily connect with God through.  But seeing that this year the 4th of July lands on Sunday, it's a good opportunity to reconnect the Truth with the tradition.  Honestly, there are a lot of phrases of Faith in the verses of these songs that we don't usually sing.  Those are the words that remind us of the true faith within our foundation that was a bulwark of the Colonies & early settlers.  It is undeniably a major part of the original culture of the US.

The issue, I think, lies in the reality that people on both sides have fought so hard for a line between patriotism (nationalism, Americanism) and Christianity that we're uncomfortable connecting the two.  Why, I'm not sure.  I do think they're exclusive, but not mutually exclusive.  Obviously you can be committed to Christ and not to Country, and vice versa.  But in our country, I think to remove God is to remove part of what & who our country was originally committed to.

I'm not going channel Glenn Beck or anything here.  Don't worry.  Am I saying that all Americans must be Christian in order to be patriotic?  No, not really.  (However, they may not fully grasp the full picture, but another post for another day.)  But should Christians understand how their faith and the American culture are intertwined?  I think so.  If we lose our connection with Christianity and the American Culture, we lose our culture.  If Christianity is removed from America, then what does America become?  Will it be the same country we know now?  Will it be the same country that was founded?  That debate will continue for a long time.  I think the bigger issue for Christians is, if we lose our connection with the foundation of America, then we lose understanding of the community and culture in which we live.  We don't lose our faith.  We don't lose our Truth.  Christianity obviously exists above any culture, government, or society.  But in order live as shining lights, don't we have to understand how our faith interacts with our culture?  And isn't it important to remember that "way back when" Christianity was the primary description of our identity? 

That is one aspect of Islam that Christianity has lost.  Muslims are, above anything else, Muslim.  That is their identity.  It is not part of who they are, or just the religion they practice.  It is woven throughout their being.  In America, "Americanism" is woven throughout our being.  But what does that mean?  It's a little bit of God, a little bit of hard-work, a little bit of self-reliance, a little bit of superiority, a little bit of ingenuity (you may argue on the "little bit" but you get the idea).  Our identity is not our faith first, for the most part.  No wonder the Muslim world looks at America as a weak Christian Nation.  We're constantly arguing if we're a Christian Nation or not.  We have no fundamental identity.  And for those that truly believe we are a Christian nation, what does that mean?

There's a false sense of security and spirituality in "American Christianity."  I'm not saying that American Christians (Is it American Christians, or Christian Americans - again, a different discussion for a different day) don't have security and a strong faith.  Many do.  It's just that for any culture the challenge of remembering the foundational faith of your heritage is only as valuable as the culture that stands upon it.  Why do you think many Jews & Catholics (just to name a few) "remember" all the time, but still don't take their "faith" seriously.  It is because they value the heritage, but not the spiritual foundation.  They lift up the tradition without lifting up the truth upon which it was built.  You get the statistics like 92% of Americans believe in God, but 72% believe that there's more than one religion that can lead to eternity and only 43% go to church.  So the heritage is there, but the Faith is not.

There are opportunities churches have to do a great service to the culture and community.  We need to re-connect the dots.  We need to be bold and communicate the Word of God and not just wave a big American Flag.  We're not celebrating the fact that we're Americans.  We're celebrating the fact that we're Christians in America.  We're celebrating the fact that our founders had a faith and a purpose founded on Christ.  Songs help us celebrate.  They are unifying, culturally significant, and emotionally powerful.  They help remind us of our foundation, and therefore ground us in a bigger context.  The American Dream wasn't a white picket fence, 2 kids, a garage, dog, and pension plan.  The American Dream was Freedom - life, liberty, and pursuit - and the foundation of that Freedom is in Christ.

So on Sunday, we're going to sing patriotic songs.  We're going to sing songs that help us remember that in the founding of our country, God was glorified - by the faithful who fought in word, deed, and blood for these United States.  We'll remember that their foundation is the same foundation we stand on today - Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of us all.  Glory, Glory Hallelujah, His Truth is Marching On!