Remember being a kid and the thrill of the 4th of July? In Ontario, California where I live, most years since 1939 we’ve had a parade and the All States Picnic. Ripley’s Believe It or Not once described it as the world’s longest picnic table. For several miles, tables lined the Euclid Ave median shaded by beautiful pepper trees. People congregated at tables representing the states they’d come from. What fun to run up and down Euclid seeing all my friends and family. To me, that event represented the best of America–freedom.

Remembering our history, the bad and the good

In high school, we studied civics and learned about the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4th 1776. It declared:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

Then, as a young adult, I went on a Caribbean cruise. While at the beach drinking rum punch with an international group of Royal Caribbean officers and hotel staff, I found myself ashamed of my country. Belgium radio officers expressed their longing to be home. The ship’s pursers from England talked with fervor about their nation. My Norwegian friend enticed me with stories about Norway’s beauty and the benefits of how because of a huge oil deposit off their coast, his government could provide for their people. As talk turned to rude demanding American tourists, I cringed and kept my mouth shut.

Watergate had recently unfolded resulting in Nixon’s resignation. The fall of Saigon had been devastating and so was the treatment of our armed forces as they returned home. The My Lai massacre sparked global outrage and the Kent State shooting shamed us. My angst over America lasted several years until I realized that every country around the world shares the same internal threat–sin.

Growth in my understanding of human nature brought back a strong sense of loyalty to my nation. Yet recently I read an article in “Christianity Today” that equated  “nationalism, supremacy, conspiracy, and celebrity [emphasis mine]” as sin. The editor-in-chief, Daniel Harrell, goes on to say that “These words denote the exploitation of power and its destruction of deeply held values in our country. They present a pernicious enticement to Christians who eschew the Cross.” Hmmmm. Really? Is that true? All these years, have I misunderstood the word “nationalism?”

What’s the meaning of this?

Although I have great respect for CT and its editors, those statements made me wonder if nationalism was really the danger Harrell claimed. As mentioned in my recent post on “The Price of Freedom,” I’d heard a similar unsubstantiated claim on an episode of Madam Secretary. It seems to me that to support that conclusion requires a definition.

As I suspected Merriam-Webster defines “nationalism” as “loyalty and devotion to a nation.” Dictionary.com defines it as “Devotion and loyalty to one’s own country. Patriotism.” Hunting a bit further down the list of connotations, I found “excessiveness.” OK, that can be problematic if nationalism becomes that. There’s no doubt that to elevate one’s country over the cross and make it an idol would be sin. So could the position that America is superior to every other country on the planet. And, there’s no doubt some in our country claim that.

However, I think there’s more to the story. More that’s worthy of consideration when it comes to celebrating Independence Day.

Overcoming injustice

Since the murder of George Floyd, many Americans have been on a quest for justice. And, the foundation for it was built into the Declaration of Independence. That’s why I am a loyal fan devoted to America and can’t wait until Ontario holds its 4th of July celebrations again next year.  “All men are created equal.” In the image of God we were created. This truth is self-evident. It is only the imago dei, the image of God in each individual, that screams for justice. And, from the beginning, America put it front and center. Not all countries operate on such a strong foundation.

In Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, author Thaddeus J. Williams wrote:

Refusing to give the Creator the honor and gratitude he is due, we turn and bow to the cosmos. We endow created things with an ultimate value that they are not due. This is double injustice. . . . Slavery murder, rape, child abuse, and theft happen when people worship idols instead of God (p. 17).

Rather than media and many educational systems insisting that a global mentality is superior to nationalism–maybe we need to consider how many countries have someone in power who dictates injustice by exalting the rich over the poor–a few over the many. Ethnic cleansing comes to mind along with many other atrocities committed by government leaders worshipping power-driven agendas.

Maybe instead of changing the meaning of words we’ve long considered beneficial to mean something entirely different, we need to look at how far we’ve come as a nation. Sure there are problems. Absolutely we should not adopt a “superior” exalted status. But nor should we denigrate loyalty to our homeland. Rather we need to continue working together in unity to improve it. Especially as believers who worship a just God, who died on the cross for all who claim their relationship with Him.

America’s reputation for freedom and opportunities to pursue life, liberty, and happiness make this country worth risking their lives for  thousands fleeing oppressive regimes. Americans are often the first to respond when other countries experience a disaster. Perhaps such qualties should give us a loyalty to our homeland, just as my international friends had for theirs–a devotion that for Americans respects our flag and celebrates the 4th of July, whether there’s a parade or not.