I had a problem with integrating patriotism and Christianity for some years, until I understood that my relationship, as a Christian, to God and to country was a hierarchical one: God must be supreme in my life, and country second. However great the United States is, still the institution is a part of the world system, which is under God’s sovereign control, no matter what its leaders and citizens choose.
With this as a basis, I can look at our present political developments with concern, yet be confident that nothing happens without His permission.
Such confidence does not mean that I am not concerned about current trends in our democracy (all right, the U.S. is a republic–a democratic one), or that I am willing to quietly accept all the developments in our government. That I am comfortable in my trust that my God has all things in His control does not mean that I have no respons-ibillity for what our leadership is doing.
The Biblical call to “be in the world but not of it” raises the issue of believers’ responsi-bility in a representative environment. Issues such as what values we support, which candidates are acceptable, how we speak and behave in the midst of confrontational disagreements and in campaigning, among others. Basic to it all is our responsibility to love those who may not love us back.
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