Dilemna: Nationalistic patriotism and the call of the Kingdom (Part 1?)

I would breifly like to get somethings off of my chest but before I start I want to make it clear that I am deeply sympathetic towards those who lost loved ones on September 11th, 2001 ( as well as every other day of the year) and I wish that this had never happened at all. But, the current dilemma is that it has actually happened and we now find ourselves in a time of distress.

In the wake of the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks I can't help but marvel at the actions of not only the typical christian laymen within America, but also church officials. There is so much noise in the areas of theology that in this day and age it is so often times a challenge to hear the truth for having to navigating through not only the various teachings of the day but also the biases implanted in our thinking- which are otherwise a product of growing up in such a society as we do here in America. I am learning this lesson on a daily basis! So when it comes to such things as terrorist attacks on "God's most favored nation", the practice of military advance, or protection, through force (more specifically the act of killing), or the recitation of the pledge of allegiance during a church service, you can't help but feel the tension that you are now engaged in an internal battle to separate what God envisioned for the world in Jesus from what political systems of the day expect of us. Most will often cite Romans 13 as vindication for pledging ones allegiance to their political power but does one ever stop to ponder how this mentality hurt christian men who found themselves subject to the governing authorities of the 1930's and 1040's in nazi Germany? Surely the forest has been missed for the trees when one exegetes Romans 13 and dismisses Romans 12.

There are deterministic theologies out there that say that God is sovereign over all and through all- thus, God is the cause of all things both good and bad. I, as well as many others, label this as a fatalistic theology precisely because that is what this branch of thinking facilitates. Clearly, Jesus never taught that God was the CAUSE of all things- but this is not to say that God is not sovereign THROUGH all things. Prominent eschatologies, especially in America, seem to give the impression that things must get worst before they can get better (enter: the second coming OR the "rapture" if you lived after 1860) and so we are alright praising God for the bad because eventually it will get so bad that Christ will have to return but we (the church) will be spared of all of this. This interpretation is often dubbed "escapist theology". Perhaps there are American soldiers fighting right now who have been heavily influenced by such despensational, premillenial theologies that, given their theological positions, they only seek to embolden young men and women who are engaged in the war on terror (what a silly idea) because, as such Zionist ideals play out, the middle east is the real enemy through whom the anti-christ will enact his final attempts to usurp the people of God, aka America. Where does this fit into the person of Jesus? The same Messiah who commanded us to love our enemies, pray for them, feed them, and clothe them is going to predispose his return with a military advancement upon the enemies of America? ... it simply does not fit! I am not calling for what some call the "abolition of war" as I recognize that we live in a world of war and conflict. I truly wish to entertain the question, with serious inquisition, as to what is the christians role in all of this? I fear that we cannot end war all together but we can do something about christian involvement in such things.

"Jesus is Lord"

Such a proclaim is remarkable. It is obvious that so many of us often lose sight of the fact that proclaiming Jesus' Lordship over our lives has immediate implication for our lives as ambassadors of another kingdom in the here and now- not just in America but all of the earth! "Lord" is an empirical term- it recognizes headship and authority. If you are a christian than Jesus is your king and you represent this kingdom! How is it that we lose sight of this as soon as the world's largest political power goes to war or experiences a moment of vulnerability?

What an odd response that so many came up with in light of the deaths of innocent men and women when a terrorist attack finally penetrated the shores of America. What did we do? In 2001 the American people were encouraged to go shopping and, in 2011, on the 10 year anniversary of that horrible event, we find ourselves pledging our ALLEGIANCE to the flag of America ... in our churches! Do we really believe that those trapped in the twin towers on 9/11 died FOR America? Rather, did they not actually die BECAUSE of America? And our response to all of this? We wave flags, salute America, and proclaim "God bless America!" What about the rest of the world? Are we not reverberating the same ideals of the Israelites when we put our nation above the rest? I just don't get it! It hurts my very being to see such uncritical patriotism at play in the world and in our churches! Further more, I don't see anyone ever being able to forget about the acts of violence America experienced on 9/11. No one forgets the very people they hate and despise! I feel that most Americans wish horrible things for middle easterners- instead of praying for them. In the hours following the assassination of Osama Bin Laden I was confronted by a woman who was opposed to my opposition of christians rejoicing in his death. Her response was this: "I wish we could have arrested him so we could have shown him a bit of hell before we sent him to hell!" ... Is this how Christ would speak of ANYONE?

I do not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here so I will state that there are times when our governments enact Christ-like justice, and there are times when we meet the needs of the downtrodden. However, to me, it is more about what we do when they fail to do these things? Do we simply bypass that reality in light of the times that they did good? It surprises me that I find myself in the minority amongst Christian's that believe violence and killing is anti-Kingdom! Actually, most people I know believe murder is a sin but, when in war it is permissible. If there was any point that Jesus made clear it was that killing was a sin, and violence was not the way of the Kingdom of God.

So, I have pledged my allegiance to the Kingdom of God. The recitation of any other pledge, in church or out, is strictly prohibited. Evil is real and and it is present in our world. As the Kingdom of God we are called to be the light and salt of the Earth- a light that reveals the nature of God for the Earth and the salt that preserves it!

Jesus is Lord therefore Caesar is not!