I love God and I am thankful that He chose me and I can call myself a Christian. I am also thankful that I was born in The United States because I have freedoms that I would not have in other countries. I appreciate that I live in a country founded on the belief of religious freedom. I believe in the separation of church and state. I think it is a powerful dividing line that is being forgotten as some believers politicize religion more and more for their personal gain. I do not believe that The United States of America should label itself a Christian nation.
Labels can be just a sticker. Anyone that has gone shopping can see that sometimes the sticker can be put on the wrong item. This has happened in a lot of cases. There are many people that do not, or have not read their bibles enough to know what it actually says. They have depended too heavily on people that either have been misguided or have purposefully led them in the wrong direction. The bible has told us many times that the spirit of the antichrist is among us and we must be careful. There is not just one antichrist; there are many and they are willing to take us anywhere they want us to go as long it is far away from the truth of a loving Father that believes and honors our right to choose Him or not. God has told us to love our neighbor. He did not differentiate any neighbor from another, whether they are from another country, from another religion, another political belief, whether their skin is a different color or they can read or not or any other difference between ourself and them. Illegal aliens, immigrants, people who believe in abortion, people that are queer, people that collect guns or not, democrats, republicans, independents or disenfranchised, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Satanists, Atheists, law-abiding citizens and criminals are all our neighbors.
By labeling The United States as a Christian nation we are leaving out some of our best people. That doesn’t mean we can’t be Christians. The bible says we are only responsible for ourselves. We are not going to stand before God on Judgement Day and be responsible for anyone but our self. There are actual passages that say mind your own business and work hard with your hands so you will be happy. So read your bible. Learn about God and work on your relationship with Him and you know what? As a nation we will probably start to look more like a Christian nation. Why? Because when each one of us that loves God, we will be loving our neighbor, feeding our neighbor, clothing our neighbor, just as we would have done for Jesus and all that love will pour over to the next person and as we minister to each other, maybe the love of God will inspire others to love people and maybe show people that loving God is safe and not scary and not a waste of time.
We have spent a lot of time in this country teaching each other to not trust each other. White people have been terrible to Native Americans, Black Folks, Asian people and any other person of color. We have treated immigrants terribly, whether they came from Mexico, Italy, Ireland or any other country because humans tend to believe in the survival of the fittest, but that is not in the bible. The bible tells us to love and care for those who need it. We can’t go back and do anything differently but we can start each day new and love the people in front of us.
There are people that have taken some of the words of the bible and used them to teach us to divide and conquer but that is not what Jesus meant when He said He came to bring division. He was describing what humanity will cause, not what He wanted. The law of humanity is lust, pride and greed. The law of Christ is love, peace and mercy. Without Jesus, I don’t deserve the law of Christ but I am so thankful for it because the law of humanity is not worth the price of damnation in the end or the emotional cost before I get there.
So how do you know if you are following the right advise? Easy. If you see the fruits of the spirit, you are in the right place: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. If you don’t see these things, you are not seeing the law of Christ. You are seeing an antichrist. If you don’t see this in your life, ask God to help you to produce them. He is a good God and wants to give these things to you. He will honor this request. You don’t need fancy words to ask Him. You just ask Him. He knows what you are going to ask Him anyway so you don’t have to put a lot of thought into it.
I recently read a book called How We Love Matters: A Call to Practice Relentless Racial Reconciliation by Albert Tate and he was saying that while we can participate in political parties, we can’t give our allegiance to anyone but Jesus because only Jesus was willing to give His life for us. Political parties have their agendas and they will bend over backwards to make sure you believe them, even lie so you will agree with their perspective. This really resounded in my spirit. It totally helped me understand why I feel about politics the way I do. They have their place, but they can’t be number one in my heart because I gave that place to Jesus. This also makes my feelings about church and state being separate to stay strong. Words are so important. If we as a country try to label ourselves one way when most of us don’t understand those words the same way, or maybe don’t even agree them, we are setting ourselves up for failure.
Can The United States be a country that tries to get better everyday? I can get behind that.
Can The US be a country that understands that we are younger than many countries and we are still defining success? I like that.
Can The United States of America be a country that is imperfect but wants to be a helping hand when it can? Yes. That is a powerful statement.
Can the United States be a melting pot of beautiful people trying their best? That we are!
This article was inspired by:
- Many believe the founders wanted a Christian America. Some want the government to declare one now. By Peter Smith for Associated Press February 17, 2024
~
Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
1
20
20
20
Please wait...
