This article by Owen Strachan describes what it means for a Christian to love and serve their country as Americans. I’ve noticed a lot of well known professing Christians distance themselves from patriotism as it has now become toxic to love one’s country. To be clear, it is not idolatry I am speaking of, but a desire to see the blessings God has given America continue to flourish. God has placed each one of us in a specific time in place and history to do good (Acts 17:26-27). This can include government reform and cultural reform without stating the obvious, which is gospel reform. Yes, a Great Spiritual Awakening is something I pray for in my city, state, country and around the world.

Just as William Wilberforce led the campaign to end slavery within the British Empire in 1807, we too have a part to play in stopping the cancer that is American wokeness in 2021. Wilberforce was a man who had a passion for God and his fellow man. Likewise believers today are called to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37; 39). We do this by staying informed (not obsessed) with the current cultural climate. We love our neighbors by speaking up about what is true instead of staying quiet for fear of labeling, name calling, ex-communication from our churches, jobs, and communities.

As a side note, it is wise to keep an eternal perspective in light of the temporary we live in. It is prudent to gaze more into Scripture than the news. With that said it does not mean we become passive, handing over the freedoms God has abundantly blessed us with, on a gold platter.

This is also a helpful video in which Vivek Ramaswamy succinctly articulates the virus consuming America, and I’m not referring to Covid. In less than 30 minutes he explains how wokeness, Black Lives Matter, China, Big Tech and capitalism are all related and why we need to understand the consequences.

Vivek is not a Christian but he does have a handle on the evils that prevail our society. All evil that we presently see has a spiritual reality. Spiritual warfare is something that we will encounter this side of heaven (Ephesians 6:10-18) but it is comforting that God has prepared us for these struggles with His Holy Word. We aren’t to despair as those without hope.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Grace upon grace,

April