The 250th Anniversary

Two hundred and fifty years ago this month, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress. Why should Christians note this anniversary? What does this have to do with God’s mission to rescue the whole world (not just people in the USA!) from Sin, Death, and the Devil by sending his Son, Jesus? If compared to God’s universal mission, the 250th anniversary of the USA is nothing worthy of a Christian’s notice. The work of Jesus, in which Christians are called to participate, crosses national and cultural boundaries, across times and eras. From this perspective, such an anniversary is comparable to a wedding anniversary or a birthday: of personal interest, but hardly worthy of Christian’s time or energy when the good news of Jesus needs to be compellingly shared for this time and place. There are vulnerable neighbors who need to be served. Serving God and serving neighbor is Christ’s call and our priority as Christians (Matt 22:37-40).

Ah, but our call to love God and neighbor is also why we should celebrate and work for the well-being of our nation! We are blessed to live in a country where there is no national religion. We can thank God that we have traditions and laws that protect our right to read the Bible, pray, worship, and serve as our Lutheran Christian tradition suggests without having government officials interfere!

However, new work needs to be done to maintain this freedom. Freedom of religion has been eroded over the last few years by some who want more privileges and protections for certain kinds of Christians and less for others. The most recent evidence is the reclassification of religions by the military. In June, a list was published collapsing the many different kinds of Jewish denominations into one category and (temporarily) designating the Mormons as non-Christian. Later, a revised list removed “Christian” from all titles except Non-denominational churches. We used to be “Christian-Lutheran.” Now just “Lutheran.”

In addition, we should be deeply concerned about anti-Muslim tendencies in many quarters. Someone is not a terrorist sympathizer simply because they are Muslim, yet politicians and immigration officials sometimes suggest this. An attack on anyone’s religious freedom today could be a loss of our freedom tomorrow.

One of the ways we can love our neighbors is to speak up on their behalf when people aren’t listening or paying attention to them. Each group should be allowed to define who they are without the government interfering. If the Church of Jesus Christ-Latter Day Saints (also known as Mormons) considers themselves “Christians,” then the government shouldn’t say otherwise. (It doesn’t matter if I personally think they are Christian or not! The issue is if it is appropriate for the government to make the decision.) If our Jewish neighbors want to distinguish themselves as Hasidic or Reconstructionist, they government shouldn’t collapse them into a single generic category. Muslims shouldn’t be scared to identify themselves as Muslim to the government fearing surveillance or harassment. Please don’t remain silent but say something to friends or neighbors when they support government interference based on religion. It’s one way to love our neighbors!

I encourage you to celebrate the great freedoms we enjoy in the USA and the messy democracy that works our differences out at the ballot box rather than at the muzzle of a gun. Please don’t give into cynicism, but instead inform yourself about candidates and issues and vote in the primary election on July 21. For 250 years, this American Experiment has allowed a flourishing of religious expression that has (among other things) helped Christ-followers tell others about Jesus and God’s mission to free all humanity from Sin, Death, and the Devil for all eternity! Now that’s something to celebrate!