Bloggers,
The birthday of America has descended upon us; it's Independence Day and to nobody's surprise, the red, white and blue can be seen everywhere; even many church houses are shrouded in it. Anyways...
Earlier this week, professor Craig Carter, teacher of theology and ethics at Tyndale University College & Seminary (in Toronto, Canada), wrote an interesting post addressing the topic of nationalism; it is quite intriguing. As one who lives in America, I am well aware that nationalism is on the rise here (sadly); I also know that it is rearing its ugly head in many other places around the world (unfortunately). This is a subject I have been reflecting on for a while now and which I think is incredibly important. In fact, I tend to think that in the coming years, this will be the one issue that plagues the Church more than any other. Anyways and as usual, his blog, The Politics of the Cross, is highly political and has some good food-for-thought; check it out. To read the article on nationalism, click the following link: The Politics of the Cross.
I have also come across two articles recently in a magazine that the congregation where I serve receives, that address this topic. One is from the viewpoint of a European fellow and the other comes from the pen of an American. For the European perspective, read the column by Patrick Nullens by clicking the following link: Nullens: The Problems with Christian Nationalism.
For the American perspective, read the column from Ethan Magness by clicking the following link: Magness: The Problems with Christian Nationalism.
It's not everyday that you get to read the perspectives of Christians in Canada, America and Europe together! For those of you located in these or other parts of the world, how do you see this issue working itself out? How do we begin to solve this problem? For what it's worth, I think Trinitarian theology as well as insights from "The New Perspective" go a long way in addressing this topic and I think that in the future, serious-minded Christians will begin to draw from these two areas more and more. I know I will! May we always remember that true freedom is found in the Kingdom of the Triune God, a Kingdom that knows no borders and is founded on love and peace!
I took a low-key approach to July 4th at church. I'm quite glad that it wasn't on a Sunday. The flowers were red, white, and blue, and there were American flags in the arrangement, and the offeratory background music was America the Beautiful, but otherwise we successfully avoided co-opting the mission of the Church.
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