Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center on Johnstone Street. Should Christians love their country? That's always been a controversial question. But as America celebrates its 250th birthday in the middle of intense political division and a decline in reported pride of country, a proper understanding of patriotism from a Christian worldview has never been more relevant. In his book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism, Dan Darling defined patriotism as, quote, love of country as manifested in loyalty, service, and giving honor to one's country.
Church Father Saint Augustine gave Christians a good way to prioritize loves in his Ordo Amoris, or Order of Loves, which can be a good way to think about love of country. Here's Saint Augustine, quote, living a just and holy life requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things. To love things, that is to say, in the right order, so that you do not love what is not to be loved, or fail to love what is to be loved, or have a greater love for what should be loved less, or an equal love for things that should be loved less or more, or a lesser or greater love for things that should be loved equally. It may sound complicated, but it's really helpful. As Darling has pointed out, Christians often create this false binary between the love of country and the love of God.
But that framework contrasts with both what Augustine and the Bible itself says. As Darling has pointed out, Christians often create a false binary between love of country and love of God. But that contradicts both Augustine and the Bible. The Apostle Peter wrote that we are to honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. See, there's an order here.
We're to fear God and honor the government, not the other way around. And we honor the government unless the powers that be direct us to disobey God. A helpful way to understand the proper ordered patriotism is to consider it like a virtuous means, similar to Aristotle's virtues, which exist between two extremes. A virtuous patriotism also sits between two extremes. On one hand, as C.S.
Lewis explained in The Four Loves, an excessive love of one's country leads to idolatry, as it becomes a demon when it becomes a god. On the other hand, the deficiency can lead to what Lewis called debunking, the mockery of love of country that tears down one's home and heritage all in the name of patriotism itself. Yet a biblical and virtuous love of country need not blindly see America as perfect or godlike. America is neither pure nor free from sin, but nor is it uniquely evil. As such, America is not unredeemable.
Rather, it's grounded in noble, true principles. And that kind of patriotism is marked by gratitude and loyalty to America by recognizing it as a love that's properly ordered. An example can be found in one of America's great statesmen, Abraham Lincoln. In 1852, he provided a eulogy for Senator Henry Clay, someone who did much to stymie the coming Civil War during his lifetime. Lincoln said this about Clay: quote, he loved his country partly because it was his own country, but mostly because it was a free country.
You see, here, Lincoln is proposing a form of patriotism that goes beyond just loving the country, merely because it's your place of birth and the home of your fathers. He demonstrates here an informed patriotism that understands his country's freedom and justice as worthy of being loved. Christians in America also can love their country because we know that Christianity was at the heart of not only the founding of America, but also many of its most important reforms, reforms that helped to ensure greater freedom and justice for all. In his book, Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land, historian Mark David Hall argued that Christians and Christian ideas were absolutely pivotal. in resisting British tyranny, in conducting the American Revolution, in eradicating slavery, in pursuing justice for Native Americans, and in promoting religious liberty.
So with the final word, at least today, on Christian patriotism, Here's Chuck Colson. The Christian position is beautifully balanced. On the one hand we don't deify our country, we don't wrap the flag around the cross. For we know that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, and that's where our ultimate allegiance is. But at the same time, the only place for expressing that allegiance is in concrete loyalties God has called us to here on earth, including loyalty to country.
We can't love mankind in the abstract. We can only really love people in the particular. Concrete relationships God has placed us in in our family, church, community, and our nation. The Christian has the balanced understanding, and so celebrate the Fourth of July this year. by thanking God that while he has called you into his kingdom, That's our ultimate loyalty.
He has allowed us to live in and, yes, love this land of liberty. That was Chuck Colson. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Andrew Carrico. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download podcasts.
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We'll be joined by John Stone Street, Abdu Murray, Gretchen Huizinga, and our virtual guest, John Lennox. These leading thinkers on faith and AI will help us understand how to navigate this new technological landscape while considering our role as image-bearers of God. This event is free, but space is limited. Secure your spot today at greatlakesymposium.org. That's greatlakesymposium.org.
