How to be a Patriotic Christian (Richard Mouw)

In How to be a Patriotic Christian, Richard Mouw's goal is "to offer counsel to Christian readers about how to be patriotic," but it is not prescriptive: one piece of advice is "keep wrestling with the questions" as we look at "what it means to be citizens in the nation where the Lord has placed us."

Summary

Overall, "the Bible tells us to honor those who are in authority over us, [but] we also know that there come times for Christians when to obey a government is to be unfaithful to the gospel," as "our primary allegiance . . . is to the kingdom of Jesus Christ." "But patriotism is not just about our relationship to specific governmental policies and practices. It is about belonging to a community of citizens . . ." So what does this look like?

Jesus said to give to Caesar what was Caesar's, and to God what was God's (see Mark 12:17), but He never defined what exactly does belong to Caesar- in other words, the exact limits of government. In Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, Paul and Peter, respectively, state we should be subject to higher powers, "for he is God's servant for your good." But we see many examples in history where the government is obviously evil and deviates from the course that God intended it to serve; in such cases, the patriotic course is in fact to dissent (and in some cases disobey). Ultimately, we expect and need the government to 'do right' and should cooperate with them (and those in our community) "to demonstrate our commitment to the common good." Even if that government may be opposed to Christians- recall the Lord's words to Jeremiah when Israel was in exile: "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jeremiah 29:7) We are called to work for the common good wherever we find ourselves, even if we encounter hostility to our beliefs.

Ultimately, "A key governmental duty . . is to encourage good behaviors and discourage the bad. But we have to think about what this means regarding the proper limits of government." "The Bible does not lay out a detailed overview of the just ordering of a society. Instead, the biblical writers focus on groups of people whose legitimate cries for justice are often ignored." In other words, we should work with the government to make sure justice for all is being carried out. "A worthy government is one that cares for the well-being of all its citizens." And we should help/encourage them to do so.

Some other points:

- Some Americans claim to want the government out of their lives, but everyone should recognize the value of common services- things like streets, public safety measures, and other important functions. "Even if we think that there are some things . . . that a government should not do, I would still want to insist that a government is obliged at least to see to it that they are done by other entities."

- We live in a pluralistic society. As we want to worship God without hindrance, we should extend that freedom of religion to others. "We must focus on formulating policies and practices in terms that will be compelling to diverse constituencies." Part of that can be hard, to the extent that "we should cultivate a spirit of toleration regarding the range of permissible behaviors in our society. Not everything that can be judged to be sinful ought to be made illegal." And "we need to open ourselves to people who can remind us of our own prejudices, inconsistencies, and misdeeds." The Lord can and does use non-Christians to communicate truths in the public arena. And "everyone in our nation is created in the divine image, whether or not they share our Christian convictions." 

- Regarding policies, Tim Keller writes "most political positions are not matters of biblical command but of practical wisdom." We need to remember that. Championing the Bible's commands to love our neighbor can be approached in several ways, and we can (and should) disagree and wrestle with how to be faithful in this regard.

Mouw concludes with four guidelines for how to keep wrestling with questions; "guidelines that I think ought to inform all of us, regardless of our differences on political specifics."

- Do the work of contemplation.

- Cultivate compassion.

- Go deep in the quest for rootedness. (your deepest allegiance is to Christ, not country.)

- Trust Jesus.

Review

This is a good, if basic, introduction to the topic of patriotism. I wish there had been more meat and profound insights, but I did learn a few things on top of reinforcing positions I had heard before. This is good for someone with little/no background in the topic.

Rating: B