Churches and Nations

On Independence Day this year, the United States of America commemorated its 232nd birthday I was happy to celebrate, although I was singing songs of peace that day, not songs of war and victory. “This is my song, O God of all the nations...”[2] Here are some thoughts about “all the nations.”

Our Scriptures help explain to us why we have nations. For example, to search for God:

Acts 17:26-27. From one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

The Qur’an speaks of nations being tried, and competing in good works:

Qur'an 5:48: "If God had willed he would have made you one nation. But He did not do so, that he may try you in what has come to you. So, compete with one another in good works; Unto God shall you return, altogether, and he will tell you the Truth about what you have been disputing."

How many of us search for God, and find God, in the service (“good works”) we do? I think it’s fair to say that some of us do this regularly, and many others of us have done this or will do it. But could we say with certainty that our nations “compete in good works?” Probably not, or probably not very often. Wars seem to be nations’ most common way of competing, but neither trade wars or shooting wars seem to me to be good works, nor a way of finding God.

Churches and nations intersection and often overlap. In Genesis 12:2, YHWH tells Abram (Abraham), “I will make a great nation of you.” Perhaps Israel provides the easiest example of overlap, because for modern-day Israel, Judaism is the state religion. Israel, it is believed, was created by God for the Jews. In fact, a large portion of the book of Leviticus relates the “technology” of how Judaism was/is supposed to work for the Jews – both the priests and the laity.

Later, in Genesis 17:20, YHWH tells Abram that He will make a “great nation” of Ishmael too. Two great nations, and each developed its own strong religious heritage. And today, nations and religions get tangled up around how we humans try to govern ourselves. Many in countries in the Middle East, who might be descendents of Ishmael, want their governments to govern according to the Qur’an. In their view, God’s law, revealed in the Qur’an, should be the basis for governing. Likewise, some in America want our government to reflect Christian values and teachings. A few want our government to evangelize. I’m not one of those.

Nations beget nationalism. According to Dr. Muqtedar Khan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware, “Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion and nationalism in its extreme form begins to subvert the very idea of One God...God is blind to nationality, ethnicity and race.”[3] Dr. Khan is saying that we must beware extreme nationalism, because the nation can take the place of God for some, becoming the object of worship and adoration.

So when we pledge, “...one nation, under God...” we’re reminded of what we adore and worship. We’re also reminded that, while we are one nation under God, we’re not the only nation under God. From my perspective, extreme nationalism gets in the way of our worshipping the one God Abraham proclaimed. Also, it gets in the way of us (and our nations) searching for God, and competing in good works.

---

[1] This is one of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings, beliefs and practices of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

[2] “This is My Song” (Finlandia) Music by Jean Sibelius (1899) / Words by Lloyd Stone (1934)

[3] from http://www.ijtihad.org/Mosques-Flags.htm