Pastor Aaron Brown

I love my country. Every Independence Day I look back on fond memories of watching my grandfather, a veteran of foreign war, carry the American flag at the front of the parade in our small town. He was stoic and proud. I remember the poems he would share at Thanksgiving that reflected on his pride of serving our great country and also his grief of losing friends. I remember my father teaching me to stand, remove my hat, and show respect when the national anthem was played at a sporting event, even if no one else did. Our family always celebrated our freedom and citizenship with equal doses of gratitude and somber understanding of the cost.

Watching both my grandfather and my father wrestle to live freely and fully under the burden of the cost of freedom affected me deeply, and taught me to be grateful for the peace and prosperity that we enjoy in our country. It also taught me that it is worth working to preserve and to perfect. While I oppose all kinds of war, I consider myself a patriot because I believe in what our country stands for, I participate in building a community that reflects those values, and also because I can admit that America is not perfect. The good news is this: none of us are perfect and no one in my life needs to be perfect in order to have my support, partnership, and loyalty. That includes my nation.

As a Christian, two of the core tenants of my faith are grace and redemption. Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve, and redemption is working towards making what is broken whole again. Patriots understand that we have received something because of the hard work and bloodshed of others, and that even though it’s not perfect, it’s worth working hard to redeem our collective faults and live into a better representation of our collective values.

In recent history, the rise of the conflict between patriotic and nationalistic values have become a hot topic. It can get tiresome, but I think it’s an important point to keep in focus. As I remember and celebrate all that I am thankful for about our country today, I share this silly chart, and the thoughtful article below, as a way of reminding myself (and maybe you) that it’s okay to admit that our country’s not perfect, and it’s okay to show loyalty and to celebrate even though we’ve still got work to do.

Further, for my fellow Christians, let me remind you that our loyalty to our country is only healthy in as much as it helps us bring the Kingdom of God into a fuller reality here on earth by loving our neighbors (locally and globally), and include others into our forever family that will represent every tribe, tongue, and nation. At the end of the day, my first citizenship is God’s Kingdom, in my national citizenship to America will always take a knee to my cosmic King, Jesus.

Here’s a great article on the differences between Patriotism and Nationalism: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2023/07/patriotism-vs-nationalism/