Patriotism, in the sense of love of one’s country, can be perfectly compatible with Bible-believing Christianity. But every Christian needs to remember that we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and that we look for the city which has foundations whose architect and maker is God.
Ultimately, this world, in the here and now, is not our home. While we are deeply grateful to, committed to, and engaged in working for the welfare of the city and of our own nations, our ultimate allegiance is to God. When there is a conflict in those allegiances, either to country or to God, then we have to say we serve God, not Caesar.
While we are committed to the welfare of the city and our own nations, our ultimate allegiance is to God.Every Christian, in every culture, in every generation, has had to face that question in one way or the other. In times where Christians are not persecuted, they are very often tempted to over identify with their earthly nation and with its aspirations and maybe even to be blind to its faults.
In times of persecution, we may be tempted to have too negative a view of our role as salt and light in this world. It does not matter where you are in history or in culture; every Christian has to work through the issues of nation and church, God and Caesar, patriotism and allegiance to God, nationalism and the Kingdom of God.
All of us want to look to the minor prophets and to the teaching of Jesus on what it means to be a kingdom citizen as we work through that issue.
