Unpatriotic?!?

"When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, 'This man deserves the sentence of death because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.'"

(Jeremiah 26:10-11)

Patriotism. It's both a positive and a negative. There's nothing wrong with feeling a sense of pride and connection to one's country. The solidarity that patriotism can engender can be so powerful. At the same time, patriotism that goes unchecked and uncriticized (from an investigative standpoint) can be extremely dangerous.

There's a story in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. God gives the prophet a word of warning and condemnation for his people. Jeremiah obeys and shares that word... then everyone FREAKS OUT! The local politicians, the religious leaders, and the common folk - everybody! In fact, they call for Jeremiah's head (literally, they say he's deserving of death!). WHAT? WHY?!? Simply because he dared to criticize his own nation.

Patriotism is great. But as followers of Jesus, we Christians have a higher calling. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God - which transcends borders. ANYTIME there is injustice, oppression, greed, abuses of power, exploitation, etc., we must speak out and stand up against it. We are even called to protest, if necessary. GOD CALLS US TO DO NOTHING LESS.

So maybe we, as Americans, should stop vilifying anyone who "dares" to raise a concern that something in our country may not be right (even if it goes against our politics!). Unpatriotic? Nope. That's how our nation was founded! And especially as Christians, our love of our country cannot be higher than our own commitment to living as God has commanded us. (End of rant.)