AppreciatingAmerica650pw

As we roll into another Memorial Day, we must remember to keep the things we hold dear in their place, lest they become the things we hold dearest.

Our families.

Our friends.

Our traditions.

Our things.

Even (and perhaps especially) our country. (See: The America Idol: How “Christians” Worship and Enable the Anti-Christ State.)

If they are to inspire true joy, peace and God-glorifying life, they must be subjected to Him in practice. In every hour of every day and in every realm or area of life.

In the moment that they are not subjected to Him, they become destructive. They become idols. As understandably beautiful, precious and cherished as any of these things can and should be in a proper, Christ-centered context, when we allow any of them to assume top tier status in our lives, they become our god(s) in practice.

Enemies of Christ know this all too well and are all too happy to exploit our loving, adoring idolatry of anything, including America itself. (See: The America Idol (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Almighty State.)

Idolatry

Dr. Joel McDurmon of The American Vision said it well earlier today when he posted,

“. . . As we encounter Memorial Day, it is certainly appropriate to remember those who fought and died protecting our land, people, and liberty. Their sacrifice is genuine and never to be forgotten any more than that of any genuine hero. But what too often happens among conservative Christians is a blanket endorsement of all things military wrapped in the flag. Without necessary distinctions, this can become idolatry as easily as it can be a genuine memorial of the righteous. It can become flag worship, nation worship, power worship, hatred and pride. Without the distinctions provided in biblical law, it is always a short step from patriotism to nationalism.

We are called to be ardent patriots, but not uncritical nationalists. We are called to apply biblical law to every area of life. We can easily fail to do this if we are enraptured by power and “winning.” Worse yet, when we are so enraptured, we make ourselves easy prey for voracious politicians and powerful men who leverage the power of such emotions to herd people into their agendas. And what is so sad about this is that 1) such people would otherwise pride themselves in their tradition of strong, American individualism, and 2) such people think they are being good conservative Christians in their adamant stand. The truth is that too often they have been herded into collectivism by emotions and have departed from the Bible in the process.”

This warning is an important one, and so much of what we see unfolding around us with each passing Drudge Report refresh serves as a bold, clear confirmation that our America idolatry – our worship and empowering of the “almighty” American State – is being used to bring us from freedom into bondage at every level. (See also: So the American State has to destroy our freedom in order to protect it? Oh yeah, that makes sense.) As the culture suicidally craters around us, it’s loudest testimony seems to be: “This is where all man-centered pride inevitably leads”.

It’s not as though God has been silent as to why this is happening.

It’s not as though He has not given us all that we need to understand and address the smoldering mountain of consequences that now comprise the “great American experiment”.

The answer is as clear as it is hated by those defined by man-centered (and America-centered) pride: Broken surrender, repentance and submission to Christ as King in practice in every area of life.

That – or, better said, He – is our only way.

He is our only hope.

FBCPleaseHelpRed300pw

So on this Memorial Day will we remember the essential, life-giving, life-defining Truth that the Pilgrims who founded this land held so dear and strived so mightily to apply in every area of life, culture and civilization? (See: How to truly love (and really save) America.)

Or will we continue to willfully “forget” and reject the worldview of those first founders while comically pretending that we can still somehow, some way have the fruits of that Christ as King worldview? (See:  Manning the life boats as America shifts into iceberg-ramming mode.)

Choose this day whom (or Whom) you will remember…and serve accordingly…

.

If you know of anyone who might appreciate this post, please share it. If you’d like to help support the Fire Breathing Christian mission, please click here.

Please also “like” us on Facebook and feel free to sign up for new articles by email using the button in the upper right corner of the FBC home page. Thank you for your support!

© 2015 Scott Alan Buss – All Rights Reserved.

Comic13FrontFinal650pw

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *