In all likelihood, it was a hot, sticky mid-summer day. As a group of men gathered in an un-air conditioned building, not only was their fate, but the fate of the fledgling country, rested on what they were about to do. Each man present affixed his signature to the document that July day, thereby proclaiming their willingness to give their life for the right to self-determination.
The document was, of course, the Declaration of Independence. “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” (From The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.)
That was 239 years ago yesterday. Freedom has never been easy. Nor has it been cheap. This nation was founded on freedom of religion (see the Constitution) as one of its foremost tenets. It meant that we could worship – or not worship – the God of our choosing. We Christians, as have followers of Christ from the time after his resurrection, faced daunting odds at times. In the earliest church, Roman persecution, while never widespread, was very intense where it appeared. Professing Christ could get one killed.
Today, we Christians in the United States do not experience any of that. Other religions, despite Constitutional guarantees, sometimes do. And that persecution, often more verbal than physical, may be at the hands of “Christians.” I put that in quotation marks because I wonder if those who perpetrate such acts truly follow the Christ of the Bible. I’m sometimes amazed at the venom that bursts forth from the mouths of professed believers and the intolerance we at times practice toward one another.
Would it not be something if all believers lived out the commandments of “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). In his reply to the lawyer, who rightly answered with the above, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live” (10:28). Seems simple, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It takes a willful and conscious effort on our part. It means loving the unlovable, and loving those who differ from us, whether in what they believe or say or in their lifestyles.
Each Fourth of July, may we remember that the costly freedom we have, both as citizens of this great country and as citizens of the eternal realm, calls us to live life differently, not acting out of any perceived superiority, but out of the love God revealed to the world in Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, . . .” (John 3:16). See you on this incredible journey!
Grace and peace,
Mike
July 05, 2015