God and Patriotism Go Togeth-

As July 4th draws near again, let me remind you that the apostle Peter admonished his flock, “Fear God; honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17). Obviously, he saw no conflict between faith and patriotism. But leaders in a wide assortment of churches somehow have failed to see this.

For example, in this era when so many citizens are crying out to defund the police and are trying in other ways to limit law enforcement, I recall a very different wave of anti-police rhetoric.

The churches my parents grew up in over a century ago had been influenced by some preachers who taught a lot of our people to avoid all government involvement. After all, these pioneer evangelists reasoned, we belong to the Kingdom—God’s Kingdom, so we can’t compromise our loyalties by aligning ourselves with any other.

I don’t think they realized at the time that they were borrowing bricks from the wall our Amish and Quaker friends erected between themselves and the government. Consequently, when I came along a generation later, quite a few of our church leaders still were telling their people that they should never wear a law badge, and some even said it was wrong to seek an elected office of any kind.

When WWII broke out, this tainted reasoning about allegiance to the right Kingdom was

one factor that caused several of our best men to register in the military draft as conscientious objectors.

They saw this as a way to affirm their basic allegiance to the true King.

But equally faithful believers right beside them felt that they were serving God most faithfully when they had the courage to put on a uniform and defend our land.

During my sixtyplus years of ministry, nothing has touched my heart more deeply than the times when flags have been folded and TAPS played to honor veterans we were burying.

Nor could anyone or anything in my world possibly make me prouder than our Marine son and the decades of service he gave to defend our country all over the globe (Iraq included).

All of my life I have loved to celebrate July 4th, but I don’t have to wait for this special day to roll around on my calendar again to give thanks to God for letting me live in this great land. I’m like Peter.

In my book, God and patriotism go together.

Gene Shelburne may be addressed at 3516 Carlton Dr., Amarillo, TX 79109 or at GeneShel@aol. com. Get his books or magazines at www. christianappeal.com. His column appears weekly.