Which is more problematic for you (if either), when secular society objects to your Christ-centered Christmas celebration or when your church’s Fourth of July service is more about country than Christ? I merely pick those holy days becoming holidays and holidays becoming holy days just as examples. There are others.
For me, it’s the latter that is more concerning. Here’s why.
Generally speaking, I know what’s holy and what’s not, and I don’t expect secular culture to understand the difference or appreciate my love for and allegiance to Jesus (1 John 3:1). I can “sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart” (1 Peter 3:15) and not care if some of my neighbors think I’m a fool for it.
But when it comes to the Church turning a celebration of something secular and attempting to sanctify it (make it holy), I object. I’m all for patriotism, but I reject every effort to frame it as something inherently spiritual. Taking pride in one’s nation is healthy, but when that pride seeps into faith, it poisons it. It becomes patriotism mixed with Christianity lite. It ruins both.
Whatever you call it, Nationalism, Christian Nationalism, or right-wing religion, it’s national pride on steroids. C.S. Lewis said that this form of patriotism “becomes a demon when it becomes a god.” It graffities the holy and smears its beauty. It derails our mission as a prophetic community.
Of course, we should all be proud of our country for its greatest hits while at the same time acknowledging our failures. Let’s not confuse or conflate the unadulterated glory of our God with the merits of our nation.
Let our holidays be holidays and our holy days be holy. Never the twain shall meet.
barney wiget 