Special Edition ~ July 4th ~ Hope for America

Happy Independence Day!

On this day in our communities all over the United States, we celebrate the birth of our nation in 1776. From picnics to backyard fun, from sparklers to bottle rockets, from neighborhood parties to parades, people all over America will celebrate. Even those who will not get to do something special with others actually will enjoy our nation’s independence. Just by going about doing whatever it is each of us will do, we in one sense celebrate freedom, independence, and this great nation.

Sadly in our nation today for many reasons, there are many who are frustrated, discouraged, and confused. They struggle celebrating America because she is not perfect, her people are not perfect, and failures abound. No doubt this is true. Any person who has eyes and a sense of history can articulate areas of failure. However, today we do not celebrate perfection; instead, we celebrate the ideals of a free nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

That, my friend, is worth celebrating.

Struggle in America

Possibly you have been discouraged as I over the past couple of months. Where I can rejoice and be grateful over an open conversation regarding injustice, I struggle with how it has been hijacked by an anti-American, unjust movement that wants to tear down the family, the government, and the community.

Consider these two analogies:

1) When there are problems in one’s family, true restoration and reconciliation means that you address the problem and work together for its solution. Those people who are problem-solvers and ministers of reconciliation work toward making the family better. The goal is to make the family stronger where it benefits all the family, not tear it down.

2) When researching a family tree, you learn about your ancestors collectively and as individuals. Sometimes what you uncover is worth celebrating; sometimes it is shocking. There are those in your ancestry with whom you connect; there are those with whom you are saddened. You look at the tree and see patterns. At times you see generational problems. When you do, you seek to break those patterns. The goal is to learn more and make in-course corrections where necessary. No one researches their family with the goal of changing their name, becoming intensely critical, or causing problems in the family. Instead, you learn and grow.

Right now in the United States there are many who recognize problems and see some of them as generational. It is in this moment that we come together and listen, seek to learn, seek to grow, and change what we can to make the future stronger, greater, and better. We do this on the foundation of our past. We do this by the fundamental ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice upon which the country was founded.

We Are Better Together

As a nation, we need hope. As a nation, we need American citizens to move forward together strengthening what is good and changing what is not. Where that applies to racism, we must persevere toward change. However, we must recognize that those who have been so radically affected by racism are not alone. The issue is not as simple as just one word or idea. In fact, part of the solution for those so radically affected by racism is deeper. The government has created systems that financially hurt those most affected by racism through rewarding broken homes. The government has allowed schools and agencies to fail in poor communities of every color. The inner cities especially have been decimated, often by failed leadership over decades.

Our fellow Americans struggle under and in communities where the system is helping produce a generation of broken, lost, ungrounded people. These individuals who are also our fellow Americans are influenced more by gangs, drugs, pornography, and violence than they are faith, family, and freedom. Some of the problems date back for years – problems with our ancestors, many of them though started with the legislation of the 1970s – problems created and exasperated in our lifetime.

Hope in America ~ in Your Community ~ in Your Neighborhood

So where is the hope? What can we do? How can we respond?

For the sake of this essay, I want to address those who follow Christ only. Yes, more can be said of others in our community, but change needs to begin and continue in us. Hope and change must be brightest among those of us who serve something much greater than a country and for better reasons than just personal liberty, justice, and freedom.

As Christ-followers, let me suggest there are three things each one of us can do in our own personal lives which will reap incredible differences. One relates to our system of government; the other two relate to who we are and what we do. One may produce change over time systemically; the other two produce change today in your neighborhood and in your community.

Responsibility in Citizenship

Every Christ-follower must engage in responsible citizenship. We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. Instead, talk with your local, state, and national politicians. Let them hear your voice, know your name, and understand your goals. They need to hear from you. But talk alone is cheap.

We need to volunteer in our community. Ask your local agencies who serve the poor of all kinds in your community how you can help. Give to those who will use it responsibly. Research the agencies in your community so that your volunteering and giving will be responsible. Do not assume that just because an agency is popular that it necessarily represents your own values. Seek to support those who help the most people while supporting your values.

Do what you can do to encourage your local heroes that put their lives in jeopardy every day to serve you. Support your local police officers, fire fighters, EMT personnel, doctors, nurses, and so many others who live every day with you in mind. These individuals and their families sacrifice daily for you. Therefore, find ways to encourage them and support them.

Simply Vote. Find candidates that represent your values and vote for them. Never let it be said of us as those who truly understand the purpose of government (cf., Rom 13:1-8; 1 Pet 2:13-17) that we chose to sit out an election of any kind. You live in a nation where you have a voice. As one with biblical discernment, exercise that voice.

Be Kind

The second thing you can do to make an immediate difference in your neighborhood and in your community is to be kind.

Just be kind to others.

Friends, there are so many reasons for you to be kind and each one of them begin with Jesus Christ and the cross. We are kind since we have experienced and as we experience the kindness of God in Christ. Our example of kindness is none other than Jesus Christ. In addition, many biblical writers and characters help us understand the true meaning of kindness.

So be kind.

If you would say that you are kind to everyone you know and meet, then seek to do so in more creative ways. Look for ways you can be even kinder. Do not let your past effort create a laziness today.

The world around you ~ people in your community ~ people in your neighborhood ~ need kindness. Who better can demonstrate loving kindness than those who have experienced it first in Jesus Christ? We should lead our communities in kindness.

Here is a question you can ask yourself to help you determine if you are truly kind, “If you were to leave your neighborhood or your community, would the people in your community or neighborhood miss you?”

Be Godly

The third thing you can do which will provide hope in your neighborhood, in your community, and ultimately in America is to be godly. To be godly means that you live everyday with the characteristics of godliness. You consider who God is, what He values, and how He acts. As you do, in those ways that you can mimic, you do so. As you do, you become a godly person.

The apostle Paul exhorts us: “Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God” (Eph 5:1-2).

Imitate the goodness, holiness, justness, and love of God.

Do you want your neighborhoods and communities to be better places where people grow, thrive, and prosper? Then be godly.

The people around you will prosper if you choose to live as Christ in and among them. No one spent time with Christ and thought of Him as a racist or any other negative thing. There were those in government and in religious institutions which hated Him. Why? Because His godliness was a direct threat to their personal power, their own ability to gain while causing others to suffer, and their own values. But not for the common people.

Friends, if we would choose godliness, to live as Christ, then we would choose to do what is absolutely the best we can for our fellow Americans around us. The more we know God through the person of Christ, the more we will make a significant difference in the lives of those around us.

Here are three questions you can reflect on to determine how you are doing on godliness: 1) Am I systematically pursuing knowing and understanding more about God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit? 2) In what ways do I apply what I know about God to my own character and conduct? 3) Would others say that I live as Christ?

Is There Hope for America?

The best hope our fellow Americans have is not anti-government groups, rioting, and defunding police. Hope is not in politicians. In fact, hope does not come from the dismantling of society as we know it.

Hope is personal. You embody hope when you act as a responsible citizen, are kind, and are godly.

As you do these things, it will open up the door for you to not just live Christ but to also share Christ with those in your neighborhood, in your community, and across your country as well. Heaven forbid that we help people have hope only in this world without providing them greater hope for eternity through Christ.

Today, will you begin to make a greater difference?