We wished it as kids. Our kids wished it, and now our grandkids are wishing it. What are those wishes? To be older. When you are five, you want to be ten. When you are ten, you want to be thirteen and a teenager. Then you want to be sixteen, then eighteen, then twenty-one, etc. You get the idea. Today, our nation turns 249 years-old. The next twelve months are going to be full of special events in our nation as we approach that 250 number. My prayer is that U.S. flags will wave throughout the land and that the year brings happiness instead of chaos like we are seeing in the streets.
250 years. Do you know that our country is living on borrowed time? We have always considered ourselves to be an exceptional nation, but we are about 50 years beyond our expiration date. The average age for a republic is about 200 years. You may have noticed that I used the term “republic”. I did that intentionally. We were not formed as a democracy. We were a republic at our birth. That’s the type government Ben Franklin said we had. What’s the difference? A republic is supposed to be a nation ruled by law, and a democracy in its purest form is rule by majority, aka mob rule. Our founding fathers knew democracy would lead to ruin. At our inception we were to elect our representatives who represented us, but it was always under the authority of our Constitution, the governing document. I don’t know the exact date that we changed the name or at least began calling it that (from republic to democracy), but only a small fraction of the citizens of America, politicians included, know the founding father’s intent. Almost to a person it is spoken of incorrectly as a democracy. We elect senators and congressmen through a democratic system, but the rules are in place secured by laws. Schools must bear some responsibility for this ignorance of our founding. It is my contention that some of these schools know the truth but chose to indoctrinate with the vilest of intentions. They hate the nation and its foundation, which is Judeo-Christian. Others think the two forms of government are much the same conflating them.
Lord Tytler was a Scottish Historian and he identified the “Eight Stages of a Democracy.” The eight stages go from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence, and finally from dependence back to bondage.” What stage do you think we are at as we approach 250 years? In my opinion we are somewhere between the 7th and 8th. We are dependent on other nations for a great majority of our goods and we don’t seem to care, apathy. I don’t think America will get turned off like a light switch such as one day we are here and the next day gone. That wasn’t the way Rome fell. She was a republic for about 200 years, then a dictatorship, constantly fighting inside and out, assassinations, and ultimately dividing into two halves: East and West. A shell of her former self existing in name only. Vestiges of Rome are still around today but not like during her glory days. That’s what I see for us as Americans in the coming years unless there is a revival spiritually. That’s the only thing that can change a heart. I pray for that change. I love this nation. I love being called an American. I am a patriotic American and want the best for my country.
How far does my patriotism extend? Is the attitude of my country right or wrong? Let me share my governing passages concerning my being a flag waving American.
1. Romans 13:1-7 tells me I am supposed to obey those in authority over me. They are there to keep order and do good for their people.
2. I Timothy 2:1-4 tells me I am supposed to pray for those leaders that hold offices in every jurisdiction. “For kings (we don’t have one) all that are in authority;” (we have plenty of those). It also tells me to live this way, quiet and peaceable living a godly and honest lifestyle (testimony). Throughout the centuries, Christians, whether in America, England or any other land, have always been the best citizens. We self-govern, seek to treat others right and pay our taxes. But the next two passages cramp the mindset of some.
3. Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. I am an American citizen but more importantly I am a citizen of heaven. My ultimate allegiance is to God and His word.
4. Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” Peter and the other apostles were simply obeying the commands of the Lord to preach, and the authorities came down hard on them for preaching truth. Many of God’s people have suffered because they chose to obey God before any man or government. When a government commands you to violate the biblical, then you are obligated to follow God. Polycarp, Justin Martyr, John Bunyan, Obadiah Holmes are names in Church History that chose that path. There are millions of others that are doing this right now around the globe. It is costing some their very lives in places like Nigeria.
Those are the principles that guide us. Can we be flag waving Americans, a patriotic bunch? Absolutely. But we always watch and listen because there may come a day, we had several close days in the past four years, when tyrants will be on the throne and in the houses of power. Those houses include the White House, the Congress, the Senate, the State houses, in my case Georgia, the county and city halls. We watch, we vote but we always without exception love God first. A true American wouldn’t have a problem with that. It was that way in the beginning of the nation 249 years ago and before when the pilgrims and puritans pointed us that way. Happy Birthday America and many more if they are righteous.