With all of the talk stirred up by Black Lives Matter and National Anthem protests and counter-protests (yes, that is a picture from a KISS concert), I think that some evangelical Christians have been caught up in the rhetoric and perhaps lost sight of some of the original questions related to being a citizen of America. In more than a few episodes of debate, it seems fair to say that the role of the "patriot" has been taken by conservative Christians (if you think about it, that is part-and parcel with what "liberal" and "conservative" have come to mean in today's politics). That's not out of step with American history. I recently had the discussion with my son about how the First Great Awakening was the truly galvanizing force behind the American Revolution, and I recently held a lecture explaining the role of Christianity in the Civil War. There hasn't been a whole lot of scholarly work done specifically on Christianity and American patriotism, but I would recommend the books America's God by Mark Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis also by Noll, and A Cautious Patriotism by Gerald Sittser. My purpose here isn't a history lesson, though. I simply want to re-cast the discussion of Christian patriotism in terms that make sense in our current political climate. At this moment, I think 1 Peter 2 is the best place to go.
Peter was writing to a fledgling church in a hostile culture. I take the view that Peter wrote these words either just before or just after Nero blamed the Christians for setting the Great Fire of Rome (64 AD). Nero found Christians good targets because they were disliked in social terms. They would not worship Rome's gods. They would not participate in the Roman pagan festivals. Worst of all, they would not acknowledge Caesar as Lord. They had distanced themselves from Roman society and culture and were feeling the heat therefrom. Peter wrote to encourage them to stay true to their calling because the prize (salvation) was infinitely more precious than anything they could give up on earth. He also wanted them to stay true to their church because they were stronger together.
This passage marks the transition from Peter's introduction (a primer on the purpose of salvation in this life) to his main point (how a Christian should live in a hostile culture). Consequently, they are pretty key to understanding the whole letter. Peter gives a few commands in here:
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