A Word about For God and Country

 

Today I want to share a word about God and Country as I comment on 1 Peter 2:9-17. 

 

It was my privilege to serve God and country in the United States Army for 26 years. In the last 17 of them, I was a chaplain in the Alabama Army National Guard. Our Chaplain Corps motto is "For God and Country."

I was blessed to serve in some excellent units with some outstanding soldiers and great commanders, but there is a sardonic meme in the Army that says, "In the Army, every day is a holiday, and every meal is a feast." That's manifestly not true, but I was glad I served. I have no regrets about serving. Over the years in the Army, I did ponder what "for God and country" meant, and I decided there were some emotional explanations and some social explanations, some political explanations, and even legal explanations. In fact, the Chaplain Corps exists because the law of the land, the United States Constitution, virtually demands it.  The First Amendment to the Constitution says, 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Title X United States Code is the federal law which organizes the armed forces as we know them today. And that, along with AR 600-200 Army Command Policy, requires commanders to allow their soldiers the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment of the Constitution. The religious support plan in every Army unit is the Commander's Plan, but they don't have time to do that. And that's why God and General George Washington created chaplains. 

That's fine for chaplains, but what does "For God and Country" mean for the rest of us? We need to search out a biblical answer, and today we are going to consider 1 Peter 2, verses 9 through 17. This passage reads, 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you were God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the Emperor as supreme or to the governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.

In light of that passage, I want us to consider several elements about serving God and country. 

First, I want us to consider the element of passion. 

It's good to love your country. My mother was born and raised in Phenix City, Alabama. If you know anything about Phenix City, it was at one time a rough place, a place of gangs and corruption and crime and all kinds of bad things. But my mother was born there and was raised there, and she loved Phenix City. And you never said a bad word about Phenix City in her presence unless you wanted a quick and sharp rebuke. Ask me how I know . . . 

People love the country where they were born. That's a natural thing, but some of the most patriotic people I know in the United States have come from other countries, for example, he Cubans that escaped the Castro regime in their home country of Cuba. They are passionate about the liberty and freedom that they have here in the United States. And they wish that for their own home country as well. Even God loved his home country of Israel. Jesus was born in Israel and God loved Israel. The Scriptures tell us in Deuteronomy 7 verses 6-8, 

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. He was not because you were more a number than any other people that the Lord said his love on you and chose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the land of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Isaiah 49 14-16 also talks about the Lord's love for Israel. 

But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

It is important to love where we were born and raised. It is important to love our country, but it is more important to love our God. God demands the first place in our lives. I mentioned the First Amendment to the Constitution, but the First Commandment is even more important. Exodus 20 verses 2-3 says, 

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

God not only demands first place in our lives, but He also deserves first place in our lives. Romans 5, 6-8 says, 

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is good and right to love our country, but we must never love our country more than we love our God. 

You know, I'm glad people love our country. No one endures basic combat training in the army just to learn how to weld or repair air conditioners or become a chef. Many of people can find ways to find trades outside the military. You don't join the military just simply to learn a trade. Yes, it's a good thing, but everyone joins the military to defend our country, the country they love, and I'm glad they do that. Still, God must be our first love. 

Next, we need to consider the element of perspective. 

We need to adjust our perspective on this situation. You see, the readers of 1 Peter were in a difficult situation. They had learned a sad fact about human relationships, one that was revealed in the movie From Here to Eternity. 

The main character in that movie, Private Robert E. Lea Prewitt, was persecuted by his company commander because he wouldn't fight for his company in the Scofield Barracks boxing league. When he told his girlfriend about how much he loved the army, she couldn't believe it because he had been persecuted and troubled by his commander the whole time he was in that company. Considering all he had been through, he still said he loved the army. Private Prewitt said, "Just because you love something doesn't mean it has to love you back." 

Jesus loved Jerusalem, but it didn't love him back. Matthew 23, 37 says, 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone the messengers that God has sent you. How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me.

The churches Peter wrote to in Asia Minor were under persecution, not only from the local society, but also from their government, the government of Rome, which was dominating that part of the world. Peter wrote them to encourage them in their difficult situations, and yet, he said to them, "Honor the Emperor." 

It's important to remember who Peter was. He was a proud Jew from the Galilee. He had lived all his life in an occupied nation. We've never had that experience here in our lifetime for sure. We really never have been occupied by an outside country since we became the United States. But Galilee, Jerusalem, was occupied on several occasions by several different armies, and yet Peter was a proud Jew. He was the one who rebuked Jesus about his death in Jerusalem. He was the one who proffered swords during the Last Supper. He was not Paul. He was not a citizen of Rome, and yet he told them, "Honor the Emperor."

So what about our situation? Daily, weekly, monthly, our situation as Christians in the United States and in the rest of the world is becoming more and more difficult. Our government is not really our problem. Our society is our problem. Our society does choose our leaders through elections, but really our government won't persecute us the way the Roman government did the early church in Asia Minor. The First Amendment of the Constitution is going to protect us from that, and it should. It's right and good that it does. It recognizes, it just simply recognizes God-given rights. But our society will definitely persecute us. 

We shouldn't be surprised by that. John 15 tells us that the world hated Jesus, and it's going to hate us. So what would Peter tell us to do? Well, he already told us. We already read what he told us to do.

And that's when we come to the element of prescription. 

Next, we also to consider the element of prescription. 

Peter prescribed how believers should behave in society. Some of these are about society in general, and some of these are about government in particular, and these are not suggestions. Just like it wasn't the “10 suggestions” but the 10 Commandments, Peter was directing these folks here to do something, and he's directing us today with the same authority of the scriptures, of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an apostle. He gave us some directions, and we need to pay attention to these. 

First he prescribed remaining calm. Our society today is an angry society, and there are actually some people predicting a second civil war. God forbid. Peter knew the destruction that came from unbridled passion. We saw that in 2020, and we don't need to see it again. We don't need to have uncontrolled passion, and we must control our own, even if no one else does. If all the world around us is losing their mind, we need to control our passions. 

Peter also prescribed that we should act honorably. Another old army saying I, “If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.” What that really implies or should imply is what Jesus said. Jesus said to go the extra mile. Really what that Army expression means is you need to understand everything about a task you have to do and get all that information and use that information to your best advantage to achieve that task. That's not what it says on the surface. It says, “If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.”

There are people who cheated in the Army. I know them, and I know their sad fates. Paul told the Thessalonians to avoid even the appearance of evil, so we must do everything above board and with transparency. 

Peter also prescribed submitting to our leaders. Now remember, this is Peter who cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. This is Peter who brought those swords to the Lord's Supper. Yet, he said we need to be submissive and submit to our leaders. 

What we need to understand about this word be subject to or submit to or be submissive to is actually a military term. What it means is to take your place in the ranks. When the commander calls, “Fall-in”, you go and take your place where you're supposed to stand. It's not a really very high standard. It's really the requirement for a private show up at the right time and the right place with the right uniform, with the right attitude to do the right job. That's all that that really means. It's not a very high standard. We also need to remember that rebellion, according to 1 Samuel, is akin to witchcraft. 

We need to listen to Peter here. Our country was born in rebellion, and we have a tendency toward that even today, but Peter said you need to cooperate with your leaders. God knows they're in charge. God knows they're there. He's not ignorant of who our leaders are. 

At the same time, Peter prescribed living as free people. “Liberty” is the power to do what is right, not just what we want. We are being” libertine” when we do exactly what we want, but liberty is the power and the ability to do what is right. Liberty is the power to appeal to Caesar like Paul did, but also liberty is the power to sing hymns in the bowels of a prison. Jesus said in Matthew 10.28,

 

And do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both the soul and body in hell.

We need to realize that we can live in liberty whether our bodies are in captivity or not. We've never had necessity. We've never had that experience as a free people, but Peter did, and he knew he could be free of his soul whether his body was free or not. 

Peter also prescribed honoring people, people inside the church, people outside the church, people in power, and people who are powerless. The word everyone here means all, every, each. The whole lot of them, the totality, complete, every kind. You've heard people say, "He's not my president. He's not my governor. He's not my pastor." Well, maybe not, but he or she is someone that Christ died for. And therefore, we need to treat them with respect. 

Finally, today, we need to consider the element of praise. 

Peter's concern was not whether the Christians in Asia Minor could live in freedom. His concern was that God would be praised. He was not concerned about political liberty or economic liberty. He was not concerned about social liberty. He was concerned about all peoples everywhere gaining spiritual liberty. You see, Christian behavior is the only Bible some people will ever read and our comportment, our behavior needs to be a positive one, one where we honor people, where we honor God and where God is praised by our actions.

Remember, also, that Rome, as evil as it could be, was used of God to spread the Gospel. The Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, helped spread the Gospel. Wherever Rome was in charge, it was pretty safe to go. The Roman military roads were like our interstate system, designed for the transportation of troops, but the Roman military roads helped spread the Gospel. By the way the modern internet was created by the military for its own purposes, and yet we're using it every day to share the Gospel. The Roman control of the Mediterranean Sea helped spread the Gospel. The Roman adoption of Koine Greek helped spread the gospel. Rome didn't have to use Koine Greek as its language of business, but it did. And that's one powerful way the gospel was spread through the word of God across the Roman Empire. 

Did God approve of the Roman emperors? No. He used them for his own purposes, however. And does God approve of the United States? Well, that's not the right question. The question is, can God use the United States for His own purposes? And of course, He can. We need to use our liberties to praise God and to share the gospel. Ephesians 5, 15-17 says, 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

We must take every opportunity to share the gospel, not only in our own country, but around the world. You see, nations only become Christians one soul at a time. We must take every opportunity provided by a United States passport to go to places where the gospel has never been heard and share the gospel. We must take every opportunity to pray for our nation and for her leaders.  In AD 312, although the emperors to that point had been a disaster in terms of persecuting the church, in AD 312 everything changed. Emperor Constantine became a Christian and his endorsement of Christianity resulted in its widespread adoption. 

We must remember our mission as Christians. When I was on the International Mission Board, I was part of a group called the United Kingdom Baptist Mission. That was what we were called, the United Kingdom Baptist Mission. We had a speaker come to speak to us to our mission meeting, or meeting of the mission. He said to us, "You need to remember something. You're not the mission. You're not the mission."  Spreading the gospel in this country is the mission. Our mission is not our personal liberty. Our mission is not the prestige of our country. Our mission is not the prosperity of our economy. Peter tells us our mission is to inspire praise for our God.

In conclusion, during World War II, President Roosevelt wanted the United States to become the arsenal of democracy. Today, let us covenant together to make the United States the launching pad to take the Gospel where it's never gone before. 

As we transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds, we can transform our government by voting according to biblical standards. I'm not going to tell you to vote for it. I'm telling you to look at the scriptures and see what the biblical standards are and vote for people who hold those standards. We also can transform our society by sharing the gospel and making disciples. 

We must remember what our mission is. It's great to love our country, and we need to do it. But the best way we can love our country is to help her take the role that God wants her to have in this world to share the Gospel to all nations in making disciples of all peoples. 

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt