Is America Really Free if the American Church is Not?
As we celebrate Independence Day, and think of the freedom afforded us in the United States today, I’ll begin by answering the question posed in the title—“Is America really free if the American Church is Not?” The simple and straightforward answer to that question is, no, America as a nation is not really free if the American Church is bound. For America as a nation to be truly free, the American Church must be truly free. You may ask, “Why is America’s freedom contingent upon the freedom of the American Church?”
Separate Church and State, Inseparable Foundation
America’s Freedom is contingent upon the freedom of the American Church because it is the Church that gave this nation its founding principles. Notice that I do not say it is the Church that founded this nation, but it is the Church that gave this nation its founding principles. To say that the Church founded this nation would be a lie; would be advocating a merger of Church and State; and would be to revert to a version of the tyranny of the British Crown and the Church of England from which the Pilgrims were seeking freedom. None of these is intended nor true.
However, to say that the Church gave this nation its founding principles, is true. Read, for example, the Declaration of Independence, and you will find laced throughout, references to God and principles that are unequivocally Judeo-Christian in origin. For example, the framers of the Declaration used the phrase “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God…”[1] They spoke of all men being “. . . created equal . . . endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration ends with, “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” The United States Constitution, in stating the reasons for its drafting says that one of those reasons was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”
These are distinctly biblical, Judeo-Christian principles. With no disrespect to any other religious or philosophical view point, please let me say unapologetically, that the tenets of Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Liberalism, Mormonism, or any other system could have never given birth to the creation of this global and historic anomaly that is America. Never in the history of humanity is it recorded that any other system spawned such a grand and successful experiment: a land of liberty and opportunity, the United States. It is Judeo-Christian principles, practiced and safeguarded by the Church, that have made the existence and sustenance of this nation possible. Therefore, the freedom of this nation—its maintenance, progress, and prosperity—is contingent upon the Church and upon Christian doctrine, from whence this nation’s founding principles emerged, being free. Now this might beg the question, “What does it mean to be truly free?”
At the crux of true freedom and independence is the issue of identity. Who we really are as people, and whether we see ourselves for who we really are, defines whether we are free or not.
The Lord Jesus Christ laid the framework for true freedom. He said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32). Notice that truth and freedom are intrinsically linked. When Jesus spoke these words to the Jewish religious leaders of His day, they were in denial. They had not recognized their identity as those who were under the tyranny of sin, those who were slaves of sin. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin, is the slave of sin.” (John 8:34)
The Pilgrims and the founders of America sought separation from the rule of King George III because he was sinning against them. Everyone who sins and under the bondage to sin—that means all human beings— longs to be set free. Jesus went on to promise, “If the Son therefore will make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36). True Freedom then, is recognizing the truth of who we are—human beings who are bound by sin and in need of a Savior—and allowing the Savior, Jesus Christ, to set us free as only He can, by transforming the human heart.
Freedom from the tyranny of sin for all people is at the heart of the Church’s message. And if this message of freedom is muzzled, then the land in which it is muzzled and the people by whom it muzzled, are no longer a free land nor a free people. This condition is particularly applicable to the United States, because as I have shown above, our very freedom is founded on the Church’s principles of freedom. The Church in America must be free for the people of America to be free.
It is then the fair expectation of the Church and of Christians, that since this nation’s freedom is founded on the Judeo-Christian principles of the Church, the Church in this nation should be free to hold to those principles both in doctrine and practice. But this expectation goes often and largely, unmet. There are certain factors and forces that have colluded over time to bind the Church and restrict her freedom.
From a purely human standpoint of logical fairness, if you have understood my argument thus far, that the principles that gave rise to America’s freedom emerged from the Church, then you will also understand that it is unfair to muzzle the church’s freedom to participate in the maintenance of America’s freedom through the political process. At this point, I am neither saying it is right nor wrong for churches and pastors to participate in the political process through public endorsements. I will comment on that in point 2, below. For now, I’m only saying that it is unfair if we are threatened by law and asked not to participate at all. It is tantamount to one group taking away the right of freedom from the group which gave them their design of freedom. It is like an ungrateful adult child locking up his old father who raised him to be successful.
In an effort to be objective, let me say that Senator, and eventually President, Lyndon Johnson does not seem to have understood this relationship of freedom that exists between the Church and the nation. While not making any endorsements, I will say that President Trump at least “seems” to understand it. The government ought not to restrict the Church. Whether or not the Church, or a church, chooses to participate in partisan politics by endorsing or not endorsing candidates, is not the issue here. The issue is the government having the grace to grant the Church freedom to participate in political decisions, without fear, recognizing that the foundation of America’s freedom is built upon principles that emerged from the Church. There must be the extension of mutual fairness in freedom between the Church and the government. Just as the government rules each citizen (while each citizen is free) who makes up the Church in the United States, so too, the Church ought to be allowed to have a say in the election of who governs us. This is happening to a certain extent under our present government, and I thank God. May it happen under every succeeding government, whatever the party!
Apart from not being allowed to have a voice in the political process, historically, the Church in America has been bound by groups lobbying for the banning of public prayer by Christians—in schools or at graduations—especially in the name of Jesus Christ. Examples abound.
You say, “On what do you base your stance?” Well, primarily on the sovereignty of God in human government, which is made abundantly clear in Scripture. It is God who sets up rulers and then takes them down. God decides who should come to power to further His purposes (Daniel 4:17&26, Romans 13:1-7). Who are we to stand in His way, and try to manipulate our congregants to vote a certain way? Never once in the Bible are we commanded to have such participation in swaying people one way or the other in voting. We are though, commanded to publicly pray for those who God installs as our rulers (I Timothy 2:1-4), whether they are the ones we voted for or not.
But it happens! We see, and have seen, well known pastors and preachers becoming publicly involved in partisan politics. Churches become internally diverted and divided politically, so that we bind ourselves from being who we ought to be. It is a betrayal of your calling and mine if and when we use the pulpit as a platform for political endorsements. It ought to never be done. We may talk of these things freely in private. But to urge it upon people publicly from a position of spiritual authority, is to stoop to manipulation.
Charles Spurgeon is attributed (perhaps he was quoting Phillips Brooks) with saying, “When God calls you to preach, never stoop to be a king.” I would alter that by saying, if God calls you to preach, don’t stoop to manipulate the outcome of the elections. Be quiet publicly. Pray. Trust God. Preach the Word. On October 5th, 1544, Martin Luther preached at the dedication of the Castle Church in Torgau, Germany, saying, “It is the intention of this building that nothing else shall happen inside except that our dear Lord shall speak to us through His Holy Word, and we in turn shall talk to Him through prayer and praise. … We can spare everything except the Word.”[5] It is no different for us.
If you are not someone who has known the freedom that is offered to you in Jesus Christ, first, I would invite you to experience that freedom He offers. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, to secure your freedom. It is available to you if only you believe on Jesus Christ. You will be saved and set free. But if you do not believe on Jesus, and live in the United States, stop trying to take freedom from the Church and from Christians. In trying, you are destroying the very foundation of this country’s freedom and will have nothing left to stand on for freedom.
However, to say that the Church gave this nation its founding principles, is true. Read, for example, the Declaration of Independence, and you will find laced throughout, references to God and principles that are unequivocally Judeo-Christian in origin. For example, the framers of the Declaration used the phrase “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God…”[1] They spoke of all men being “. . . created equal . . . endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration ends with, “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” The United States Constitution, in stating the reasons for its drafting says that one of those reasons was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”
These are distinctly biblical, Judeo-Christian principles. With no disrespect to any other religious or philosophical view point, please let me say unapologetically, that the tenets of Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Liberalism, Mormonism, or any other system could have never given birth to the creation of this global and historic anomaly that is America. Never in the history of humanity is it recorded that any other system spawned such a grand and successful experiment: a land of liberty and opportunity, the United States. It is Judeo-Christian principles, practiced and safeguarded by the Church, that have made the existence and sustenance of this nation possible. Therefore, the freedom of this nation—its maintenance, progress, and prosperity—is contingent upon the Church and upon Christian doctrine, from whence this nation’s founding principles emerged, being free. Now this might beg the question, “What does it mean to be truly free?”
True Freedom
If the framers of the Declaration of Independence did not see the people of the then United States (and all men) as— “. . . created equal . . . endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men . . .”— then they would not have risked the formation of a nation separate from Great Britain. It is because they saw themselves as being enslaved to the tyranny of King George III, that they were then compelled to relinquish this false identity and say with resolve that, “all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved . . .” It is because they saw their true identity as resting in the freedom provided by God to man, that they were able to embrace this new identity.At the crux of true freedom and independence is the issue of identity. Who we really are as people, and whether we see ourselves for who we really are, defines whether we are free or not.
The Lord Jesus Christ laid the framework for true freedom. He said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32). Notice that truth and freedom are intrinsically linked. When Jesus spoke these words to the Jewish religious leaders of His day, they were in denial. They had not recognized their identity as those who were under the tyranny of sin, those who were slaves of sin. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin, is the slave of sin.” (John 8:34)
The Pilgrims and the founders of America sought separation from the rule of King George III because he was sinning against them. Everyone who sins and under the bondage to sin—that means all human beings— longs to be set free. Jesus went on to promise, “If the Son therefore will make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36). True Freedom then, is recognizing the truth of who we are—human beings who are bound by sin and in need of a Savior—and allowing the Savior, Jesus Christ, to set us free as only He can, by transforming the human heart.
Freedom from the tyranny of sin for all people is at the heart of the Church’s message. And if this message of freedom is muzzled, then the land in which it is muzzled and the people by whom it muzzled, are no longer a free land nor a free people. This condition is particularly applicable to the United States, because as I have shown above, our very freedom is founded on the Church’s principles of freedom. The Church in America must be free for the people of America to be free.
It is then the fair expectation of the Church and of Christians, that since this nation’s freedom is founded on the Judeo-Christian principles of the Church, the Church in this nation should be free to hold to those principles both in doctrine and practice. But this expectation goes often and largely, unmet. There are certain factors and forces that have colluded over time to bind the Church and restrict her freedom.
What binds the Church?
1. External Political Opposition:
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July, 2016, then presidential candidate Donald Trump said, “An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.”[2] President Trump was right.[3] He was referring to the IRS’s “Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)3 Tax-Exempt Organizations,”[4] which was indeed pushed by Senator Lyndon Johnson, and enacted in 1954. Most churches in the United States, are registered with the government as non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. Which means they are prohibited by law, to be platforms for any sort of political campaigning.From a purely human standpoint of logical fairness, if you have understood my argument thus far, that the principles that gave rise to America’s freedom emerged from the Church, then you will also understand that it is unfair to muzzle the church’s freedom to participate in the maintenance of America’s freedom through the political process. At this point, I am neither saying it is right nor wrong for churches and pastors to participate in the political process through public endorsements. I will comment on that in point 2, below. For now, I’m only saying that it is unfair if we are threatened by law and asked not to participate at all. It is tantamount to one group taking away the right of freedom from the group which gave them their design of freedom. It is like an ungrateful adult child locking up his old father who raised him to be successful.
In an effort to be objective, let me say that Senator, and eventually President, Lyndon Johnson does not seem to have understood this relationship of freedom that exists between the Church and the nation. While not making any endorsements, I will say that President Trump at least “seems” to understand it. The government ought not to restrict the Church. Whether or not the Church, or a church, chooses to participate in partisan politics by endorsing or not endorsing candidates, is not the issue here. The issue is the government having the grace to grant the Church freedom to participate in political decisions, without fear, recognizing that the foundation of America’s freedom is built upon principles that emerged from the Church. There must be the extension of mutual fairness in freedom between the Church and the government. Just as the government rules each citizen (while each citizen is free) who makes up the Church in the United States, so too, the Church ought to be allowed to have a say in the election of who governs us. This is happening to a certain extent under our present government, and I thank God. May it happen under every succeeding government, whatever the party!
Apart from not being allowed to have a voice in the political process, historically, the Church in America has been bound by groups lobbying for the banning of public prayer by Christians—in schools or at graduations—especially in the name of Jesus Christ. Examples abound.
2. Internal Political Diversion:
Now having said all that, without contradicting what I said above in point # 1, I will say that I do not believe that the Church or pastors should participate in partisan politics by endorsing particular candidates publicly. Yes, it is fair to expect this freedom from the government, for potential use, because of the reasons expressed above. But we should never use that freedom practically, even if it were granted to us as a State Law! The pulpit in your church (if your church has a pulpit!) is not meant for politics. It is meant for the preaching of the Word of God: not for entertainment, not for politics.You say, “On what do you base your stance?” Well, primarily on the sovereignty of God in human government, which is made abundantly clear in Scripture. It is God who sets up rulers and then takes them down. God decides who should come to power to further His purposes (Daniel 4:17&26, Romans 13:1-7). Who are we to stand in His way, and try to manipulate our congregants to vote a certain way? Never once in the Bible are we commanded to have such participation in swaying people one way or the other in voting. We are though, commanded to publicly pray for those who God installs as our rulers (I Timothy 2:1-4), whether they are the ones we voted for or not.
But it happens! We see, and have seen, well known pastors and preachers becoming publicly involved in partisan politics. Churches become internally diverted and divided politically, so that we bind ourselves from being who we ought to be. It is a betrayal of your calling and mine if and when we use the pulpit as a platform for political endorsements. It ought to never be done. We may talk of these things freely in private. But to urge it upon people publicly from a position of spiritual authority, is to stoop to manipulation.
Charles Spurgeon is attributed (perhaps he was quoting Phillips Brooks) with saying, “When God calls you to preach, never stoop to be a king.” I would alter that by saying, if God calls you to preach, don’t stoop to manipulate the outcome of the elections. Be quiet publicly. Pray. Trust God. Preach the Word. On October 5th, 1544, Martin Luther preached at the dedication of the Castle Church in Torgau, Germany, saying, “It is the intention of this building that nothing else shall happen inside except that our dear Lord shall speak to us through His Holy Word, and we in turn shall talk to Him through prayer and praise. … We can spare everything except the Word.”[5] It is no different for us.
Freedom at its Best
If you are a Christian, the best way for you to contribute to the upkeep of freedom in America is by being the Christ-follower you are called to be. Be salt and light. Fear God, not man. Live out your Christian convictions in a Christ-less culture. Moreover, don’t be hateful in imposing our convictions upon people who do not believe what we do. Be loving. Respect the religious and philosophical freedom God gives to everyone in this nation. Share the Gospel. Don’t shy away from doing your part. But realize only God can transform the human heart and set it free.If you are not someone who has known the freedom that is offered to you in Jesus Christ, first, I would invite you to experience that freedom He offers. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, to secure your freedom. It is available to you if only you believe on Jesus Christ. You will be saved and set free. But if you do not believe on Jesus, and live in the United States, stop trying to take freedom from the Church and from Christians. In trying, you are destroying the very foundation of this country’s freedom and will have nothing left to stand on for freedom.
Kenny Damara, July 4th, 2018
References:
[1] All references to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States, taken from these documents, public domain. (Bold markings mine)
References:
[1] All references to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States, taken from these documents, public domain. (Bold markings mine)
[2] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/22/donald-trump/donald-trump-correct-lyndon-johnson-passed-legisla/
[3] Ibid.
[4] https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of-political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501c3-tax-exempt-organizations
[5] Tabletalk Magazine, October 2017, Ligonier Minstries. Pg. 13.
[3] Ibid.
[4] https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of-political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501c3-tax-exempt-organizations
[5] Tabletalk Magazine, October 2017, Ligonier Minstries. Pg. 13.
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