Hey, friends. As we celebrate our 250th anniversary as a nation, I wanted to check in and get a conversation started. Maybe for you and your team, your family, what does it look like for us—especially as Christian leaders, but really this is relevant for any devoted follower of Jesus—what does it look like for us to celebrate our anniversary as a nation, as Christians? How do we lead in a church service? How do we lead our people to commemorate this special occasion?

I want to mention three words and three Scriptures that I think can maybe get the conversation started. The first word is “patriotic.”

At this holiday, we’re going to have marching bands and fireworks, and baseball games and picnics, and lots of watermelon and ice cream, family times together, and it’s great to celebrate and to be patriotic. We thank God for those who have fought on behalf of our country, our freedoms, for our defense. I have three children in the military. They’re in three different branches, so I didn’t want to show favoritism, so I’m wearing a shirt to honor our Alliance chaplains today.

No matter what passport you hold, it’s good to be patriotic and to thank God, that as Paul says in Acts 17, he says, God has determined the boundaries of nations in the exact places where we should live. So, He has you in the place where He wants you, at least for this season. So, you can cheer for the country of your national heritage. We cheer, for myself, for America to do well in the World Cup. That’s good, it’s good to be patriotic. That’s the first word.

The second word, it’s even more important to be “prophetic,” to recognize that I have an allegiance that is even more important than my allegiance to my country. I have an allegiance to Jesus. Paul says this in Philippians 3. He says that those who don’t know Christ, all they think about is this world. That’s all they know, that’s their hope. He says, but we are citizens of heaven, and we await a Savior who will come from there. He doesn’t say, “We will be citizens of heaven.” He says, “We are citizens of heaven,” even today. And so, my ultimate allegiance, and yours as a follower of Jesus, is to Him. We don’t export American values; we proclaim Kingdom values.

And so, we can look at our Declaration of Independence and say, “We proclaim that we’ve been endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Those are great values. But not everybody has experienced those in the same way. So, maybe you’re a Native American, African American, Asian American, or you have friends who are. It’s good for us to acknowledge that we don’t all experience our nation’s anniversary in the same way. Not everybody has had equal access to those values. So, I think if you’re a leader of my ethnicity, to speak with compassion and with grace and an understanding that we approach an anniversary like this in different ways. Speak prophetically.

Finally, pray with anticipation. We look forward to the day when the Apostle John says in Revelation 7 the curtains are pulled back, he gets this revelation, and he says, “I saw this great multitude. There were people from every nation and tribe and people and language gathered around the throne of Jesus, and they’re worshiping together.” Friends, we look forward to that day. We want to share His

heart. We’re on mission, not for a country, but for the Kingdom. We say, “My first representation, my first allegiance, is to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want people everywhere to know Him.”

And so, truly for us is “All of Jesus for All the World.” That’s our most important mission. And so, we can take the gospel to the ends of the earth, to our communities. We can also pray for brothers and sisters who are going to share all eternity with us, and say they’re facing, some of them, countries that are ripped apart by strife or by suffering or natural disasters or whatever the case may be. Let’s pray for them. As Paul says in Hebrews 13, “As if we ourselves are suffering.” I’m praying today for you for discernment, for wisdom as you lead, that we’ll keep the values and the priorities of Jesus first and that we’ll lead others to do the same. God bless you on this anniversary of our country. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.