OMG - Jesus

Do you know Him?

God came to earth as a man, Jesus!
  • About OMG
  • Key Truths …in the Bible
  • Key Verses …in the Bible
You are here: Home / Christianity / Is “God Bless America” Biblical?

Is “God Bless America” Biblical?

June 11, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Is “God Bless America” Biblical?

… explore that phrase in the light of Scripture

By Lindy Scott


During the Obama-McCain presidential campaign, religion and politics surfaced in some intriguing new ways. While Obama, Hillary, and the other Democrats “got religion,” the Republican candidates included ex-Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee, Mormon Mitt Romney, and the presumptive nominee Senator John McCain – who is much more reserved about his faith than Reagan, Bush I or Bush II.

Given the occasion of the USA´s 4th of July celebrations and the fact that many politicians end their speeches with “God bless America” [1] I would like to explore that phrase in the light of Scripture. What a common slogan! Politicians use it, bumper stickers promote it and many people sing it within and outside the walls of church buildings. Yet, is it biblical? Not in the literal sense that the phrase actually appears in Holy Scripture, but in a much more profound sense: “Does the phrase agree with the teaching of the Bible?”

Grammatically speaking, “God bless America” is not an affirmation. It is more like a wish or a prayer such as “May God bless America.” Given that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for sinners, it is possible that people are praying that God bless sinful America in spite of its sins. This would be in keeping with some passages such as Psalm 32:1-2a: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man (or woman) whose sin the Lord does not count against him/her” which was later quoted by the Apostle Paul (Romans 4:7-8).

Nevertheless, this is not how the phrase is usually used today. Most people mean that God generally agrees with the lifestyle, practices, and foreign policies of the United States. Many who use the “God bless America” statement would refuse to use it for other countries, especially those who we deem to be our enemies. Imagine how your neighbors would react if you put a bumper sticker or your car that affirmed “God bless Iran” or “God bless Cuba” or any other country that is perceived to be a national enemy.

The Bible is quite clear regarding humanity’s sinfulness: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 -NASB) Therefore, all humans and all nations have committed actions that fall far short of God’s righteous and just demands. God does not agree with any country’s practices in their entirety. As a consequence, the Bible is much more precise in its use of blessing and cursing. If we look at the way Jesus used “bless” and its opposite “woe,” we might become surprised. He identified individual people who practiced certain actions as being blessed or cursed.

In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-26), Jesus balances out four blessings with four woes. After pronouncing blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are hated and persecuted, Jesus condemns those on the opposite side of the spectrum.

  • Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
  • Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
  • Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
  • Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:24-26 NIV)

At a literal level, (which the majority of exegetes believe is the correct way to interpret this passage), these woes should trouble our conscience. I live in the richest country the world has ever known. I, together with most of the citizens in the United States, are far wealthier than the “rich” addressed by Jesus. We all have more than two “tunics” in our closets.

The second woe is equally troublesome. Obesity is one of the most common diseases in our country where a significant percentage of our people are seriously overweight due to overeating. We spend billions of dollars per year on diets to try to lower our weight, without much success. The problem gets worse every year and with each succeeding generation.

The third woe speaks to our hedonistic tendencies where every movie and human life experience needs to have a “happy ending.” We seldom mourn over our sin or the evil in the world. We seldom confess our mistakes, and only do so when we get caught. Our culture has become increasingly more “tolerant” where even evil actions are justified or minimized.

The fourth woe suggests that the values of a society are upside down. What is considered wrong in the sight of God becomes values that our society cherishes. In the Middle Ages Pope Gregory the Great (and later Dante) identified the seven mortal sins as extravagance, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Most of these have become the moral virtues of our American way of life. Although we might pray that God would bless America, He has already stated that He does not agree with some of our most valued practices.

Jesus saved some of his most damning woes for the leaders, both religious and political, of his day. He pronounced woe upon the teachers of the law and the Pharisees no fewer than seven times in the 23rd chapter of Matthew. He denounced them as hypocrites because they gave the outward appearance of righteousness, but in fact they lacked justice, mercy, and faithfulness (v. 23). They were full of greed and self-indulgence (v. 25). Although previous leaders, like President Lincoln, were mature enough to admit our nation’s sins, it has been extremely difficult for our country, and especially our leaders, to admit mistakes.

Let us just take the issue of war, and for the sake of argument, let us assume that Just War Theory (JWT) is an adequate expression of Biblical ethics. During World War II the dropping of atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima was a clear violation of the JWT criterion of civilian immunity. We have never apologized for this national sin. To the contrary, we try to rationalize it by arguing that it saved thousands of lives. The current war in Iraq failed to meet all the major criteria of Just War Theory: just cause, just intentions, legitimate authority, last resort, etc.[2] Nevertheless, our leaders have never admitted any moral failing in this invasion, and only grudgingly recognize a few, minor flaws in the implementation of our war strategy.

Jesus frequently taught about the reality of hell and the damnable end of many people. If Jesus was right when He said: “wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt 7:14) then it is likely that the majority of North Americans will not be eternally blessed, in spite of our great religiosity, missionary fervor, and doctrinal orthodoxy. [3] I am quite tempted to place myself in the category of the few who are walking along the road of life, but I am becoming increasingly aware of the many ways that I fail our God. Sin is not a common topic these days in our churches or in our society, but it is all too prevalent in our lives.

It is fine and good to pray for the salvation and blessing of our nation (and of all the nations of the world). But we must not give the impression that God agrees with all that our country stands for. During election campaigns, and at all times, let us be faithful proclaimers of God’s word announcing the ethical demands of God’s Kingdom and abundant grace and forgiveness to all who repent and turn to our Lord, Savior and Brother Jesus.


Footnotes:
[1] Using the word “America” to refer only to the United States is frequently perceived either as arrogance or as ignorance by many people who live in Canada or Latin America. What distinguished those who fought against Spain in the wars of independence was precisely the definition of the term “americanos”, that is, those who were born in America, whether it was Mexico, Argentina or Venezuela.

[2] A further analysis of this war in light of JWT can be found in the second chapter of René Padilla and Lindy Scott, Terrorism and the War in Iraq: A Christian Word from Latin America. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Kairós, 2004.  Buy it at Amazon.com, here.


 

FOR MORE:

God Damned “Believers”

Post Views: 217

Filed Under: Christianity Tagged With: America, bless, damnable, God, hypocrites, JWT, woe

About admin

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About OMG    Facebook OMGjesus
IN FOCUS:  This is salvation in Christ - Titus on: What the Word of God Teaches - Making God - I Look Oh My God - One Human Race - Puny Humans - Following - What Jesus stands for - Which Jesus do you serve? - Is Jesus’ worldview your worldview? - Getting Born Again - Saving Knowledge - Losing My Soul - My best day here


About the End Times - About False Teachings of today - First Apostasy, then Antichrist, then the Rapture 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” - Luke 10:27

Most Recent Posts

  • What is proper among saints January 15, 2021
  • Are you ready to meet your Maker? January 13, 2021
  • We must seek after God January 11, 2021
  • The Triumph of Evil January 10, 2021
  • Tolerating evil January 10, 2021
  • Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation January 6, 2021
  • At death – we put on immortality January 1, 2021
  • We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us December 29, 2020
  • Jesus watches over you very carefully December 28, 2020
  • How to Live On Christ – by Harriet Beecher Stowe December 28, 2020
  • I will protect you from the time of testing December 23, 2020
  • Deluding activity of error December 22, 2020
  • Liking Jesus December 22, 2020
  • Key Verses in the Bible December 12, 2020
  • Being 100% given-over to Jesus December 11, 2020

Categories

  • Angels
  • Bible Studies
  • Bible-lite
  • Bible: New Testament
  • Bible: The Bible Says
  • Biblical Inerrancy
  • Christian Life
  • Christianity
  • Counseling and Exhorting
  • Creation
  • Cults
  • Damnation
  • Death
  • Devotionals
  • Divorce
  • DVD-movies
  • Early Church
  • Education
  • Evidence
  • Faith
  • False Teachings
  • Forgiveness
  • God
  • Heaven
  • Hell
  • Hermeneutics
  • Holy Spirit
  • Interpreting
  • Investigate
  • Islam
  • Jesus the Christ
  • Key Truths …in the Bible
  • Key Verses …in the Bible
  • Leadership
  • Marriage
  • Muslim
  • Parenting
  • Poetry, Sayings, and Words
  • Popular Culture
  • Prayer
  • Prophets and Prophecy
  • Repentance
  • Research
  • Salvation
  • Science
  • Series
  • Sin
  • Spiritual Warfare

Random Post:

Search This Site

Utilize the Search capability of this website (upper right corner of this site) to find specific topics…

Bentley – News on Todd Bentley

NOTE: This article shows how unbiblical much of the charismatic movement is today.  We are to discern and examine…. Read what Andrew Strom and others say, and see more at http://www.revivalschool.com.  Church leaders participating in these unbiblical experiences are: Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding; Rick Joyner, founder of MorningStar Ministries in Charlotte, […]

False Prophets

False Prophets: A Study in the Scriptures “You may be asking yourselves, “How can we tell if a prophet’s message really comes from the Lord?” ” –Deuteronomy 18:21 CEV Contemporary English Version From the book: The Holy Spirit: Gifts & Ministries by Diane S. Dew, © copyright 1976, 1998. For more by Dew, see: http://dianedew.com/index.shtml […]

No Faith In Heaven

I think faith will not be necessary in heaven. ¨…Now we see in a glass darkly…¨ (1 Corinthians 13:12)  but not later, when we will then be able to see ¨face to face¨.    Scripture says that ¨now¨these three abide (faith, hope, love…1 Corinthians 13:13), but it implies in the context that later (being in […]

More Random Posts

  • Tolerating evil
  • Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
  • At death – we put on immortality
  • We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us

Tags

antichrist believe bible born again choice choose Christ creation death end times Ephesians evidence evidences examine FAITH false teachers follow following forgiven forgiveness God good grace heaven hell Holy Spirit hope Jesus justice love peace practice pray prayer Rapture repent repentance Salvation Satan sin sincerity truth voting WORKS worldview

Featured Post

No Tolerance for Error
God is not sloppy nor wishy-washy.... There is no room at all – for error – when it comes to being right with God. You are either all in, or you are all out. Are you sure you’re in? 8.4.2017

Simple View of Life  a simple view of everything. God of Everything that is – created everything. We are very fortunate that He is loving and kind, and really, really wants us  12.9.2016
Ashamed of Yourself?
ever done something you are ashamed of?  Come on now, you’re sitting there by yourself – ‘fess-up.  Nobody listenin’ to your brain confess.  So... Yes?  Scenario: “You have? What!? 12.31.2017  
Being Christian What’s it like to be Christian? Really...Christian.3.18.2011
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is the fool’s day. Tomorrow may never come. I may not get older. This may be it. 3.18.2017
Vortex of Good & Evil As mere humans, we are engulfed in the vortex of battle between good and evil. We must remember – it is God who created us, not we ourselves.  1.25.2017

What God has going on with us here on this planet. God downloaded to earth ...inserted Himself into our history.  Jesus came to earth in order to satisfy the Courts of Heaven for our freedom. 3.23.2016

Cognitive Dissonance
...that extreme feeling of discomfort some folks get when their core belief is challenged or contradicted. What they think (“cognitive”) is rattled (dissonance) by what other evidences purport to be true – in direct conflict with what they hold to be “true”.  8.14.2018

Actually Try To Do The Deed Actually Try To Do The Deed  “It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better." 3.23.2016

  What God Did for Man
…The Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. God walked the earth as a man. Have you ever wondered how it all got started – the universe, the earth, nature, animals, you and your “like”, mankind? 2.19.2018  
The Bible is “able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation”   Do you honestly want to know how to get right with God?  Jesus promised He would save us for an eternity of only good, nothing bad. 9.31.2020

Most Viewed Posts

  • Vile To Jesus (7,968)
  • Ashamed of Yourself? (2,835)
  • Befuddled and Besmirched (1,021)
  • That Day of Judgement (910)
  • That Moment In Time (827)
  • Getting Born Again (814)
  • Following (730)
  • My Heinous Heinous Ways (728)
  • Me, When I Die, still in sin (622)
  • Me, When I Die, forgiven (609)

Most Recent Posts

  • What is proper among saints
  • Are you ready to meet your Maker?
  • We must seek after God
  • The Triumph of Evil
  • Tolerating evil
  • Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
  • At death – we put on immortality
  • We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us
  • Jesus watches over you very carefully
  • How to Live On Christ – by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Categories

Archives

What is proper among saints

Ephesians 5:1-3.  “Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; 2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to […]

Waiting for your Master

Are you ready to meet your Maker?

PIC: Waiting expectantly for your Master Jesus is returning to earth soon. Believe it?  Are you ready to meet your Maker?  Are you truly following Jesus, waiting expectantly for Savior Jesus – Master of the Universe?  He wants to take us all to His Home, Heaven. It behooves us who are following Him – to […]

We must seek after God

Peace within our own boundaries is not guaranteed.  It is so important in these days that we all draw near to God, and pray.  We must seek after God, while He yet can be found. Deuteronomy 4:29  “…seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your […]

The Triumph of Evil

Evil has been beating good frequently ever since the Creation of our tiny earth world.  It just did it again (January 7, 2021).  Evil won the day. Big, evil events have often splattered history: Eve fell for the Serpent’s lies Adam fell for the seduction of Eve’s greed and envy Man’s wanton sinfulness went worldwide […]

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in