“And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” – Jeremiah 29:7
Should we even care about the United States of America? Isn’t politics too divisive? Aren’t we exhorted to avoid “useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose godliness is a means of gain”? Aren’t we exhorted to “From such withdraw yourself.” (1 Timothy 6:5). Isn’t this country just a secular nation and it’s all going to burn anyway no matter what we do? Isn’t politics just a frustrating swamp that swallows’ people whole? Many are asking such questions. They sit on the fence swayed and convicted to get involved by some, swayed and convicted to stay uninvolved by others. We are too often reduced to a Dr. Doolittle Push-Me-Pull-You stalled between these two options. What does the Bible say?
Between 722 and 586 BC the people of God were taken into captivity, first by the Assyrians and second by the Babylonians. Their captivity would be for seventy years to make up for the 490 years of misuse of God’s Land. They had selfishly refused to let the Land rest every seventh year as God had stipulated. When the Lord instructed His captive people about how to act in the foreign lands to which they were taken, He said:
Jeremiah 29:7 (NKJV) – 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
“Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” That was God’s instruction to His people regarding their captors. Keep in mind the Babylonians were no gentle empire. They succeeded the brutal terrorist empire of the Assyrians. When the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was conquered, the Chaldeans, an arm of the Babylonian Empire, once they had captured the fleeing Zedekiah, killed his sons before the king and then put out his eyes so that the last image he would have from his sight was the death of his sons. And yet, to the Jewish captives God instructed, “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive.”
If God instructed His people to seek the peace of brutal conquerors like the Babylonians, then even if you see the United States of America as an inhospitable homeland, a necessary evil, you should still pray for its peace.
Daniel and his three friends are examples of righteous behavior in a foreign land. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:17-20). We are pilgrims in the foreign land of earth and just passing through (1 Peter 1:1 and 2:11). But that doesn’t absolve us of involvement in the governmental workings of the nation we are living in here on planet earth.
Even though Daniel and his three friends were harvested and forced into service in Babylonia, they rose to prominence by honest service in the government. Daniel became the go-to source for King Nebuchadnezzar when it came to interpreting dreams (Daniel 1-2).
The three friends of Daniel served God by serving in the governmental system of Babylon. And when that system demanded they bow down and worship its king, they did not compromise. They didn’t compromise even when their lives were placed in danger. They were willing to be thrown in the fiery furnace rather than bow to an earthly king. They famously responded to the demands of Nebuchadnezzar:
Daniel 3:16–18 (NKJV) – 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Nebuchadnezzar was arguably the most powerful secular ruler on earth at this time in history. Their lives were in his hands. But really were they? No, as men of faith they knew their lives were in the hands of their LORD. even though the king had the power to execute these three men of God, they remained true to God and trusted in Him. They would not bow.
This was a tremendous statement of faith and a tremendous testimony. It was a tremendous opportunity for the power of God to be revealed because they were involved in the political process of the Babylonian empire. It was an opportunity for their faith to be tested strong. And it was an opportunity for their faith to show the power of God to the unsaved around them. The uninvolved are safe, but they are also on-the-shelf-unusable. We miss tremendous opportunities to be used by God and give Him glory when we isolate, hibernate, or disassociate ourselves completely from the world around us.
Though these three risked the hot fires of persecution inflicted by the powers of this world, they trusted God in the fire. And because they trusted God, He was able to show up in an incredible way:
Daniel 3:23–25 (NKJV) – 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
This manifestation of God and His preservation of the three faithful friends even under the most threatening severe conditions of trial and persecution, deeply impacted Nebuchadnezzar. It so deeply impacted the king that he offered praise and a decree regarding the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego:
Daniel 3:28–29 (NKJV) – 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”
So impacted was Nebuchadnezzar that there is a possibility that he, after some further humbling by the Lord, gave his heart to the LORD. Read the words of mighty but humbled Nebuchadnezzar:
Daniel 4:34–37 (NKJV) – 34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?” 36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
The Bible says, “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18). Certainly, Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and in deep contrition here as expressed by his submission to and belief in “the Most High.” We can’t be dogmatic about the king’s conversion, but we can hope. But the point here is that it is because of the involvement in the political process of Babylon, forced or otherwise, that the heart of this mighty secular king was impacted in very possibly a saving way.
Further in the Book of Daniel we see a conspiracy concocted against Daniel under the new administration of the Medes. Because of Daniel’s uncompromising faithfulness to God under severe pressure, God’s power to protect, even in a lion’s den, is demonstrated and God is glorified (Daniel 6). Another opportunity to serve and be used by God because one was involved in the governmental processes.
Daniel is a wonderful testament to what God can and will do when His people trust Him and take a stand in a secular environment. Just think of what would have happened if Daniel and his three friends had chosen the tactic of remaining in obscurity so as not to risk any harm. Just think of what would have happened if they remained detached, uninvolved, quiet, silent. You know what would have happened if they had chosen safety and the path of least resistance to just get by and make it through the captivity? Nothing. If they had chosen isolation and obscurity, safety, we wouldn’t have the Book of Daniel. There would be no encouraging testimony to the faithfulness of God and His power to save. There would be no record of the omnipresent all-knowing God responding to their prayers and deciphering the dreams and seen manifestations of kings. We would have nothing, and they would have missed out on the opportunity to be mightily used by God to bring Him glory.
Should we care about the United States of America? Maybe that’s not even the right question. Maybe we should ask, “Do we want to be used by God to bring Him glory?” If your answer is yes, then getting involved in the public processes of politics are a way to be used by God to bring Him glory. That’s because it is in the corrupt political process that the stark contrast between light in darkness can be seen.
When we get involved in the workings of the political process and its debates about public policies, causes, laws, and freedom affecting ways, we find opportunities to represent the righteousness of God. When, in the midst of the muck and mire of this world we are true to God and by faith “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” then we are shinning God’s light and bringing Him glory by showing the world the holy alternative to their wicked ways (cf. Ephesians 5:11; Matthew 5:13-16).
When we get involved in our countries public square and dialogue from a godly world view it provides the opportunity for us to share God’s truth. Jesus came to testify or “bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). He did so before his secular interrogator Pontius Pilate. Earlier Jesus had prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Christian, we are sanctified, or set apart for God’s use, by being agents and ambassadors of God’s truth. The Church is described as the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). God’s predetermined plan and purpose for all of us is to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29). That means we should follow in His steps in life even if it means persecution (1 Peter 2:21). It means we are to obediently keep His word by walking as he would in life. When we do that we will be “perfect” or all God desires us to be (1 John 2:1-6).
Should we care about the Untied States of America? The Lord has blessed the world and a lot of people through this nation, including each of us. We should be thankful and appreciative. Conscience and character would answer “yes, we should pay back America by being true to her and protecting her as she was meant to be.” Getting involved is a way of saying “Thank you,” to our Founders, to those who spilled their blood and gave their lives defending this nation, gave their lives to right wrongs in this nation, and who have selflessly sacrificed for the American Dream, Declaration of Independence, and Constitutional Republic. There’s value and worth in our American heritage. There’s something worth saving here. Yes, we should care about the United States of America.
There were strong Christian influences in the birthing stages of this great nation. We have wandered far from those roots of righteousness. But maybe if we begin to “seek the peace” of this nation and get involved in the processes of life, even the political ones that impact the direction of the nation, maybe then we will find opportunities to glorify God like Daniel, and his three friends did. Maybe then a new chapter of repentance and redemption can be written for this nation. Maybe its not only about making America great again but more about doing the right thing according to God and giving Him glory. Then, as a byproduct of living as salt and light, righteously before for the LORD, America will return to Him and truly not only be great again but be greater than ever before. Yes, I think we should care for the United States of America. Caring and getting involved in the salvation of this endangered nation is the right thing to do, and it is one of the greatest opportunities to be used by God for His glory. God bless America, for Your glory! Oh LORD, make us what we need to be, to do what you call us to do, for your glory, until You return. In Jesus’ name. Amen!