The week of the 4th of July is a very patriotic week, and rightfully so. The United States of America and America, in general, began a wave of independence from Britain and the United Kingdom. So the 4th of July, every year, we celebrate this accomplishment.
To give you some background, I am an Army veteran, and I love my country. I fought for this country and gave eight years of my life for it. So what I am about to say has nothing to do with my love of country and everything to do with the worship of our Lord and Savior.
I was at church this past weekend before this 4th of July week, and they played several U.S. Patriot songs in our church. One of them didn’t even mention God until the song’s last line, and it asked for God to bless America.
My issue is this, church worship isn’t about paying tribute to this country. I do not believe that we need to mix this world and this country and praise it in our worship music when we should instead focus on God and what Jesus did for us.
Psalms 22:27-28 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.”
Playing this music during our time to worship the Lord made it feel like we were worshiping the United States and singing its praises. So is there a patriotic song that sings praises to God primarily but then asks God to protect our country? If there is one, it would be the song God Bless America. And yes, that was sung in our service, but in general, we need to stay away from idol worship.
We do not need to sing the national anthem, the God Bless the USA Lee Greenwood version (I love that song, by the way). My favorite version of that song: Lee Greenwood, Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines sing God Bless the USA.
However, the Bible says, “All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!” Psalm 145:10. Given the sufficiency of Scripture and what the Lord tells us, playing patriotic music during a church worship service is not worship to our Lord but worship to a country. Are you looking for a golden calf, or are you looking for Jesus Christ?
Next 4th of July week, let’s stay away from patriotic music in church and stick to worshiping our Lord and Savior. God Bless.
-Jay