Fundy Failure

Thomas Nelson has released “The American Patriot’s Bible.” I haven’t read it. I don’t plan on reading it.  Greg Boyd reviewed it and you can find his very well written reviews here (part one) and here (part two). If this Bible contains what Boyd says it does (and I have no reason not to believe Boyd), then this is really sad.

For me, just the title is pretty ridiculous. The title is aiming at excluding people from reading it. As if someone from another country could not read this Bible.

This goes back to the whole allegiance thing. Do you pledge allegiance to the flag or to Christ? Because you really can’t swear allegiance to two things – that’s treason. To be a patriot (according to dictionary.com) means “a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.”

Are we supporting the interests of America or the interests of the Kingdom of God? There are certainly interests in America that we would support, but those interests should only be ones that cross over into the interests of the Kingdom. We do not support the interests of America and the Kingdom of God. We support the interests of the Kingdom of God regardless of whether or not they are American interests. If our interests in the Kingdom also happen to be American interests, that is fine. But the Kingdom ALWAYS trumps America. This is where I fear we tend to get off track. We support American interests (oil, greed, war, etc..) without any consideration for whether or not they are in the best interests of the Kingdom.

All Christ followers of every nation on earth should pursue the Kingdom regardless of their nation. Nationalism is idolatry.