“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.”— Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
The Fourth of July is a time of celebration. Families gather. Flags are raised. Fireworks light the sky as we reflect on the blessings and freedoms we enjoy as a nation. But this year’s Oikeo Prayer Call invited us to pause long enough to ask a more difficult question—one that cuts beneath patriotism and reaches into discipleship.
The question is not whether we love our country. Most of us do.
The question is whether we are willing to love it the way Jesus commands us to.
That distinction changes everything.Before the message, Reverend Denise Brown shared Rev. Benjamin Cremer’s reflection, Grief Is a Form of Patriotism Too. It offered a profound reminder that grief is not the opposite of love—it is often one of its deepest expressions. We grieve because we care. We lament because we believe things can be better. The prophets understood this. Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem. Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem. Neither loved their people less because they lamented them. Their tears were evidence of how deeply they loved what God had entrusted to them.As followers of Christ, we are called to love our communities, pray for our leaders, and seek the welfare of the places where God has planted us. But we are also called to examine our hearts whenever our love for nation begins to overshadow our love for the Kingdom. Throughout history, powerful people have often reached for faith to strengthen kingdoms, justify ambitions, and preserve empires. Governments have done it. Institutions have done it. Even the Church has struggled with this temptation. Whenever faith becomes a tool for maintaining power rather than revealing the heart of God, we have confused empire with the Kingdom.
Jesus never made that mistake.
From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus rejected every opportunity to establish God’s Kingdom through worldly power. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness, he offered Jesus authority over all the kingdoms of the world. It was influence without sacrifice, authority without obedience, and power without the cross. Jesus refused every bit of it.
Matthew 4:8–10 (NIV)
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor… ‘Away from me, Satan!'”
Jesus understood that God’s Kingdom could never be built by the methods of empire. One seeks domination. The other seeks transformation. One measures success by influence and control. The other measures greatness by humility, justice, mercy, and love.
Later, when His own disciples began arguing over who would become the greatest, Jesus once again turned the world’s understanding of power upside down.
Mark 10:42–45 (NIV)
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
This is the burden of the powerful. Power itself is not the problem. Scripture is filled with men and women whom God entrusted with influence. The burden is how that influence is used. Every leader, every pastor, every parent, every business owner, every elected official, and every believer eventually faces the same question: Will I use what God has given me to build myself, or will I use it to serve others?
Perhaps that is why Jesus summarized the entire Law the way He did.
Matthew 22:37–39 (NIV)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus was intentional about that order. He first called us to love God with everything we have. From that love flows our love for our neighbors, and only then do we begin to understand how we should engage the world around us. Our citizenship, our politics, our opinions, and even our patriotism all find their proper place only after we have submitted ourselves to those two great commandments. Nations matter. Communities matter. Civic responsibility matters. But every nation is healthiest when it reflects God’s priorities instead of asking God to endorse its own.
Many people entered this Independence Day carrying burdens that fireworks cannot erase. Some are grieving loved ones. Others are anxious about the future of our country. Many are weary from division, injustice, and constant conflict. Still others simply feel exhausted by trying to hold hope and disappointment at the same time. Jesus never ignored those burdens. Instead, He invited weary people to bring them directly to Him.
Matthew 11:28–30 (NIV)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Notice what Jesus offers. He does not promise escape from hardship, nor does He ask us to deny the reality of our pain. Instead, He offers rest. It is the kind of rest that steadies the soul when the world feels unsteady. It is the peace that allows us to continue loving, serving, and praying even when we do not yet see the answers we long for.
As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we are called to pray for those in authority, seek the welfare of our communities, defend the vulnerable, pursue justice, and even love our enemies. Those commands do not become optional when politics become difficult. If anything, they become even more necessary.
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This may be one of the most revolutionary commands Jesus ever gave. Rather than responding to hatred with more hatred, Christ calls us to answer it with love. Rather than allowing fear to dictate our actions, He calls us to respond with faith. Rather than deepening the divisions that already exist, He commands us to become agents of mercy and reconciliation. Rather than pursuing power for its own sake, He teaches us that true greatness is found in serving others. This is the way of Jesus, and it remains just as countercultural today as it was two thousand years ago.
The Charge
This Independence Day, thank God for the freedoms you enjoy. Pray for your country. Pray for your leaders. Pray for your neighbors. Pray for those carrying burdens too heavy to bear alone. But above all else, remember where your highest citizenship belongs.
Our first allegiance is not to an empire.
It is to the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom still advances the same way it always has—not through domination, but through transformed hearts. It advances through acts of mercy, prayers offered in faith, neighbors loved well, truth spoken in humility, and ordinary believers who choose the way of Jesus over the pursuit of power.
Call to Action
💬 As you celebrate this Independence Day, ask yourself this question: Am I loving my country the way Jesus taught me to? Let that question shape not only your prayers, but also your conversations, your actions, and your witness. May we be known not first for the empires we defend, but for the Kingdom we represent.
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