GOD OR OLD GLORY?

Doug Mendenhall asks a good question for this Independence Day weekend:

You're in a small group at your office or a park or a restaurant. Everybody knows everybody else; you're all friends. As the conversation rolls around the circle, one person is prompted to remark, "You know, I'm really not sure that being _______ is all it's cracked up to be. I'm thinking about looking for something different."

Would there be more consternation in the circle if that blank is filled in with "Christian" or with "American"? Which would create the bigger awkward silence? Which would most incline you to question your friend's character?

Where does God rank in our lives?

Still, while many Americans are worried about the separation of church and state, and whether government policies should narrow or widen it, I am more worried our tendency to make a religion out of being an American.

Now, the catechism of this religion may well include a belief in Jehovah. But that's not the way Jehovah sees the pecking order. His jealousy burns like a raging fire. He doesn't share his people with anyone or anything.

In fact, as a way of showing the intensity and supremacy of devotion he expects, Jesus once said to those who wanted to follow him, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple."

I believe the Bible commands us to respect our country, but I sure better respect God more.