Beyond the Pageant: A Christian Call to Truth and Reconciliation on America’s 250th Anniversary
As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, the air is filled with fireworks, pageantry, and curated national myths. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to a deeper, honest reflection.
The Apostle John provides our marching orders: “Let us love, not in words or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 John 3:18; NRSV)
How do we live this mandate today? I invite us to confront these questions: Who are we to be as Christians living our faith authentically? Who would Christ be in our midst? Whom would He fight for?
Who Would Christ Be?
To understand our role in a secular society, we must strip away cultural distortions that domesticate our faith. Christ would not be a conqueror or a mascot for white Christian nationalism — a project that conscripts the Gospel into a worldly agenda of power and dominion.
Instead, remember a radically different Savior: a Palestinian Jew living under the oppressive Roman Empire; a refugee who knew the terror of displacement from his childhood; and a revolutionary executed by the state for standing with the marginalized and breaking systems of colonization. Jesus chose the path of the “least of these.” To find Him today, we must look toward the margins.
Who Would Christ Actively Love and Fight For?
To love in truth, we must confess the “defective cornerstone” upon which this nation was built, where a perverted freedom was rooted in the dominion over others. Christ’s love compels us to fight alongside those bearing its scars:
- Our Indigenous Siblings: Christ stands with the original sovereigns of this soil, whose lands were stolen under the heresy of the Doctrine of Discovery.
- Descendants of Enslaved Africans: Christ fights for the dignity of those whose kidnapped labor built the foundational wealth of this nation.
- Our Global Neighbors: Christ stands with our siblings in the Global South, where economic dominion and resource extraction prioritize greed.
- The Immigrant and Sojourner: Christ welcomes refugees fleeing violence, rejecting walls of exclusion that dishonor human dignity and the health of families.
Moving from Words to Action
We cannot honor God with our lips while our policies remain far from our neighbors. Living as Christians means refusing comfortable lies and committing to work for reparatory justice:
- Repair Our Economy: Advocate for systems centering the safety, health, sufficiency and debt relief of families, rather than hoarding wealth for the few.
- Reconstruct Our Democracy: Ensure every voice is heard, standing firmly against efforts to gerrymander votes or silence our history.
- Restore the Land: Honor Indigenous sovereignty and seek pathways to repair the global harms caused by extraction.
The Journey Ahead
As Disciples, let us choose actions over empty speech and truth over our national mythology. Together, let us build a land where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
In the name of the One who makes all things new, let us begin the repair.
Prayers for this Moment
A Prayer for Truth, Table, and Repair (Communion)
Prayer for the World God Calls Us to Help Re-create
Prayer for Truthful Love on the 250th Anniversary of the United States