by Daniel Darling, Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary • 3 minutes
Ronald Reagan famously said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
We live in an era of extreme discontent. Our social media timelines are filled with cynicism and grievances. But as we consider what it means to be American at the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, perhaps it’s time to reverse that trend and reflect, with gratitude, the freedom we have inherited.
We should specifically be thankful for religious liberty, the first freedom.
In America, every week we attend the church of our choice, not giving a single thought to whether the government will knock on the door and haul us off to prison for worshipping in a way the government forbids. But for many people of faith around the world, this fear is a present reality.
America 250 is an opportunity for us to thank God for the good gift of American freedom, secured for us by the sacrifice of those who have gone before.
I think of the courageous men who signed the Declaration of Independence, forging this new experiment in ordered liberty. I think of the soldiers who fought at Lexington and Concord, who fought at Gettysburg, who stormed the beaches of Normandy, who gave their lives in the swamps of Vietnam, who fought terrorists in the Middle East.
The liberty we enjoy did not come cheaply. Every time we go to church and worship, every time we speak our minds about something with which we disagree, every time we gather in safety with our families—we should thank God for those whose sacrifice made it possible.
This is what patriotism is. Americans can both love God supremely and love their country well. The Founders understood that our rights come from God and that it is only by his Providence that this nation will endure.
Today, though America is strong, we should not be complacent, as if America runs merely on autopilot. Having inherited it, we must work, in our time, to preserve what the Founders created.
Unlike some, I am bullish on America, but we must acknowledge political polarization, false ideologies, and complacency can erode our foundations. What’s more, without a strong and vibrant Christian witness, freedom becomes expressive individualism.
This is why the ongoing legal effort to protect religious liberty matters. I want to ensure that my children and grandchildren can worship on Sundays and live out their faith in the marketplace as freely as I do. We must also renew our important civic institutions, teaching the next generation American history and encouraging them to get involved in the life of their communities, cities, and country.
Most importantly, America needs spiritual revival, beginning first with the people of God and spilling out into our neighborhoods and communities and across the land. John Adams, along with the rest of the Founders, understood this, saying that America was made “for a religious and moral people.”
Benjamin Franklin, in the midst of the Continental Congress that hammered out the new Constitution for his fledgling nation, said, “And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
Ensuring another 250 years is the responsibility of every American, though everyone’s callings look differently. God will raise up some to run for public office. He’ll raise up others as important voices in the public square. And we need another generation of faithful pastors and church leaders, teaching truth in a courageous and compassionate way.
Most of all, America will flourish, as it always has, because of ordinary, everyday Americans who love God, love their neighbors, and “seek the welfare” of the country they love, as Scripture reminds us in Jeremiah 29:7.
Alexis de Toqueville, the Frenchman who visited America in the mid-1800s, noticed in his book, Democracy in America that this country exhibited both a “spirit of liberty” and a “spirit of religion.” Maybe it be so, today, and for the next generation.
Daniel Darling is an author, pastor, and thought leader. He serves as the Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Assistant Professor of Faith and Culture at Texas Baptist College. Dan has served in a variety of senior executive nonprofit positions. He has also pastored churches in Illinois and Tennessee.
