pilgrim people

Thanksgiving is a civic holiday in America that nowadays is mainly about family, food, football, and fun. There is certainly nothing wrong with those good gifts of God: all four express his  kindness (though I might qualify “football” as it is more commonly known throughout the world: soccer!). Historically, though, Americans observe the Thanksgiving holiday because of the experience of those original pilgrims who came to the New World and offered thanks to God for his mercies amid the most trying of circumstances. 

In 1620, the Mayflower made its long and dangerous journey from Southampton, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, carrying 102 Protestant passengers of Nonconformist and Separatist convictions. Arriving in November, they spent their first winter in what one Puritan was later to describe as “a howling wilderness.” William Bradford, the pilgrims’ leader, kept a journal in which he recorded this about that first winter: 

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Here and here. Definitely worth reading.

Although I have not yet read it, this book looks very interesting. It deals with the vital yet often misunderstood subject of the believer’s dual citizenship in the eternal kingdom of God and temporary kingdom of man, a citizenship that, as the book’s blurb notes, “shapes the identity of Christians at every turn and affects every activity in both the sacred and secular realms.” Few subjects are as important as this one for American Christians to grasp, for we have a terrible tendency to confuse these two kingdoms and overreact against misunderstandings of their distinction.

The kingdom of God is redemptive in nature and advances through means that appear weak to the world: Word, Sacrament, and discipleship via the local church. The kingdom of man, on the other hand, is not redemptive in nature, and advances through means that appear powerful to the world: politics, military, business, and the arts and sciences. Both kingdoms are necessary, and in both the Christian has an important role. Yet, they are distinct in this age. The only periods of history in which cult and culture were legitimately wed were the Garden of Eden and the theocracy of Israel. They will not be wed again until our reigning King returns and makes the kingdoms of earth the kingdom of heaven. Until then, we have dual citizenship and in live in the overlap of this present evil age and the age to come.

The book’s author, Jason Stellman, is pastor of Exile Presbyterian Church (PCA) in the Seattle area, a WSC grad, and a gifted writer. He has also been a close friend of mine for nearly a decade. Knowing that Jason has invested years of thought and study on this important subject makes me eager to give it a read.

Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and Not Yet also has a forward by Michael Horton and is endorsed by D.G. Hart. You can get it from the WSC bookstore at a fair "kingdom of the left hand" price.

Whomever we voted for yesterday, all of us should be able to rejoice that in our own lifetimes we had the privilege of seeing the first African-American elected to the highest office in the United States. 150 years ago, black men and women were still legally in slavery in America and considered property of whites. 100 years ago, in many parts of this country, they were still being lynched frequently. Only fifty years ago, a black president would still have been an unthinkable prospect. Yet, last night, we witnessed history in the making: an African-American was elected to be the 44th President of the United States.

While this does not mean that post-millennialism is true or that our culture is being transformed into a more heavenly status, it is, nevertheless, a great reason to rejoice. The damage that the sins of racism have afflicted upon countless black families and individuals in this country over the past 400 years has been horrific - something that white Americans cannot truly understand, regardless of how sophisticated and cosmopolitan we may think we are.

How many whites have grown up in a predominantly black country that was founded on Enlightenment principles of equality for all, etc., etc., yet kept white people in slavery for 250 years, practiced segregation for another 100 years, and elected black men for its first 43 presidents? How many whites have truly known what it is like for every member in our family to have personal experiences of discrimination and receiving hateful speech directed at the color of our skin? Hopefully, you get my point. For a white person to say that he or she truly understands what it is like for a black person to suffer is to marginalize that person's suffering.

While racism will always be present in the world as long as there is sin in the heart of humans, let us pray that God will use this historic event in his providence to bring some measure of healing to the afflicted wounds on his image-bearers of color. And may his church, which is his spiritual nation and chosen race made of redeemed sinners from every tribe and tongue, continue to bear witness to the one Lord, one faith, and one baptism that defines us. And may we treat all human beings - believers and unbelievers alike - with the dignity and respect demanded by virtue of their status as those who bear the image of God. 

•1. America is not a ‘Christian Nation’ – never was, never will be!

Despite popular belief amongst American evangelicals, America never was, nor ever will be, a “Christian nation.” To be Christian means to be “in Christ,” that is, in union with him by the imputation of his righteousness and the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Thus, a sinner is “in Christ” by the instrument of faith alone. But it is impossible for a geo-political nation to be “in Christ.”

The only holy geo-political nation that ever existed was the nation Israel as it existed from the time of the exodus until the coming of Christ.

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