In our highly polarized world, questions concerning nationalism, immigration, and colonialism are among the most volatile. The words themselves can elicit a visceral reaction: Who’s saying what now? Where do they stand on the issues? Are they on “our side” or the “other side”? Do we need to hop on social media to express our anger or our support?
Such responses are unhelpful, to say the least, and especially so for followers of Jesus. As our Lord’s ambassadors, we have a mandate to seek the shalom of our society and to speak truth into our culture, but to do so with love.
How can we begin to do that? We can start by looking at our world through the lens of Scripture, understanding that all history, past, present, and future, is under the control of our wise and sovereign God.
Creation mandate
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:26-28)
This passage of Scripture, known as the creation or cultural mandate, outlines God’s purpose in creating humanity. Men and women, made in God’s image, were to fill the world and exercise benevolent authority and stewardship over it as his representatives. In the process, we were to create culture in its diverse forms for our thriving and God’s glory.
Since God loves unity in diversity, it was his plan from the start for humans to spread to all corners of the earth, developing into every tribe, people, language, and nation. Yet we were meant to be unified as God’s image bearers, living in perfect peace and righteousness, making things of beauty and benefit in worship of our Maker.
Effects of the fall
When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.
(Genesis 6:5-6)
With the fall of humanity through Adam and Eve, things took a quick and decisive turn for the worse. By the time of Noah, it was human wickedness that was widespread on the earth, rather than peace and righteousness.
After the flood, as humanity began once more to multiply, they continued to resist God’s will for them to fill the earth. This prompted the Lord to give them a push by confusing their language and scattering them throughout the earth.
Human history since the fall has been a tale written in blood, marked by violence, cruelty, and oppression. Rather than filling the earth peacefully, people in every corner of the globe have fought wars, built empires, invaded their neighbours, displaced other peoples, and built colonies in new lands.
We need to call out the cruelty, injustice, and social chaos that has so often accompanied such actions. Nevertheless, we also need to acknowledge that the whole history of humanity is a complex tapestry of different peoples moving about, displacing, and intermingling with each other. Limiting our view of history to only the last few centuries of oppressor and oppressed dynamics is historically disingenuous and of little help in pursuing the shalom of our world.
All land belongs to God
The God who made the world and everything in it – he is Lord of heaven and earth – does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
(Acts 17:24-26)
Amidst a broken world filled with human depravity, God remains sovereign over it all. Moreover, God uses the wicked and sinful actions of humanity to accomplish his good purposes. Nation may rise against nation driven by cruel ambition, but it is God who determines the outcome. He decides the physical boundaries and appointed times of all nations, when they will rise and when they will fall. This mystery of God’s sovereignty while his children are in turmoil is one Christians have wrestled with for centuries. Even still, we can hold on to the assurance of his almighty power and justice with hope.
This word is by decree of the watchers,
and the decision is by command from the holy ones.
This is so that the living will know
that the Most High is ruler
over human kingdoms.
He gives them to anyone he wants
and sets the lowliest of people over them.
(Daniel 4:17)
This is God’s prerogative by right of creation and ownership. Everything in the universe, including all the lands of the earth, are his property and he gives it to whomever he pleases. Once again, this in no way excuses the human sin that often accompanies this process, for which God will hold all responsible parties accountable with perfect justice. Nevertheless, in every case, it is God who determines where a people group will live, and for how long.
Current challenges
For those of us in Canada, we may feel proud of our country and thankful to live in it and we care about its peace and security. This feeling of national pride can be positive, leading us to celebrate our country’s wins and be grateful to God when we experience blessing; however, we also need to practise caution as this can lead to points of deep contention between those who overvalue their national identity and those who undervalue it.
On this point, it may be helpful to recall that the modern nation state, as a sociopolitical entity and source of personal identity, is a relatively recent development, only a few centuries old. Before that, people defined their identity in a variety of ways, based on class, family connections, role in society, and loyalty to rulers with the power and means to protect them. National pride, where it existed at all, was relatively low on the list.
The Scriptures teach a pair of truths that may appear to be in tension but are in fact complementary. On the one hand, we are to seek the welfare of the land where God has placed us. On the other, we are to welcome the foreigner and the refugee, knowing that we ourselves are foreigners passing through this world. It requires godly wisdom not to insist on one at the expense of the other, but rather to hold them and live them out in harmony.
The earth and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants,
belong to the Lord.
(Psalm 24:1)
This truth should not only inform how we view our national identity, but also how we understand our responsibilities regarding land ownership on a societal scale. God owns all the land and all the people and gives the land when and to whom he chooses. This does not excuse or minimize the sinful actions of those whom God uses to accomplish his purposes, and he will still hold them responsible.
Consequently, we ought to be grateful to God for placing us where he has, while also acknowledging the harms that were done to those who were here before us, reconciling with them, and redressing those harms as much as possible. At the same time, we needn’t be made to feel continuous guilt for sins committed by our ancestors, or by those to whom we bear no relation. Doing so perpetuates the cycle of resentment that undermines true peace and harmony between all who live here now. Once again, it requires nuanced thinking and godly wisdom to hold these truths in their proper balance.
As followers of Jesus, we need to constantly remind ourselves that our identity is in our Lord. We’re his ambassadors, strangers and foreigners in this world. Our true citizenship is in heaven, and we look forward to a better country and a heavenly city that he is preparing for us. Together with our sisters and brothers from every nation, tribe, people, and language, we will worship him and enjoy him forever.
Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
(Revelation 21:3-4)
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
