Our nation was born with these remarkable words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
The Declaration’s most revolutionary claim is not political. It is theological. Human equality does not originate with government. It originates with God.
As a Christian pastor and theologian, I believe scripture reveals God as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Not all of America’s founders shared that conviction. Several, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, embraced forms of deism rather than historic Christianity. Yet regardless of their personal beliefs, they anchored human dignity not in government, race, wealth, education or social status but in our Creator.
America has not always lived according to that truth. The nation that declared all people were created equal also tolerated the evil of slavery. Native peoples suffered injustice. Women were denied rights reflecting their equal dignity. Our history contains moments of extraordinary courage alongside seasons of profound hypocrisy.
Followers of Jesus should never fear telling the truth about both.
One of the remarkable features of American history is that its greatest agents of change appealed to the Declaration itself. Frederick Douglass called America to honor its own ideals. The suffragists argued that women shared the same God-given dignity as men. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged the nation to practice what it had proclaimed.
If our rights come from government, government can redefine or remove them. But if our rights come from our Creator, every government stands under a higher authority. Presidents, judges, legislators and citizens alike are accountable to the God who made every human being.
Genesis 1:26-27 declares that every man and woman is created in the image and likeness of God. To bear God’s image is to reflect his character and represent his reign in the world. Before there were nations, constitutions or political parties, there was the Creator declaring humanity to be his image-bearers. Every human life possesses immeasurable worth because every human being reflects the glory of the one who made them.
America is not a church, nor is it the kingdom of God. America is a constitutional republic that practices representative democracy under the rule of law. Our Constitution limits governmental power because the founders understood a timeless biblical reality: Fallen people should never possess unlimited authority. The American experiment depends on checks and balances, accountability, and the conviction that every person possesses God-given dignity.
That is also why Christians must never confuse devotion to Christ with devotion to country. Followers of Jesus must never wrap the cross in the flag or place political power where only the lordship of Jesus belongs.
Jesus did not commission his followers to build a Christian nation. He commissioned us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
Our highest allegiance is never to a political party, an ideology or even our country. It belongs to the crucified and risen King. We can deeply love America, pray for America, serve America and work for its flourishing without confusing it with the kingdom of God.
I love my country. Patriotism runs in my family. My fourth-great-grandfather fought for the Union during the Civil War. Yet my love for America flows from an even greater love. “For God so loved the world” that he gave Jesus as the world’s Savior.
At the foot of the cross, every illusion of human superiority dies. We all stand as sinners in need of mercy.
The cross declares that every person is valuable enough for the Son of God to die for. The resurrection announces God’s new creation, gathering people from every tribe, language, people and nation into one family through grace. At the foot of the cross, every illusion of human superiority dies. We all stand as sinners in need of mercy.
That is why Christians should be the strongest defenders of human dignity.
We defend unborn children because they bear God’s image.
We pursue racial reconciliation because every ethnicity bears God’s image.
We care for immigrants, refugees, the poor, prisoners and the forgotten because they bear God’s image.
We fight political and corporate corruption, seeking justice.
We reject contempt in public life because even those with whom we disagree politically bear God’s image.
As disciples of Jesus, our ultimate hope is not in America but in the kingdom of God. As Paul reminds us, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20, NIV). Yet because we belong to Christ’s kingdom, we seek the good of our constitutional republic. We vote with humility, pursue justice, tell the truth, extend mercy and love our neighbors.
The gospel reveals that our Creator came to us in Jesus Christ, died for us, rose again for us and is making all things new.
That is the deepest foundation of liberty.