When people think of you, what do they think first? Do they think, “I know he is a republican or a democrat or a libertarian, etc.,” “I know what he or she believes about all of the hot-button political issues”? Or do they know you for what you believe and teach as a Christian? Which are you more passionate about? You can be the most committed republican or democrat. You can go out and knock doors to support your candidate? You can go onto Facebook and tell people why they should vote for a certain person. But do you do any of these things for the Lord? It is sad when it’s the case that Christians lose opportunities to teach the gospel because they are too vocal in sharing their political views so passionately with the lost. Is it really worth it to be so vocal about your political allegiances? It may be the case if we allow our political allegiances to drive people away from what we claim to be our greatest allegiance (God's kingdom), we may be showing which spiritual platform we may have a greater allegiance to: man's instead of God's. 

It is even sadder when we begin thinking and saying things that make it seem like being a Christian is synonymous with being a Republican or a Democrat, and that brethren are lost if they vote a certain way or believe a certain way politically (This is the sin of partiality, and it violates what Paul teaches in Romans 14). We can badly injure a brother or sister over saying someone is less Christian if they have a different political affiliation. No party in U.S. politics is a "Christian" party. Neither is "more Christian" in their beliefs and platform. All of the major political parties have views that are morally evil and contradict scripture. They are not FOR the kingdom of God. They are part of this world, and we need to be careful about the level of love and devotion we show towards a party or their presidential candidates. 

We need to be more concerned for souls; the souls of democrats and republicans; the souls of those who are pro-life and pro-choice, and we show a concern for the souls of these people, not by changing their views on the hot-button political issues or leading them to change their political party, but instead by obeying Christ by preaching and teaching the Gospel. Jesus did not say, “Go out into all the world and get the laws changed and change people’s political views.” He said, Go out into all the world and to preach the gospel to every creature” (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).

And finally, do not forget, as a Christian, you only have one ultimate "political allegiance"; one leader and King that you can submit to and show love for: King Jesus. If your political affiliation leads you to compromise your devotion to your King and His party platform, then your political affiliation has become your idol.

This point may get me in trouble with some, but it can be the case that we put an idolatrous focus on the Constitution and Bill of Rights. There may be many clues, that if we se them in our lives, that we may be guilty of idolatry in this are. 

First, there are some Christians that are much more vocal about how our representatives or our President are abusing the constitution and interpreting it incorrectly than how there are so many in our country and churches that pervert scripture. Does this describe you? Are you more likely to make sure you make your opinions and complaints known about constitutional abuses than abuses of scripture on social media and in your discussions with others?

Second, there are also some Christians who I have talked to who seem more passionate and vocal to others about their man-given American rights than teaching the word of God to someone. I do believe there are many who idolize their rights so much that they become rebellious in their attitude toward their authorities and dishonor their authorities, which are BOTH sins in scripture. You may have heard a brother or sister in Christ say something along the lines of, “if the government wants to take my guns, they will have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands!” Seriously? I like to think they are joking when they say this, but at least those who I have heard say these kind of things sure do seem pretty serious. I also have seen some Christians complain about our governing authorities on Facebook, even putting what they type in all caps so everyone can know that they are yelling at their authorities about the laws they are passing that take away previous freedoms; laws which the majority of the time God does not give His opinion on in His word. My response: such attitudes displayed in these kind of comments are sinful, and they show that we often idolize our rights. It is dishonoring to your authorities and to the God who placed our authorities over us.

Some also idolize the constitution and their rights in saying that they are given by God when many of them are not even mentioned in the word of God! Now I don’t want to be misunderstood. I believe that the constitution and the Bill of Rights are great documents. I have a lot of respect for those who were involved in their creation. I would prefer that they stay exactly the way they are and be interpreted based on what our founding fathers had in mind when they were written! But let me tell you this, and this may come as a surprise to you, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not fall out of Heaven. They are not inspired by God. Our constitution and our “rights” are not “God-given” as so many cry out. It is a document that was created by men and, unfortunately, can be changed or done away with by men. If our leadership changed/amended, or even did away with the Bill of Rights or the constitution, what would your response be? If the government did make it a law that we could no longer own or possess firearms, how would you respond? Would you respond by saying, “You have to tear them out of my cold, dead hands?” or yell from the rooftops, “It is my God-given right to own and carry a gun?” The Biblical response (and non-idolatrous response) would be to submit to our authorities. Guns are not the only weapons we as Americans can use to defend ourselves.

Sometimes it seems that the worldview and beliefs of some Christians are based more on FOX News and conservative talk radio than they are the word of God. What is our authority? What is it that gives us our direction and hope in life? It is NOT our laws and our rights. “Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” No matter what comes of our rights and our constitution, we already have all that we need to live godly in Christ. We have our standard. We have our King. No matter what may happen with the laws of this nation, we need to be faithful to Christ. What laws our nation has or whatever our rights may be, we need to use them to serve and glorify God as lights in this world. And no matter what the situation may be in this country, we need to get the gospel out. We need to set our minds on higher things and not get so distracted and consumed by the things of this world that we give too much love to.

"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Timothy 2:3-4).

Usually, patriotism is viewed as a positive attribute for one to have. I do agree that it is a good thing to be loyal to the country that God has blessed us to live in. I am happy that God has given me the blessing of living here. It is ok to be “proud to be an American” in that sense. I believe we as Americans need to be thankful to God for this blessing, but we do need to be careful with the amount of love and devotion we have towards this democratic country. If we are being too devoted to it, it can become an idol. It can get to the point where we puff out our chests with pride because of how great we are, or because of the physical prosperity that the nation has gotten for itself, or the large military and defenses that our nation has. We may think that no one can beat us or mess with us or our freedoms. But when we do this, we forget that all of these things have been given to Americans by GOD and can be taken away from this nation by Him in an instant. There is no reason for us to be filled with pride and to look down on other nations. 

​Whenever we are giving precedence towards our earthly citizenship and our place of residence over our heavenly one, America the Great, or even the state that we live in, can become our idol. I am happy to be an American and to be blessed by God to live here, but this is not what I boast in and find my identity in. Being an American is not something I boast in. I will boast in the cross which makes me a citizen of a better and greater kingdom. Do you believe that we as Christians are in the greatest nation there is? Not America, but God’s holy nation and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)? This world is not our home. America is not where we belong. This country is not where our citizenship lies. We are pilgrims in America! Paul tells us in Philippians 3:19-20 that our citizenship is in Heaven. My devotion and love first and foremost belongs to God’s kingdom. That is where my citizenship primarily lies. If we are going to be "patriotic", should we not be patriotic towards the country of our primary citizenship? 

Which national identity do you give precedent to? Which do you give more devotion to? The Kingdom of America or the Kingdom of God? Your answer to these questions may go to show whether your "patriotism" has reached the level of idolatry. Pay attention to the things you post online and what you say to people. Often our words show which country we are more devoted to.