I stood on the back patio of our house in Northern Minnesota, where I grew up, wondering if the world was going to end.
We had just received word that the Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by planes and the first tower had already fallen. I was ten years old at the time and had never experienced such an attack on my homeland other than the bombing of Oklahoma City. My parents had never experienced anything like it either. Surely something apocalyptic was taking place here.
I find it eerie to write this, considering everything happening in Afghanistan right now. September 11 felt like an “attack on my homeland,” yet I never witnessed any of it myself. Ten year old kids all over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and all the Middle East have personally faced violence and terror countless times.
Yet, there I stood on the patio staring into the woods wondering if the world would survive another day.
Something deep beneath the surface had ingrained in me the notion that America was the be-all and end-all of freedom and life in the world. “If America fell, it would be the end of the world!” That’s how I felt, and it was not just that the world as I knew it would end, as it did for the thousands of people who lost loved ones that day. It was not that another empire would arise, that things would change, and that America would no longer be America, making those of us who knew and loved the old America feel that our world had ended.
I felt that America held the world together. I understood America to stand for everything that was good and true and right in the world. An attack on America felt like an attack on life itself.
In the twenty years that have passed since I stood on the patio that September morning, I have clearly come to realize that the world did not end that day. But I have also realized that I was not alone in feeling like the world was ending.
Whether it was the narrative that America was founded as a “Christian Nation,” the Moral Majority of the 80’s, or the release of the Left Behind series, many of us had developed a subtle affection for twentieth century America that skewed our perception of reality. We lived with an inner sense that America was somehow specially chosen and blessed by God, and that everything America stood for represented the economics and ethics of the kingdom of God.
Therefore, an attack on America is an attack on God and His people.
Perhaps we did not realize it at the time, but 9/11 further solidified Western Christianity in this nationalistic affection.
When we take a look at Christian churches in America today, it is no farce to say that we have allowed nationalism to permeate our hearts. Most of us seem to have a greater affection for America than for the nation of which we became citizens when we were baptized into Christ Jesus.
I do not mean this as an accusation, but simply to put into words an observation.
We are motivated more by fear of a world our children might live in than by the words of our King. Many of us spend more time defending our rights and individual wellbeing than we do caring for those in our community. We feel the need to correct one’s perception of right and wrong ideas and ethics before even introducing them to Jesus.
These are signs that our allegiance lies more closely with the kingdom of this world than the kingdom of God.
I am not writing this to make you feel bad about liking America. Personally, I am quite grateful for having the privilege of growing up in America. I am not suggesting that everyone has embraced these affections. Of course, I speak in generalizations and you are free to ponder these words as you see fit.
The goal of my writing is love for God and others that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1Tim. 1:5). With this in mind, I write this article as an invitation to reflect on 9/11, to mourn the loss we have suffered, and to use this day as an opportunity to abandon our affections for the things of this world and realign them with our King and His rule.
Where were you when you heard the news of the attack? What were you feeling? Who were you with? Do you know anyone who was affected by the attack?
As we remember 9/11, reach out to those whose grief might be resurfaced, explore the emotions you feel in your own heart, and let Jesus convict or reshape your soul to more closely align with His.
One day America will end (Job 12:23, Ps. 46:6-11). Persecution will come for all those who desire to live godly (2Tim 3:12). Are you ready for when these things take place? Because it does not necessarily mean the world will end. You will have to learn to live without the things you hold dear, unless the thing you hold dearest is Jesus as your King.
Feel free to share your responses to this article in the comments below. Please be respectful to each other as you do. Grace and peace.
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