American Exceptionalism. The United States is special. A huge, bountiful land, filled with fresh water and rich farmland. Our history of exporting food won us the name the “breadbasket of the world.” This is a place of liberty, democracy, freedom, and equality. Never in human history were such critical human rights provided to so many for so long.
Have there been abuses, evils, and tragic failures? Absolutely. But all things considered, America is a special place. To throw off the shackles of a corrupt British monarchy, and launch a nation founded not on a king, but on three competing institutions, all controlled by a voting democracy—something that had never been done successfully? And 250 years later the US Constitution remains the oldest national charter still in continuous use? Amazing!
On top of that, we are separated from much of the world (and protected from invasion) by two oceans? That isolation has afforded us peace. Centuries of peace, with brief interruptions. And what does peace afford us? The opportunity for markets to flourish, for inventors to invent, for business owners to start new businesses, for entire industries to be born and grow into world-changing operations. On top of all that, America has witnessed a number of spiritual revivals, some of which have circled the globe, changing millions of lives.
Do you ever wonder why?
Why did God bless this land the way he has?
I can’t claim certainty. But perhaps there is a clue in Ezekiel 17. God compares his people to birds nesting in and under trees. One tree is King Nebuchadnezzar. Another is the puppet-king that Nebuchadnezzar installed to run Judah, King Zedekiah. But then God speaks of the king to come, the Messiah:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it.… On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches” Ezekiel 17:22-23.
God will plant a great tree that is Jesus. That tree will produce branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful cedar tree. Birds of every kind will nest in that tree, finding shade in its branches.
Birds of every kind will nest in that tree. The King James version says, “Under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing.” Every species of birds will dwell under the tree that is Jesus. Every person from every nation, tribe, and tongue will find shade in the Messiah.
Jesus did not simply come for the Jews. God loves everyone. Jesus came to save everyone—from every race.
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind” Acts 17:26.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek” Romans 10:12.
“Here there is neither Jew, nor Greek, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all” Colossians 3:11.
Why did God bless America? Perhaps because America has learned—and is still learning—to honor and accept all people. This is a nation that has rarely had the luxury of being homogenous (which is MUCH easier). Every classroom, neighborhood, town, and city has people with different ethnic backgrounds.
Do we do it right all the time? Absolutely not. Do the races clash and struggle? Of course. But when American life throws everyone into a melting pot, we eventually do get better at getting along. We simply have no choice. And then our culture (movies, music, books, and more) is exported around the world, leading the way in nations where everyone looks like everyone else—which is most of the nations on earth.
Is diversity the only thing God cares about? Definitely not. I would not even put it in the top ten. But God is the one who made people look so different, not only differences in skin and hair, but height and weight. When you survey the world the only conclusion to draw is that God loves VARIETY.
And maybe one reason God has blessed America is because we have been forced to struggle with the variety so much more than anyone else. We struggle to get along in a situation most nations have never experienced. And you know what?
Our nation looks like heaven:
“And I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, tribe, and tongue, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” Revelation 7:9.
Maybe that is one reason God blesses us: He blesses us with the greatest freedom and opportunity any society has ever seen—and he challenges us with the most racial and ethnic variety any society has ever seen. Will we make it work? Can we love each other and maintain some peace?
Can we enjoy American Prosperity while also enjoying American Diversity?
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Jesus loves everyone. Do you?
AΩ.
*Loving people is not politics. Nor is it activism. Believe what you want about the politics and causes related to the heavily loaded term ‘diversity.’ There are so many issues, no two people will agree on them all. And that’s not the point. We may disagree on politics. But Jesus commands us to love one another (and he calls it a ‘COMMAND’): “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” John 13:34.
Household Words: 