God Bless THE WORLD

This time of year - an election year, that is – it seems that everyone running for office or speaking in support of someone who is, is required to end his/her speech with the same three words: “God bless America.” Am I the only American who is truly bothered by this proverbial tag line?

Now please don’t accuse me of being “unpatriotic” for questioning our addiction to this phrase. I love my country and its good points. I appreciate its history. I have benefited from America’s affluence and opportunity. No, I haven’t “served my country” in terms of the armed forces, nor have I been a P.O.W. in enemy territory. But I have relatives who have and I understand the unique value of that particular form of service to country.

So why, then, do I object so strongly to this phrase? For starters, IF God IS in the business of blessing certain countries - and I’m not sure She is – haven’t Americans been blessed enough already? Rob Bell reminds us in his new book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, that

“America controls nearly 20% of the world’s wealth,” even though we represent “less than 5% of the world’s population…One billion people in the world do not have access to clean water, while the average American uses four hundred to six hundred liters of water every day…More than have the world lives on less than two dollars a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week…Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half the world does on all goods…Human history has never witnessed the abundance that we consider normal. America is the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity. We have more resources than any group of people anywhere at any time has had. Ever.” Bell concludes, “God bless America? God has. And we should be very, very grateful.” (Jesus Wants to Save Christians, pgs. 122-3)

So my first reason for wanting to do away with this phrase is that if any nation needs more of God’s blessing, it isn’t America.

Secondly, we live in an increasingly interdependent, global society. Developments in the world economy alone should have taught us by now that we are not really a world of divided, self-determining nations anymore. Instead, we are a network of highly interdependent countries and economies that will stand or fall according to what happens in places half way around the world. Likewise, the military landscape has changed in very similar ways. While there still are a few military superpowers like China, Russia, India, and the U.S., world peace today depends just as much on tiny nations with nuclear and chemical weapons capabilities, not to mention terrorist groups and cells that have no national identity nor connections at all. In such an interdependent, complex web of relationships – economic, military, and other – it is the WORLD that needs God’s presence, wisdom, and blessing, isn’t it? For if the right 'wrong thing' happens in Kuwait or the Georgian Republic, it could be the end of all of us.

Third, aren’t ALL people from ALL nations children of God? Isn’t that what the Bible teaches? Isn’t that what American Christians believe? Or are only some of us God’s children – those with white skin? Blue eyes? Certain beliefs and religious practices? Capitalist economies? Have you ever thought about what it must sound like to a Haitian to hear an American President or resident say, “God Bless America”? Or how would it sound to a famine victim in Ethiopia or a potential genocide victim in Darfur? When you add American foreign policy of the last 60 years and our unwanted intervention in places like Central America and the Middle East, particularly the CIA’s now well-documented attempts to overthrow and destabilize elected leaders who didn’t suit our fancy, claiming or expecting God’s blessing upon our country must seem even more offensive to our foreign neighbors.

And what about global warming and other environmental threats to this planet that we all share? Don’t environmental crises provide us with the ultimate reason to pray for and seek to bless the entire world? We’re all in the same boat when it comes to things like the ozone layer, clean air, safe water, and healthy, sustainable ecosystems. God made the whole darn thing. Do we honestly think that God only wants to bless some of it?

Finally, there is a religious reason we Americans should do away with our favorite phrase with which to end speeches. It’s bad theology. It’s utterly unbiblical. All blessing in the scriptures was bestowed so that the blessed could become a blessing to others. Israel forgot this deep truth from time to time and paid dearly for her forgetfulness. Witness her exiles in Babylon and Persia, not to mention her various occupations at the hands of other foreigners. Biblical blessing is never something to selfishly hoard, nor boast about. It is, instead, a huge responsibility and call to serve one’s fellow humans, especially those outside your borders. The whole trajectory of biblical, salvation history is outward moving. What began as apparent blessing for Israel was always intended to spread to other nations. Everyone in the Old and New Testaments who tried to restrict God’s blessing to their own certain group, tribe, or nation ultimately had to come to terms with God’s love for all people. The big argument in the gospels was whether or not Jesus’ grace was available to Gentiles as well as Jews. Read Peter’s vision on the rooftop in Acts 10. Pay particular attention to his conclusion in verse 34 when he says, “I now realize how true it is that God truly shows no partiality, but accepts people from every nation who revere him and do what is right.” I am completely convinced that if there is a Church that endures and thrives into the future, it will be loyal to God first, the world second, and its own country(ies) third.

So what, then, should our well-intentioned politicians say to end their speeches? Here are a few suggestions:

May God help America live up to her ideals
May all those individuals and nations who are blessed BE a blessing to others
God bless those nations and peoples who need it most
May America BE a blessing
God bless the world