I stopped by Home Depot a couple of days ago to buy a couple of hanging flower pots. The two I chose are planted with red, white, and blue flowers for Independence Day. They’re actually more like red, white, and purple so I think we can leave them up past the 4th. Or is that uncouth?

These flower pots and their patriotic flowers got me thinking about Independence Day coming up on Wednesday. The flowers weren’t my first reminder. We live near Lake Ellyn and the village of Glen Ellyn has been sprucing up the park around the lake to get ready for the fireworks. Another reminder were the photos I was looking at this week from last summer when Maggie and I visited a good friend outside of London. It so happened that we were there over the 4th, so Kate and her family decided to throw us an American-style Independence Day party. Actually, it was going to be a July 3rd party to commemorate the last day of British rule, but the neighbors couldn’t make it so it got pushed back a day. Sure enough, we had hamburgers on the grill, Maggie made deviled eggs, and we ate in the back yard (or, garden as the British say) with some of the nicest people you’d ever want to share a July 4th picnic with. Someone even brought fireworks. Two things to notice about this photo. First, apparently the British have much bigger grills then we do. That thing was huge! Second, notice my attempt at international diplomacy by wearing my English soccer jersey. It was the least I could do.

It was kind of strange celebrating our Independence from Great Britain while in England. Fun, but a bit strange.

This year I’ve been thinking some about how a Jesus-follower celebrates national holidays like Independence Day. I love the traditions that go along with the holiday: the food, hanging with friends and family, parades, and fireworks. Who wouldn’t love it? But I’m also thankful for the reason we celebrate this day: our freedom. It takes only a cursory glance of news headlines from around the world to prove what an absolutely wonderful reality our freedom is.

So here is the question I’ve been wondering about: Does a Christian celebrate our national holidays differently than someone who is not a Christian? I guess in once sense the answer is no. We enjoy the traditions of the holiday just like anyone else would. But in another sense I think as Jesus-followers we probably do celebrate somewhat differently. After all, while I am incredibly grateful for our country, my ultimate allegiance is not to the USA but to the Kingdom of God. As the apostle Paul put it in his letter to the church in Philippi,

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (3:20-21)

Paul is reminding the church that they have been adopted into the family of God and thus their citizenship is no longer constrained to a country or a king. Rather, as citizens of heaven, the Jesus-follower swears allegiance to only one King, one Ruler, one Lord. This was a dangerous and subversive message back in the day. It’s probably still so today.

So this July 4th I will be celebrating with friends, enjoying fireworks, and potentially eating one-too-many bratwursts. But I will also be thinking about where my real citizenship and allegiance lies. I will be thankful for the country I was born into. But I will also be thankful for the Kingdom of God I’ve been adopted into. And while I will celebrate the freedom we know as Americans, I will also be praying, as Jesus taught his disciples, that the Kingdom of God will come… on earth as it is in heaven.