As we prepare to celebrate 250 years as a nation with cookouts and fireworks, I keep being reminded of why we, as a nation, are different.We are different because those who rebelled against Great Britain imagined something different—something better, in their minds, for their children, grandchildren, and generations yet to come.
We know the stories. We each have our own versions of telling our nation's history. And I have to believe that much like the stories of our faith that too often leave out the voices of women, the undereducated, and others on the margins, there were voices in those rooms whose names were never recorded. Voices that shaped conversations even if history forgot to write them down.
There is much to celebrate about our country. For me, it begins with the freedom to worship.
I am a lifelong, devoted Baptist. Yet over the course of my life, I have worshipped in Methodist, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Jewish, and Spiritualist communities. Each one taught me something. Even the Baptist churches I have served have expressed faith in beautifully different ways.
And I am so glad—deeply grateful—that those opportunities existed for me.
Because I take freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of speech very seriously.
I am grateful that no government tells our church what we must preach, whom we must baptize, or how we must understand Scripture. Those freedoms are connected more deeply than we often realize.
As Baptists, this freedom is woven into our story. Our spiritual ancestors were among the strongest voices arguing that faith should never be coerced by the government. They fought not only for the freedom of Baptists, but for the freedom of every person's conscience—even those with whom they profoundly disagreed. They understood that faith loses something when it is compelled, and that religious liberty protects both the church and the conscience.
I often wonder how we moved from embracing the reality that people hold different beliefs to discounting those whose beliefs differ from our own. How did we move away from seeing the beauty of Christ's Body expressed through different traditions to a place where certainty has become a weapon and disagreement is treated as failure?
I, for one, am grateful that our nation did not choose one church or one denomination to represent everyone. Not only would that have diminished the rich diversity of Christian witness, but it would have fallen short of the ideals that have shaped our nation from the beginning.So, this year, as I turn 50 and our country marks 250 years, I find myself celebrating more than fireworks and freedom.
I celebrate that I am free to worship in the way that is most faithful to my understanding of God.
I celebrate that my faith is still growing, that my understanding of God continues to expand, and that I live in a place where no government official, political movement, or cultural influencer gets to dictate what faithful discipleship must look like.
I wonder if we've begun to mistake having influence for being faithful. I wonder whether the church's greatest strength has never been its proximity to power, but its willingness to love, serve, and speak truth whether it held power or not.
And I wonder if, 250 years from now, these same debates will still be happening.
I pray not.
Because I pray that instead of worrying whether children are hearing stories about Jesus in their third-grade classrooms, we will be known as churches that are living the stories of Jesus in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our communities.
After all, the most compelling testimony has never been a lesson required by the state. It has always been a people transformed by the love of Christ.
Peace,
Pastor Carrie
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