God Shed His Grace On Thee

June 24, 2026

Leadership Notes

     As we approach the BIG holiday weekend of summer, I figured I’d break these missives into two parts.

     The place to start is with God’s Word testifying to the role of government in civic life. Three key passages come to mind:

> Romans 13:1-7

> 1 Peter 2:13-17

> Acts 5:29

These three are worth a quick look.

     I love the poem, “America,” written for July 4. Here are my favorite verses {1911 version}:

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

     Patriotism is a funny thing. It makes some uncomfortable. It’s not wrong to love your country. It’s not wrong to think that, among all the systems of government designed by sinful, fallen people {which includes us all}, America is the best thing going. Open to correction and repair? Obviously. But at its heart, a representative government democratically elected, driven by free-market capitalism is the best thing going.

     Those two go well together. A democratically elected constitutional federal republic and capitalism. We must never lose our grip on either of those. As a side note, these foundational elements of freedom and prosperity are rooted in the Scottish Enlightenment. Not bad for what was once considered the backwater of European culture.

     Sometimes it feels like our greatest challenge lies in the realm of economics. There’s a lot in Jesus’ teaching connected to that. The Bible speaks of the underlying dynamics of sin and human nature behind what drives us in the arena of money, work, and materialism.

     Here’s what I mean. After Elon Musk reached one trillion dollars in net worth, the greed and envy mongers stepped into the fray. One, a senator who once falsely claimed to be a descendent of Native Americans, said that if Musk paid his fair share, which number, I assume, was a figment of her imagination, the country could afford to pay for universal child care for all three-and four-year-olds, as well as provide children with better access to healthcare. Another deep thinker claimed that “if we decided to distribute his wealth equally among American households, your household would get $7,500.”

     Brilliant! As Margaret Thatcher once said, the only problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money. Here’s the funny thing, though. Only a stupid person would think that Elon Musk’s money would solve all domestic problems. Does the $7 trillion the U.S. government spends every year solve all of our problems? So, you either have to be stupid or driven by greed and envy to make that claim. And I don’t think any of the tax-and-spend crowd would admit to being stupid.

     Case in point. Former President Obama likes to spend other people’s money. At the same time, his net worth is in the neighborhood of $70 million. As we’ve read in Luke, Jesus has a thing or two to say about using your money to help others. My hunch is the former President probably wants to protect as much of his wealth from confiscatory tax laws as the rest of us. There’s nothing wrong with that. The commendable thing is to use some of what God has given us to be a blessing to other people. Without threats or coercion. Amen?

     I think we need to protect our free-market capitalist way of life as much as we can. I don’t think Adam Smith would disagree. It is foundational to a free and open society. There’s no other economic system I’d rather live under. I’m neither envious nor jealous of other people’s accomplishments, success, or money/material gain. It’s their business, not mine. All I know is I want to live in a place that doesn’t embrace socialism. Envy and greed are not good for one’s soul. Or for the nation’s soul.

     Next week, we’ll look at the notion that there’s nothing wrong with feeling blessed for being an American citizen.

     Until then, your Moment of Spurgeon {in a warning to his flock about Christian Socialism}:

“I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU EXCHANGE THE GOLD OF INDIVIDUAL

CHRISTIANITY FOR THE BASE METAL OF CHRISTIAN

SOCIALISM.”

With Much Love and Affection,

             Richard