Has God ever “blessed” anyone or any nation at the expense of another?
I suppose that depends on what you consider a “blessing” and an “expense”.
yes. the nation of Israel is a really good example.
If you haven’t already, check out the book Myth of a Christian Nation by Dr. Gregory Boyd. Great read, and addresses the topic of this post very nicely.
Jacob? Sarah? According to Romans 9, God seems to take delight in blessing according to His own pleasure, or promise, and not on what the natural order would decree. Sometimes when one is blessed it must be at the expense of the other. E.g., “the older will serve the younger.”
Do I think this means that America is in some way a nation set apart for God’s special blessing, as opposed to other nations? Not at all.
gosh, we’ve talked about this alot recently. people always correlate God’s “blessing” with the fact that America has wealth and lots of stuff? so…wealth is the sign of God’s blessing…right…(sarcasm).
Since everyone seems to have roughly the same opinion on this, my next question would be:
Has God “blessed” America?
and
If so, why, in church, are we taught that America is a “blessed nation” and because of that we have the responsibility to “bless” other nations?
I saw a great bumper sticker yesterday. It said “God Bless Everyone…no exceptions”
Did God bless David at the expense of Goliath?
At first glance, I believe America is a blessed nation in that we have the freedom to assemble without fear of our law enforcement plowing down the doors of our church buildings and arresting or beating us while we are lifting our hands in worship to Jesus; we have a superfluous financial abundance that enables us to fulfill every facet of ministry that Christ’s love calls us to. However, I believe that we have taken advantage of that which the Lord has entrusted to us. We pretend that freedom is free, that to give money is to love, that persecution is a curse. In countries like China the underground church prays that American brothers and sisters will experience the “blessing” of persecution that our complacency will be shattered, that we will learn to stand in the gap for others, and that we may be able to understand, just a little bit better, Jesus’ unwavering love. Our problem is that we are so “blessed” that we have no idea what it means to be blessed. Our responsibility is to get down on our hands and knees and wash feet. Our responsibility is to love, and to love (in it’s every form) is the paramount form of blessing that our world possesses.
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