False Horizons with Daniel J. Vaughan

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

Fixing our hope upon the grace brought by the Lord Jesus - this is to be the focus of all Christians: bringing glory and honor to Him through our service as good stewards, by His strength (1 Peter 4:10-11). The mission of False Horizons is to remind God’s faithful to continually place our focus upon the Lord and His work, looking past the false horizons of our current sojourn. This blog will focus on the examination of Scripture and the Word’s practical application in the lives of those who place their trust in He who was made to be sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). May the Lord God aid this endeavor towards the sanctification of His Church.

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"Self-Determination: The Will of Nations" (with 2020 Addendum) - Daniel J. Vaughan

I recently returned from an eighteen day trip to the country of Japan. Traveling with my parents, we witnessed and experienced many of the best things the nation had to offer; stepping into a different world would be an accurate description. A degree of fascination with Japanese culture had been intense on my part from a young age, and visiting six major cities along the island of Honshu was just enough to gain some small amount of insight into the culture.

Throughout our stay my parents and I were obliged by locals to embody the mindset of “honored guests”, something which the natives insist upon, being a culture founded on tradition, respect, and honor. As honored guests we in turn took it upon ourselves to repay our hosts with the same level of respect by observing their traditions and customs with humility, grace, and gratitude.

We may have had different upbringings, beliefs, and traditions, but as visitors we understood that this was not our culture. It was not our country. It was not our nation. From a secular perspective, as foreigners we were not there to change the way things were. We were there to passively experience something different. The Japanese respectfully demanded this of us, and we understandably and kindly obliged. 

Rarely, if ever, have I heard an individual in mainstream media or day-to-day interactions discuss how the country of Japan (or any other country for that matter) needs to conform to the ways and traditions of the country of the United States of America. Yet day in and day out, citizens of the United States are bombarded with messages of how our nation needs to conform to the ways and traditions of other people and their cultural and national values.

To this I say,“No thank you. We are America, and America we will stay.”

The foundation of a nation is not simply the appearance of the individuals who comprise it (although it is foolish to deny the human reality of in-group preference), but also the cultural values which bind those individuals together, allowing them to efficiently and cohesively strive onward towards the continued success of their homeland. Diversity is not an inherent strength; in fact it is more often than not a detriment to the success of a culture. However, a shared mindset and unified cultural values are an inherent strength. This is how America as a nation grew from a near insignificant colonial outpost in a new world to the most dominant world power since the height of the Roman Empire.

The Japanese understood this when Emperor Meiji proclaimed the “Charter Oath in Five Articles” in 1868 when Japan was opened to the rest of the world. This charter was the guideline for building a new Japan in an increasingly westernized world; an effort to effectively engage in the political, cultural and social changes which were being thrust on Japan after nearly 200 years of complete isolation. At the core of this charter was the goal to preserve the culture of Japan as was desired by the people of the nation, while also joining the new and rapidly industrializing world. Japan and it’s people continue to hold this goal at the forefront of their hearts and minds while many Americans and Europeans have either forgotten the value of preserving your own culture, or are actively attempting to undermine and destroy it.

National sovereignty and the right of the Nation, not the State, to have self-determination, will continue to exist as long as there are authentic, legitimate, and loyal citizens alive to defend it. Anyone who wants to be a part of any nation must come in legally, prove their worth, be naturalized, and integrate into that nation’s way of life.

My parents and I enjoyed our time in Japan very much and appreciated the welcoming we were given. We came in legally, proved our worth (spending money on tourism), spoke Japanese as best we could and did nothing to disrupt or alter the nation’s way or life. As citizens of our nation, the United States of America, we demand the same courtesy.

Nations must exist. This is the will of God:

”Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all nations of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.” - Revelation 1:7

May God bless every sovereign nation with the right to self-determination.

Addendum (January 2020):

Since coming to a fuller understanding of the sovereignty of the LORD, I have come to embrace a more eternal (biblical) perspective on the main point raised in this original article and feel it necessary to include this addendum. The point in question being that although every nation truly has the right to self-determination, the individual believer does not have the right to reject the command of The Great Commission set forth by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:16-20, even if that means introducing spiritual change to a nation.

In this commission, the Lord instructs all believers to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you” by boldly and faithfully proclaiming His saving work on the cross. In any individual’s life, this mission is the greatest calling which can be undertaken, bringing glory to God through the faithful preaching of the Word so that those who hear may be quickened to repentance and receive a saving faith by believing on the Lord Jesus.

It is true that I remain a steadfast supporter of national sovereignty and individual liberty. It is also undeniable, unless skewed by political partisanship or flagrant ignorance, that the self-determination of my country, the United States of America (as well as the nations of Europe) is being viciously undermined by the political left, at the urging of the economic and social elite. This is accomplished mainly through forced migration of largely non-European and non-Christian immigrants, the support for unending and destructive global conflict, along with the acceleration of increasingly insurmountable economic debt through the devaluation and manipulation of currency.

However, I have grown to understand that a believer’s focus and goals should not be on the wickedness of the world, but instead on what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8-9); namely what is eternal – the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Believers understand that the authority of the world has been temporarily been given over Satan (Ephesians 2:2), but while we are presently confined to this realm and our bodies of sinful flesh, we rejoice in trials because they increase endurance, building character which leads to hope in the promises of God and what is to come (Romans 5:1-10; 1 Peter 1:3-9). Though this reality does not to discount a believer’s obligation to bring to light and rebuke wickedness (Ephesians 5:11).

In light of this, when faced with the choice to either passively observe/participate in the various aspects of any nation which are in direct opposition to the message of the Gospel, or to actively profess the truth of the gospel, a believer should always choose the latter. This is regardless of whether or not it undermines the self-determination of a nation and its people or not; regardless of laughter, ridicule, reviling, or even violence. Just as Christ took up His cross as a suffering servant out of love for us, paying the price for the sins of all who would believe, we should take up our own cross for Him by sacrificing worldly ideals and affections to faithfully proclaim His name to all the nations (Matthew 16:24).

In conclusion, the fond memories of my trip to Japan have not changed. My thankfulness to its steadfast people for their display of honor and respect to me and my family, along with my appreciation for their unique and fascinating culture has only increased with time. It is also curious that these beneficial aspects of Japan’s culture have likely played a significant role in making it historically one of the most difficult cultures to evangelize to.

Therefore, if I could do it all again, in many instances I would have instead chosen to be a more faithful servant of my Lord by boldly proclaiming His Word, with the hope of creating an avenue for the Holy Spirit to bring just one more soul into the fold of eternal salvation (Luke 15:10).

I hope all Bible–believing followers of Christ who read this will choose to do the same in their various travels.