The original nation under the Articles of Confederation wouldn't hold together and so for many the revolution was betrayed by the creation of the Constitution and federalism. Some are aware of this to be sure but the masses of flag wavers are not.
The Civil War was effectively a referendum on the unsolved problems associated with this and the remaining tensions. Slavery itself was at odds with the claims of the Declaration and aspects of the Constitution - and certainly the Enlightenment idealism upon which they were based. The nation that emerged after 1865 was a different one. Slavery was eliminated and the federal government was empowered as never before and there was determined push to consolidate power across the continent - an impetus that would by century's end push the US into hemispheric and global expansion. The US had already turned into a continental empire and was becoming a global one. It's economic might, the new industrial age, the world wars, and new types of communication and weapons meant the old US Constitutional system was becoming obsolete and unworkable and yet because it was given this idolatrous patina and supposedly sacred character it could not be set aside. So instead it was used selectively through a process of manipulation.
And after 9/11, the US changed again and began to openly deconstruct the order established in the Bill of Rights. The Constitution was not only long dead, it has been dug up, kicked, and re-buried on several occasions. Just what are people celebrating on July 4th and what does it have to do with those who follow the New Testament?
For the persecuted Church living in the Middle Ages, the days of coronation or the holy days of the Roman Church were no occasions for holiday. These things had nothing to do with them just as earlier Christians cared not for the Roman holidays and festivities associated with them.
Living in the United States we may have the day off work. Fine, spend it with your family but don't celebrate sin. Don't be bitter toward the pagans around you revelling in empty notions and idolatrous fantasy - or glorying in wars they certainly do not understand. The only concern is with the Christians who celebrate the day and celebrate its sin and do so thinking they do God service, thinking this Empire is somehow favoured by God and that God smiles on its centuries of slaughter, theft, and abomination. And even worse they bring it all into the Church and sing hymns to the nation and so forth. This must be rejected and as such I usually end up staying away during the Sunday connected with July 4th weekend. It's either that or sit in protest while the songs are sung. But worse, now with the advent of screens it's not uncommon for congregations to be shown short films and deceitful montages glorifying the nation, it's Caesars, and the killers in its employ.
The flag is a rag that would be better served scrubbing filth off a table or a toilet but we don't need to engage in dramatic protests. We just follow the Scriptures, quietly going about or business ready to bear witness if called upon. Our deliberate non-celebration also bears witness as to who we are.
For my part, as I have stated more than once, I am (one could say) an American of the Americans. My people were on the Mayflower and in colonial Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia. They fought in all the colonial wars (north and south), the Revolution, and on both sides of the Civil War. I have an ancestor that was part of the Gold Rush in California, there were settlers who moved into the Ozarks just a couple of years after the Louisiana Purchase. My great-great grandfather was a cowboy and died on a cattle drive. I also have ancestors who came later - Germans from Russia who didn't want to fight in the Tsar's army against the Ottomans. There are Anglicans, Puritans, Separatists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, Anabaptists, Pentecostals, German Reformed, and Lutherans in my heritage.
I count it all but dung that I may win Christ. Some were sincere, some were not. Many were misled and wrong. They made the best of what they had and tried to discern the times in which they lived. I don't judge them but I'm not going to slavishly follow them or feel bound to retain their errors. I also had Loyalists in my family that fled to Canada and yet their descendants returned to America in the 1850's, and within another generation were on the Pacific Coast. Many believed in America, others it would seem were sceptical. Many were looking for a better life and trying to escape something. I understand that and for a time America was a kind of promised land for such people.
And yet there's another lesson to be learned and it's one I've often thought of when reflecting on a group like the Quakers or especially when visiting places like Lititz, Pennsylvania or Gnadenhutten, Ohio. The Moravians had a history of suffering and persecution. This was part of their identity and it shaped their character. Colonial America had its troubles too but after the French and Indian War and the Revolution, life settled down for these people. The struggle ended and when visiting these small town museums you can see that people carried on in the 19th century, built up their towns and businesses and the cares associated with such things consumed them - and shaped the character of subsequent generations. I don't say this to condemn these people as if they were doing something terrible. Not at all but there's a lesson to be learned.
Dare I say it - in this present evil age, far from being in a position of power and safety, the Church needs to be in a state of adversity and antithesis. Only then is its identity retained and only then does its character emerge. Only when it is counter-cultural is it healthy and that would be just as true in the supposedly Christian times, in what some misguided analysts call the 'positive world'. Otherwise, the spiritual plight of Laodicea awaits and yet there are even worse paths such as we're seeing. The Magisterial Reformation's middle class ideal is an error - and a perilous one that leads to compromise.
The Church today is like the Northern Kingdom worshipping at idolatrous shrines, doing what is right in its own eyes, forging false and unfaithful alliances, and flirting with Baal worship. Exile may not be pleasant but it's actually what is best for us.
We pray for our rulers not that they would create a Christian society which will only be heretical and spread confusion - as if the unregenerate can embrace God's law or teach it in a state school! The state is not part of the Kingdom and has no business handling the Sacred Covenant Writings. We should be outraged that the state would dare to claim this prerogative.
We pray that they would restrain evil and leave us alone. We pray for the peace of the Babylon in which we live - not because it's good or worthy but because the destruction of societies is a horrific thing and the chaos of social collapse and war will bring suffering to the Church and hinder its mission and purpose.
The Church today is pouring all its energy into the breaking up of this society and they will bring fire down upon themselves. In some respects Reagan, Bush, and especially Trump are the beginning of this judgment. The very thing they count as a blessing is in fact a sign that God has turned His back on them. Consciences are seared and all wisdom and discernment seem to have departed.
So wave your flags you lost people. Love it or leave it - I guess you had better love it since it's the only kingdom you'll ever have. You are to be pitied for someday you will understand the vanity of your hopes and you will learn that the great edifice of your American Zion is (spiritually speaking) a Potemkin Village built on a foundation of sand. The storms are coming and the people of God will also suffer. Because of the myriad hirelings and false shepherds the waves and winds will also tear the Church to shreds. She will of course survive but in the aftermath of the storm, it's true remnant-nature will be manifest and the idol of America will be no more.