Cheeseburgers are not my favorite food. I certainly don’t dislike them, but every time I eat one, I feel like I need to take a nap for about eight days. Still, every July 4th, I crave a homemade, char-grilled cheeseburger. I suppose it’s a nostalgic craving, tied to memories of my childhood—when my Grandpa Larry would fire up the grill and make burgers, hot dogs, and pork steaks for Independence Day. Later, we’d all gather in my Great Grandma Grace’s driveway as my cousin Shannon and Uncle Matt put on an elaborate display of tent-bought fireworks. The night always ended with us waving sparklers and singing about the rockets’ red glare.

July 4th is a time when many of us reflect on our country—the freedoms we enjoy and the history that brought us here. Lately, there’s been renewed debate about the theological identity of the United States. Texas recently passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom. Louisiana has already implemented a similar law, and legislators in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Utah are considering the same. Supporters often justify these laws by claiming that America is a “Christian nation” and should proudly display its Christian heritage.

As a Baptist pastor, people sometimes assume I must celebrate these decisions. But I do not. In fact, they deeply concern me. And I understand that some of you may disagree with me—and that’s okay. One of the many blessings we celebrate on Independence Day is the freedom of conscience, the ability to disagree with one another and still share a cheeseburger at the cookout.

My concern with these laws is not in spite of being a Baptist pastor—it’s because I am one. Being Baptist means I firmly support the separation of church and state. Historically, Baptists were among the loudest advocates for religious freedom in the American colonies. They believed that separating church and state was essential to protecting that freedom for all people.

Unfortunately, the phrase “separation of church and state” has become something of a boogeyman in some circles. It’s often misrepresented as an attempt to erase God from public life. But that’s not what it means at all. The separation of church and state means the government cannot tell churches what to do, and churches should not exercise undue influence over the government. The phrase itself comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802 to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut. He wrote:

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

So, is America a Christian nation? No—not in the way many people use that phrase. Yes, many of our laws and values were inspired by Judeo-Christian ideas. But the Founding Fathers were clear: no faith should be elevated to the level of a state religion. They worked hard to ensure that religious perspectives did not dominate one another or the government. And we often forget how religiously diverse 18th-century America already was.

I become deeply uncomfortable when it feels like government and religious institutions are being fused together. When that happens, religion ceases to be a transforming force—it becomes just one voice among many clamoring for political power. As the late Baptist preacher Tony Campolo once said, “Mixing together politics and religion is like mixing manure and ice cream. The manure is going to be just fine, but you’re going to mess up the ice cream!”

So, this Fourth of July, I can proudly and sincerely pray, “God bless America.” I pray that God would guide our citizens into deeper waters of goodness and grace. But I do not believe that the path forward will come through forced legislation, compulsory morality, or the display of religious symbols in government buildings. Instead, I believe it will come the way Scripture describes: through hearts changed by deep relationships with Jesus (Acts 2:42–47), through the neighborly ethic of justice and advocacy (Isaiah 1:17), and through compassionate service to “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31–46).

This Fourth of July, I’ll chow down on a cheeseburger—and the prayer of my heart will be the words of the hymn This Is My Song (Hymn 697 in our Celebrating Grace hymnals):

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;

but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

O hear my song, Thou God of all the nations,

a song of peace for their land and for mine.