As fireworks burst and flags unfurl across the nation, it is important to pause and ponder what it is we truly celebrate.

Around the globe, the calendar’s fourth day of July comes and goes. But only here, in these United States, is it set apart—sanctified even—as Independence Day. Not merely a date, but a declaration. Not just a long weekend, but a legacy forged in the fires of revolution.

America’s founding struggle was not only a reaction to monarchy but a moral rejection of tyranny. "No taxation without representation" was one of many sacred refrains echoing through the streets of Boston and the halls of Virginia. Some who lifted their voices were men of renown—Franklin, Jefferson, Adams. Others, whose names history has hidden in its footnotes and forgotten in its pages, nonetheless stood as living witnesses to a hope not yet fully born.

In those days, it was not uncommon for Christians to gather and lift their voices with hymns that carried holy fire and revolutionary fervor. “Rise up, O men of God! His Kingdom tarries long. Bring in the day of brotherhood, and end the night of wrong.” These were not just songs—they were summons. Echoes of Zion.

With sacred dispatch and dignified resolve, they also sang:

“O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,

To tell to all the world that God is Light.

Publish glad tidings—tidings of peace,

Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.”

This is not a time for silence.

Not when justice groans in the streets.

Not when truth is trafficked for comfort.

Not when freedom, as Paine so aptly warned, is taken for granted and thus easily lost.

“What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us—that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

—Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, 1776

Even now, in our towns and cities, in every hamlet, hollow, village, and vaunted high rise, let us remember that the cry for freedom is both ancient and immediate. It is a call that resounds through Scripture, flows through spirituals, marches through movements, and still demands a response from the faithful today.

We cannot merely wave flags and light fireworks without also lighting the fire within.

We must demand justice!

We must protect truth!

We must embody peace!

We must pursue righteousness!

As Frederick Douglass declared, not from a place of bitterness, but of boldness:

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning... Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.”

So, on this Independence Day, let us not celebrate as those content with fireworks and fanfare alone. Let us celebrate as those baptized in both freedom and fire. As those called not just to enjoy liberty, but to guard it, preach it, and live it.

Let us not only remember what was won, but recommit to what must still be done. Amen.

—Pastor Johnny N. Golden, Sr.; New Unity Baptist Church

Equipping & Empowering: Mobilizing God’s People for Kingdom Excellence”