While singing on a cruise ship around New York Harbor, American Gospel songwriter Neil Enloe saw the Statue of Liberty, and wondered why there wasn’t a song that celebrated the Kingdom of God as the National Anthem celebrated the American Flag.
He thought to himself, There must be a symbol of freedom in Christ as a citizen of a greater country, the Kingdom of God, and the idea of the song was born. About 1974 he penned “The Cross is My Statue of Liberty.”
Neil sang for 39 years with The Couriers, and here is their final concert on December 29, 2013. (Ivan Parker does a pretty good cover here.)
The focal point of the song is this:
“As the statue liberates the citizen, so the cross liberates the soul.”
It grieves my heart to see so many Americans turning against their own country. Our children are even being taught in school that we are not a great nation, we are not helping other countries, but rather we have always been some kind of “invader” and an antagonist to other countries. They are being taught there is really no such thing as true freedom. They are taught that capitalism- the lifeblood of freedom- is bad.
Our children are being lied to in just about every state educational institution.
We must not let our children forget what Freedom costs, how men and women have died in service to our country in the military, in law enforcement, in all kinds of personal sacrifices. We must teach them what it really looks and feels like to live in a country where all have the same opportunities, and how the American Dream is possible with a lot of work and responsibility and “stick-to-it-tiveness.” The American Way of Life is better than anywhere on the planet.
Then we must show them how it looks to live in a country where no one is above suspicion, religion is considered a threat to the state, and anyone who speaks against the government is imprisoned or worse. There is no personal choice of where to go to school, what job you can have, or where you are allowed to travel.
And yet there is one life that is better, because it adds to our earthly freedom: The Freedom found at the foot of the Cross.
True Freedom. Soul Freedom.
As earthly freedom is not without responsibility but has benefits and rewards, so is Freedom in Christ, but in Him we have what no earthly leader can give us: Forgiveness of our wrongs and the eternal redemption of our souls and complete reconciliation with God and the presence of His Spirit in our life to lead us, guide us, teach us, and nurture us.
As the song says, “I am proud to be called an American, to be part of the brave and the free; I will honor our flag and our trust in God, and the statue of liberty.”
Then, “I’m so glad to be called a Christian, to be named with the ransomed and whole; as the statue liberates the citizen, so the cross liberates the soul.”
Earthly freedom may end, but freedom in Christ and the Kingdom of God will last forever.
Maranatha.
THE RIGHT RENDITION 