The word patriot can mean lots of things, from somebody who wants to lift up the highest ideals of the community to someone who justifies anything their government does. Because the term is so vague I’ve decided to reword my grievance from “being uneasy with patriotic expressions in the church” to saying “nationalist loyalties have no place in church”. That means no national anthems, no pledges, no 4th of July extravaganzas and no special honor paid to veterans.
I was writing a long treatise on patriotism in the church and my wife told me that no one wants to read a wordy blog, so I’ll give you a Reader’s Digest version of my objections. Obviously, there will be a lot of things I don’t address, so feel free to comment.
- God has no nation. He loves all people in all places. He speaks all languages and designed every skin color. He is no more a Democrat than He is a Communist. When we spend time emphasizing the things that give a separate identity from the rest of humanity, I believe we annoy God. At best he is indifferent.
- When we come together as a church, we are usually focusing on the very things that give us common cause with all humanity, like sinfulness and the need for redemption and worship of the one true Creator. Celebrating our national heritage just doesn’t fit. It’s like going to a football prep rally right before playing your biggest rival and taking time in the middle of the rally to discuss your and your rival school’s common heritage.
- If God’s kingdom is our primary loyalty, then we must look on all other authorities with suspicion and discernment, as if at any moment they would have us betray our primary loyalty. As Jesus said, you can’t serve two masters.
- The Bible paints a picture of a world in which those people who appear to be closest to God are sometimes the farthest away, and those who appear far away are sometimes the very people God is about to redeem. This means my worst spiritual enemy may be a member of my church and my most powerful spiritual ally may be a North Korean. Patriotism clouds this truth.
- How would you judge a Roman church from 400 AD whose building had a crest of Caesar prominently featured on its wall? Wouldn’t that seem a little out of place or perhaps even sacrilegious? People five hundred years from now will feel no different about us when they find national anthems in our hymn books.
- In the same vein, future believers will be very interested on what we had to say about the Bible and living out our faith in the 21st Century, but they will have no interest in how much we loved our country, especially if it isn’t their country. Can we appreciate how vain our nationalistic sentiments will look to future generations? Our faith will be the only part of us that will transcend our current place and time.
I’ll finish this with a personal story that brought this issue home to me a very vivid way. When I was in high school I went on a mission trip to Arizona to build a church on an Indian reservation. About five or six years later I was driving through Arizona and I decided to try and find the church. This was no small task since Indian reservations don’t have well marked roads, but with the help of a local convenience store I found my way back to the small building.
No one was there and the front door was unlocked so I decided to make myself at home (hey, I helped build the thing). The place was much the same except for one major item: a large US flag was draped across the wall just behind the pulpit. At that moment I felt a pit in my stomach. Why did they hang that flag so prominently? It dominated the whole room. What did this have to do with their Christian faith? They weren’t even on US soil, technically.
To this day I have no idea what local politics drove the church to place such a bold image, but it significantly lowered my opinion of them. That flag had no place in that church. What if a Navajo who hated the white man invasion (for good reason) had decided to visit that church in a moment of desperate personal struggle? Would we insist that he first embrace English occupation and then he can become a Christian? No, Christ is for the establishment and for the rebel. And if I feel the flag is inappropriate for the Navajo church, then I have to feel the same about my church.
If you feel differently, please comment below.
-Michael
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10 comments:
Good insights. I have to say that I agree and think that all believers need to get out of the US to remind us that God is not locked within our borders. As a matter of fact, we live in a place where we can exist without needing God (certainly not relying on him)... I think we lose sight of Christ as an amazing gift and take His sacrifice for granted. So many in the world cannot - they've risked their lives, families, jobs, etc for the joy of that relationship.
Val Blaisdell
Well, unfortunately I have to say that I basically agree with your points now that you have defined what you mean by patriotism. Rats! (Although I think honoring veterans in church is a good idea. Call it just a communal display of civic pride. And a case could be made for honoring men who fought/died in armed conflicts so that we can continue living the good life and worshipping what and who we choose.) Oh, and War Eagle.
Jeremy Holloman
Good reading on this would be "A Peculiar People" by Rodney Clapp and "Resident Aliens" by Willimon and Hauerwas. These books set forth a great vision for the Church as a unique people, a tribe with a message. We tend to think of being Christian in terms of personal benefit and salvation. But, we also are joining a people with allegiances that challenge everything (Jesus is Lord! Caesar is not!).
-Jeff Reams
I knew the "no honoring veterans" comment was the most controversial. Even I thought twice before including it, but why do war veterans enjoy special honor above and beyond policemen and firefighters? And they certainly don't deserve special honor above missionaries and disciplers. So we should ask ourselves who we spend more time recognizing. Also, any easy way to sum up this entire to discussion is to ask ourselves if a person with known and outspoken anti-American sentiments would be allowed to join our church.
-Michael Whitlark
I'm a bit torn on this issue. Recognizing the nation in which we worship is inevitable - in any country there will be a degree of national identity that the worshiper will bring with them to church. Should they not feel free to be thankful for the nation in which they live? That said, essentially you are right - national pride (we should boast only in Christ) and worship of God should never be blended. Governments (even theocracies) are institutions led by people to govern people, and thus are flawed to varying degrees. It is foolish to worship that. We should worship with believers of all nations, as you said. That's one of the reasons why I dislike the exhortation, "God Bless America," when we have no exclusive rights to His blessings. "God Bless the Nations" (all peoples) is much more biblically sound and Spirit-guided petition.
-Leibowitz
That's it. From now on, I am paying Scott to write my posts on Michael's entries.
-J. Holloman
Good words Scott. One of the weaknesses of my point is that I seem to be asking us as church members to behave one way on Sunday and then be a flag waving American the other 6 days of the week if you want. Whatever side we come down on needs to be a 7/24 commitment, and if we feel it appropriate to honor our government at any time, then it should be appropriate to honor our government when we gather as the church.
michael
the same arguments above remind me of another question. just a little reversed. what place does God have in government? based on all of the above, he really has none. as vehemently that one might argue there is no place for a flag in church, others will argue that there is no place for a Bible, or the 10 commandments, or prayer in government. as much as some Christians disdain a flag in churches, so do many Americans disdain a cross or the 10 commandments in a govt building or even on govt property. we have to support the hindus, muslims, buddhists, ACLU, and people claiming to be atheists as they argue that there is no reason that God should be in any government institutions. however, the American flag rightly deserves a place in federal government buildings and literature, as the flag is a symbol of our republic and these are federal entities. as do state flags in state government buildings and literature. many Christians will argue that prayer in school is important, or that the founding fathers never meant the govt not rely on God. But, as strongly as we stand here and argue that the flag has no place in church, we should stand with our fellow Americans who are Christians, atheists, and other non-Christians and argue that God has no place in government, no place in government buildings, no place in government schools, no place on COINS, and no place on printed money, etc... some Christians will argue that the 10 commandments needs to be in federal buildings (especially judicial) as that is where the basis for our legal heritage began. this, again, appears to be just a poor arguement to get God into government. Christians argue for "prayer in schools." But, isn't this a way for Christians to force prayer and our God on others. If we are worried about our children being in school and not praying, then we have larger problems. But, we need to be careful whenever we hear the news story about the ACLU suing over a cross here or a cross there or a manger scene on public property, or even the 10 commandments. above, we argue against the flag in church. others argue about the churches association with the flag, aka, the government of the United States of America. there really is no place for God in our government. Or is there??? Read the first part of the Declaration of Independence. interesting insight as to where and from who we believe our rights are "endowed." as jeremy stated, is depends on your "definition" or your foundation. what you use as a premise. is it right for God to be in government? Thoughts???
Perhaps this sentiment goes as far back as the pilgrims. It seems to me that much of the early talk of colonization as the new Promised Land and building a Christian nation has been too easily adopted by our U.S. churches. Let’s not forget that for a couple hundred years, it was mandatory to attend the state denominational church in many of the colonies. It was oddly enough early Baptist colonists like John Leland and Roger Williams who apposed this notion of state religion. When Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, he quite possibly founded the first colony where it was legal to be a practicing atheist. It seems to me that we spend far more time trying to build a Christian nation than building the Kingdom of Heaven within this nation.
I feel the same about politics too. It is easy to feel that God has a political party. We forget that a great deal of injustice is done on both the right and the left. Our allegiance as a church is to Christ and his work. When either party apposes that, either through promoting amorality or materialism or oppressing of the suffering, we should stand in opposition to that party. As citizens, it is our duty to vote for whichever party we think will do the best, then write our congressman a lot.
R.L. Gillert
Commenting on the comments made about government, schools, money, etc. not being places for God---WHAT????? I really like to think that you aren't being serious.
However, at the risk that you might possibly be serious,I would remind you that the Scriptures tell us that there isn't any place that we can go that God isn't there. What? You mean that He is already and always has been in those places that so many would pridefully remind us that man has removed Him? "In God We Trust" is how this country got started. Surely, there isn't a single person who calls themselves a believer, who would assume any such authority or power as to believe that they would be able to remove God from anything. That would surely be the height of arrogance.
Prayer cannot be removed from the public schools as long as there are Christian teachers and students going to those schools. Most people's concept of prayer is that one stands before or in the midst of a group and voices an audible prayer. Most of the praying being done is done silently and no one would ever know it's being done.
There is a huge difference in God being in the world and the world being in the church. Jesus sends us into the world, but we are not to do as the owrld does.
I totally agree that a worship service is not a place to recognize man for his accomplishments. God is the only audience in worship and He is the One to be honored and glorified. After all, my acocmplishments mean nothing in comparison to what He has done and is doing for me.
It's my understanding that I can't go anywhere that God isn't there. Just because one thinks prayer has been removed from the schools, God's Laws can't be displayed in a public place, and His name may be removed from our Pledge and our money, that doesn't mean that God has been removed. Does one really think that we can keep a holy, almighty God from places we don't think He should be?
I have not read anything in God's Word that tells me that we are supposed to be tolerant and accepting of pagan rituals and rites!!!! I admit that I could have missed something. Read how God had His people go into places and destroy all that had nothing to do with the worship of Him. Read how Peter and John, even though they were told by the "authorities" not to go back out on the streets and preach---went out and preached anyway. Chrisitans aren't persecuted in America because they have become tolerant and accepting of othere religions. Our God is the One True God. He is all-seeing, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time. We are to love God, others, and ourselves, but that doesn't mean that we should ever come to the place where we are so tolerant that we lose sight of the fact that without Christ they will go to hell when they die.
America is in spiritual and moral decay because the 90% who say they believe in God roll over and play dead believing that the government has authority over God rather than the other way around.
I must add that I am not offended by pagan religions. I am not offended by anyone who believes diffently from me. The government is not our example for living. Other people are not our example for living. Our families are not our example for living. Jesus is our supreme example and He went to the people. He did accept people where they were but He always revealed the Father to them as well. We must accept people as they are but we must have a holy passion for the spiritual condition of their eternal soul.
Peggy Reams
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