Faith & the Flag

The flag in front of our home.

In the last week, I have driven by a number of churches of all denominations that have their front lawn lined with American flags.  Now, I love Ol' Glory.  Above is a picture of the small one in our front flower bed.  I enjoy a patriotic celebration as much as the next guy.  During the first Gulf War, I wore a homemade Desert Storm jacket that my mother decorated with flags, stars and military symbols.  I get a little teary during a flyover at a football game, and some of my best friends have served in the military.  Oh, and I still get choked up when Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless the USA" in the Stone Mountain Laser Show.  I mean, what red-blooded American doesn't?  I am so grateful to live in a country that has afforded me the opportunities and freedoms I've enjoyed throughout my entire life.  I do not take lightly the price of that freedom and those opportunities.  I am thankful of the men and women who have fallen, served and continue to serve.

Still...I can't help but wonder what kind of message we are sending when the Church joins arms with patriotism.  The religious leaders of Jesus' day wanted faith to be nationally focused.  It was for Israel.  Jesus made a new way.  It was for Non-Jews, too.  The Apostle's struggled in the Early Church with this concept, but God gave Peter and Paul a vision to reach the Gentiles.  Jesus commanded His Disciples to "make disciples of all nations" and told them they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

This church thing has always been about 'all nations.'  The Church is a global movement, not a national icon.  My faith does not bid me to raise the flag of my country but to raise the flag of my surrender to my Redeemer.  When we link faith to patriotism we run the risk of confusing the message.  Is this church only for Americans?  That's critical in the community in which I serve, which has people from all over the world.  What if I do not align myself as American...am I welcome in a church lined with flags?  Does being an American make you a better or more superior Christian?  One can make an argument that being American hinders our ability to surrender our lives to Jesus because we have so much, so many blessings to surrender.  When we place the flag beside the cross, do we endorse all they both stand for?  We fully endorse the work of the cross and all it means.  Are we ready to say that we stand for all the flag has stood for and stands for?  Certainly not.  The flag and our country are like us, limited and fallible.  America does things we're proud of, and America does things we're ashamed of.

This is critical for Christ followers.  We are Disciples first.  I believe Jesus meant what He said in Matthew 16:24, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."  Deny everything, pick up a cross and follow Jesus.  Deny all that makes us ourselves to embrace a new self.  God didn't create us as Americans -- God created us in God's image.  All of us.  Every tribe, every nation, all peoples on earth.  We are about helping all nations experience the restoration of that image.  When we stand before God, our allegiance to Jesus, not our allegiance to the flag, will be the only thing of any importance.  

Celebrate this July 4th.  Celebrate the country in which we live. We have the best justice system, the most freedom, and the greatest country that I believe has ever existed.  America has done more for goodwill in the world than any other nation in history.  We have become freedom fighters not only for our people but for people all across the globe.  I am so proud to have been born here and to live here, but let us not forget that our nationality is of secondary importance to the one in whom we were born again and offers us life.  It is this life that the world needs from Christ's Church.  Let us offer this life, for it alone is the only hope salvation for the world.