There will be lots of celebrating red, white and blue this week, as there ought to be. We have so much to be grateful for and to celebrate in the United States.
But what happens when our worship and our faith become nationalized? What is the result of conflating the gospel of Jesus Christ with the American dream? How is it that, in our minds, certain forms of American foreign policy have become synonymous with the missio dei? What are we saying when we fly an American flag in our places of worship? How is it that a church can place on its reader board, “Only 2 men have died for you – Jesus and American soldiers”?
As a side note, can I plea with my brothers and sisters, please stop the reader board madness… but if you’re going to do it, at least make it grammatically correct; gender-inclusivity would help, too.
We are equating the Lord of Creation, whose redeeming act on the cross constitutes the center point of history and the hope of the world, with a U.S. Marine? With all due respect (and much gratitude) to the women and men who serve in uniform… really? What has gone wrong with our understanding of the gospel?
Many a reader just concluded I am anti-American and even unChristian by asking these questions. But therein lies the problem with some of our assumptions – why are “anti-American” and “unChristian” somehow linked in our consciousness?
First, let’s consider the American flag in our places of worship. Let me be straight up with you: if we fly an American flag in our places of worship, we must choose one of two options. We can either abide by the Flag Code (did you know there is one of those?) or we can obey the first of the Ten Commandments. The Flag Code (section 7.k) states that, “When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience.”
The first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol… You shall not bow down to them or worship them.”
So we can choose: place the flag in the position of “superior prominence” or give that position to Jesus (usually in the form of a cross). I wonder how many of our churches do not abide by the Flag Code?
But this isn’t really about where we place the flag, is it? This is about to whom we pledge our allegiance and who (or what) is the subject of our worship. Shall we explore some of Jesus’ teaching? He says in his famous Sermon on the Mount, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Mt 6:24). Jesus is speaking about where we place our hope. Jesus had earlier said in his sermon, “Pray then in this way…Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (6:9,10). Whose kingdom? Whose will? Jesus goes on in his sermon, “strive first for the kingdom of God…” 6:33). Strive first. What gets the location in our hearts of superior prominence? The kingdom of America or the kingdom of God?
Now lest you think I’m un-American because my primary and ultimate allegiance belongs to Jesus, consider what pledging allegiance to Jesus requires of me: love your neighbor as yourself, care for orphans and widows in their distress, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, do nothing from selfish ambition, bear with one another in love. It’s unclear to me how any of this could be construed as un-American.
This week, as we celebrate American independence, I hope an American flag will catch your attention and you’ll stop long enough to appreciate the gift of liberty we are afforded. And if you are a disciple of Jesus, I hope you’ll also take the moment to recall your ultimate allegiance, giving Jesus the place of superior prominence in your life.
I look forward to hearing your responses.
