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American Idolatry – The danger of putting country before God – 1.13.08 - Dennis Mullen
On your bulletin today is an especially poor photo I took this summer with my camera-phone. This picture was taken at a local church. There are three flags flying. The American flag is at the center, and is highest. On one side, a little lower, is the Tennessee flag. On the other side, at the same level as the TN flag and a bit lower than the American flag, is the Christian flag.
Now the church that flies these three flags like this is, I am sure, trying to show respect and thankfulness for America AND also for the Kingdom of God. But by flying the flags like this, what are they saying about our loyalties – to America, to the Kingdom of God? Which is the higher kingdom?
I didn’t take the other picture – that’s why it’s clear. I DID take one like it at another local church but the quality was too poor to use (even by my standards). This second photo shows the two flags on the same mast, with the American flag at the top and the Christian flag below it. That makes an even more profound statement about which Kingdom is supreme, and it’s a statement I cannot understand or agree with.
Actually, these pictures represent not only bad theology but poor flag etiquette too. I did a little study on flag etiquette this week, and I found, much to my surprise, that according to the rules set forth in the U.S. Code, the American flag isn’t always supposed to be higher than other flags. I thought it was. I found a picture at Rockefeller Center in New York that shows a line of flags from many nations, and the American flag in that line of flags is raised a little higher than every other national flag. I thought that was correct. It isn’t. The U.S. Code states clearly: When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace. (U.S. Code, Sec. 7, item g)
Now the Bible tells us: 1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. When Jesus spoke about us, he often called us The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that “our citizenship is in heaven”, and Hebrews 11 talks about the heroes of faith as people who “admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth” (v. 13) and added: 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
What I’m saying is that the Christian flag represents a nation, a Kingdom, and as such even the rules in the U.S. Code recognize that the Christian flag should never have to fly below the American flag.
Of course, that depends on how you understand the Christian flag. The U.S. Code says that many types of flags do have to fly below the American flag. State flags for example. The state of TN is always supposed to be subservient to the nation as a whole, and our highest loyalty has to be to the U.S. Is that what we think about the church too?
Other flags that must fly lower than the American flag: City flags, flags from counties or other localities, and pennants of societies – these always take a lower place. Is that what the Christian flag represents? A pennant of a society, a club like the Rotary or an RV club?
I didn’t really set out to preach about flag-flying this morning, but about loyalty. Before the presidential election heats up and our patriotism is stoked and pandered to, I want us to pause and think once again about our status as citizens of our native land and at the same time, subjects to the heavenly Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Obviously Jesus Christ commands and deserves our highest loyalty, and so when we speak about God and Country, let’s make sure we get the order right.
Lest you think me unpatriotic, a few reasons to love America…
The freedom that our country offers. 1 Corinthians 7:23 - You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Freedom is a basic component of our faith, even the freedom to walk away from God. Any nation where Christianity truly flourishes will move toward freedom. CAUTION: Freedom works for a moral and just people. The more we divorce freedom and responsibility the more endangered our freedom will become. John Adams: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
The Biblical values that still permeate our society (even though many deny their source). If you were falsely accused or falsely convicted of a crime, what other country would allow you to appeal and appeal and keep your case alive? We sometimes get cynical and think that criminals have more rights than their victims, and occasionally it does turn out that way, but our country as a whole bends over backwards to see that there is justice (even though there are many problems with our legal system), and justice is a Biblical value. Or, if you are poor or out of work, where else would you like to be? Our country spends a huge chunk of its income on programs for the poor. Some of them may be misguided, but caring for the poor is a Biblical virtue. This past week our Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the current method of execution by lethal injection is a humane way to end a life. The concern itself speaks well of us, and it comes from a human dignity revealed in Scripture when God made humankind in his own image.
Or if your family isn’t wealthy or well-connected, but you’d like to “make something of yourself,” where else would you rather be? In our country we have made a real effort to create a classless society, and we’ve succeeded to a large degree. You are not limited by your birth or lineage as to what you can do or be. This is a Biblical value, for God is no respecter of persons, and Christ certainly didn’t give heed to those with the best credentials. We have work still to do in this regard, but what we’ve accomplished in the past 100 years has made life very good for many.
Freedom to disagree with, even oppose our political leaders. No one we read about in the Bible had as much freedom in this regard as we do. Should Paul have opposed slavery more forcefully? Who would have listened? But we can oppose it or abortion or the war or various taxes or limits on the church’s freedoms, and we don’t have to worry about being arrested in the middle of the night.
Freedom to worship as we choose. We sometimes take it for granted and get lax in our faith, but this is the greatest freedom America offers, and it is no accident. The first amendment says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” That comes before the right to free speech, free press, the right of assembly (which is part of our religious freedom) and the right to petition the government to address grievances.
Yet this lesson is on what I call American Idolatry, making America your God, your religion, a sin that I’ll call nationalism. I define nationalism as the condition when patriotism begins to take God’s place in parts of our lives, when we begin to regard our patriotic feelings more highly than God’s Word.
One example of nationalism run amuck is what happened with the German church in the 1930s. While Hitler escalated his policies of Arian supremacy and his war on the Jewish people, he stirred up such a spirit of national pride that many churches and Christians went along with him, believing that this was God’s will to glorify the German nation. Their national ego had been wounded by WW1, and now Hitler gave them a national pride mixed with fear that unfortunately overrode their commitment to Scripture. National pride mixed with fear is a potent cocktail, one we need to beware of in these days after 9/11, days of orange alerts and security concerns.
One reason our constitution guarantees that the government won’t promote religion nor interfere with its free exercise is to keep the church pure from this kind of sin. When Thomas Jefferson first used the metaphor of a “wall of separation between church and state” he was writing to Christians, members of the Danbury Baptist Association, and he meant to assure them that the government would not be interfering in their church business because this wall of separation was very important to him. He wanted to protect the church from what had happened to her in Europe, where she sometimes became a propaganda tool for the government.
Today when people talk about the separation…they’re usually worried about trying to get people to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” or stopping public prayer and you may get the idea that the state (and all people) need to be protected from hearing a religious word or seeing a religious symbol. But in fact, the separation is to protect the church from being forced into the sin of nationalism. We are free from that particular coercion, but we may stumble into CHOOSING this particular sin.
When the first Gulf War broke out in early 1991, a member of our church told me that she was putting all her friends on notice that if they weren’t for the war, they weren’t her friends any more. What was she saying? That this was such an important issue, a once-in-a-lifetime self-defining issue that was so close to her heart that she just didn’t have any common ground with those who felt differently.
That’s a pretty strong statement, though the sentiment isn’t that uncommon. We get worked up over issues of national pride. But have you ever heard anyone say they’re putting their friends on notice if they don’t turn the other check, like Jesus taught, or if they don’t love their enemies, or practice meekness, or they don’t pray without ceasing? Putting your friends on notice isn’t a great idea – I’m just saying that the things we get passionate about like that are often political things, issues of nationalism and patriotism. People forward emails to each other about what Hillary supposedly said about God or what Mitt Romney supposedly believes about the afterlife. They don’t forward emails about the separation of church and the poor. Nationalism stokes passion and tempts us to put country before God. And quite frankly it tempts us to drag God into our own causes.
In the OT, the Israelites were God’s chosen people, so you might think that nationalism wasn’t an issue for them. God and their nation were intertwined. But even then, they were tempted to try to drag God into their own national interests, rather than to follow his leading. One example: 1 Samuel 4.
This was a time when Israel was in a degenerate state. They had no king, and the religious leaders were corrupt, especially two guys named Hophni and Phinehas, sons of the high priest, who used their position to indulge themselves
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? (Now that’s a healthy question to be asking at this time. In times past, when Israel suffered defeat or when they thought they were doing God’s will and failed miserably, it led them to tear their robes and fast and pray and seek God and try to find out where they went wrong. Not this time. Instead, they come up with a crazy and foolish idea that is more superstition than genuine faith. Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."
IOW, God didn’t go with us last time? Let’s drag him into battle with us. See, the Ark of the Covenant was a large golden box that they placed in the tabernacle and God had promised them that this would be his throne, so to speak, and when they followed his law, he would meet with them in the tabernacle on this throne. That made the Ark of the Covenant THE MOST sacred object they had. But somehow they got the idea that we get sometimes, that they had God in that box, and that they could carry him around and take him out when needed. Words cannot express how wrong this was, to drag the Ark into battle with them. Call it sacrilegious, or blasphemous, and even that isn’t enough.
1SA 4:4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1SA 4:5 When the ark of the LORD's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. (I said it was blasphemous. I didn’t say it wasn’t effective. Sometimes you can motivate the troops by dragging God into the camp, or at least by waving the Christian flag or the cross. But even this backfired. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?"
When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!"
1SA 4:10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Thus ended a sad chapter in Israel’s history, and thus began a sadder one. But what a fall they had taken, from the days of Moses and Joshua when they knew that the main thing was to be on God’s side, to these days of Hophni and Phinehas, when they supposed that they knew how to pull God onto their side. It’s a subtle shift, obvious to us from the distance of several thousand years, but not to them – their nation has risen higher in their estimation than God, and in fact God isn’t thought of until things get desperate, and even then he is brought in to boost someone else’s cause.
When I talked to you about the book unChristian several months ago, I said that one of the strongest criticisms against us from younger adults (Christians as well as non-Christians) is that we’re too political. Now I don’t suggest that we stay out of politics or keep silent about important social issues because it has become unpopular. But what I see happening is that many Christians have taken a very narrow version of patriotism, and have baptized it and made it their theology so that their views about the strength of America or taxation or illegal aliens are much more important than anything Jesus said about peacemaking, caring for the poor, serving others, or turning the other cheek. That is America’s civil religion, and it is one you’ll hear preached in churches, and the most appropriate symbol for it is this picture of the American flag flying above the Christian.
Even in our own sanctuary, we show a little nationalism. The American flag is on my right, in the place of highest honor. The Christian flag is on my left, in second place.
If you want my opinion: I don’t really care for the Christian flag. Where did it come from, anyway? Did Jesus carry one as he walked from town to town? No, it isn’t in the Bible. Actually the Christian flag was conceived in 1897 and developed and promoted ten years later by a Sunday School superintendent at a church in New York. It’s a nice idea, but it isn’t like it has a thousand years behind it, and the problem with it is that it brings the Kingdom of God down to the level of any ordinary nation. I think that if we want two flags on our stage, they should both be American, or one could be the flag of TN. And we would symbolically keep these loyalties of ours down on this level.
But way up high above them, over those loyalties in EVERY way…is the cross, and the Savior and Lord for which it stands.
Morrison
Hill Christian Church
P.O. Box 59 - 1008 E.
Race St.
Kingston, TN 37763 (865) 376-5205
