(Reposted from an article I wrote last year)
(If you’re not a follower of Jesus, …. I guess the following I have to say will sound like foolishness to you. I welcome your input all the same, but I don’t think it will have the same meaning to you as to one who proclaims themselves a follower of Jesus. I welcome your opinions.
This is mainly a theological post, dealing with a minor cultural issue, but its helpful to me to think on such things, and to try to reconcile my theology with my real world reactions and emotions.
As always, I acknowledge this is only my opinion, and as such, I reserve the right to be dead wrong and staggeringly wayward in my thinking. )
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A while back, I posted on Facebook a statement from a fairly well grounded theologian and teacher:
“Christians shouldn’t have a problem with someone refusing to stand for the national anthem.
We don’t worship the empire. We worship Jesus”
Some people took offense at the statement. I was somewhat surprised at that. To me it’s such a simple statement of faith.
Time for some teaching.
First, the statement is directed toward Christians, a group of people who, supposedly, have made their first and only allegiance to Jesus and the Kingdom he ushered in. A Kingdom that, as Jesus told Pilate, “is not of this world”.
In John 18:36 Jesus says to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
Next, the question is not referring specifically to the US National Anthem. It is worded in a way that the statement would be applicable to Christians living in any nation (empire) on Earth.
Russia.
China.
Afghanistan.
Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia.
Syria.
Venezuela.
France.
Canada.
The United States.
Anywhere.
But as Christians, our highest allegiance is to our Lord and King, Jesus.
Jesus above all others. His teachings guide us above all other cultural teachings to the contrary. His life example guides us above all other examples to the contrary. His Kingdom values should be our values, above all other earthly kingdom values to the contrary.
Now, as human beings on earth, we all live within the political borders of one country or another.
Most of us live in the country we were born into. Not all, but most.
As we grow up, we learn an “allegiance” to the nation (empire) in which we live. We are discipled and indoctrinated into the values and examples of the country in which we grow up.
We are taught that it is good and right to “pledge allegiance to the flag……” of whatever nation we find ourselves. In the USA, we are taught from a very young age that all good Americans pledge allegiance to the flag. Those who do not “pledge allegiance” are shunned, and judged as unpatriotic.
We grow up thoroughly “American”, or “Canadian”, or “Russian”, or “Swedish”, pledging allegiance to the land that we were randomly born into.
The values of the culture we live in, that we are discipled in, become our values.
As Christians, as followers of Jesus, as people who claim to call Jesus our “Lord, Savior, and King”, we are called to “come out” of our empires and nations (2nd Corinthians 6:17), and recognize, along with the Apostle Paul, that “we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” (Philippians 3:20)
You see, Christians, no matter what political land they live in on earth, are citizens together with all Christians around the world, in “heaven”, as Paul puts it; or “The Kingdom of God”, as the gospel writers put it; or “the body of Christ” as Paul again states in 1 Corinthians 12:27, where he says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
Christians, therefore, have a true citizenship defined by our common love and allegiance to Jesus. No matter where we are on the globe, we are first and foremost brothers and sisters in Christ,members of the one Body of Christ, citizens of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, to which our sole loyalty should lie.
A shared love for Jesus, and a shared desire to follow his teachings and to love as he loves, is what defines the borders of the Kingdom of God.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God, Christians should therefore live and move as such. We are to be ambassadors as the Apostle Paul says. An ambassador is to represent and advocate for the interests of his King, his leader, or his nation. An ambassador is a representative of the culture and values of his King, leader, or nation.
So, regardless of what earthly political country, kingdom, or empire a Christian finds themselves living in, what are the interests, values, and culture that Christians should represent?
I think Paul says it well in 2nd Corinthians 5:19-20: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said things like,
Blessed are the humble…. those who hunger for justice…. the peacemakers… the merciful…and the pure of heart. Turn the other cheek. Love and bless your enemies. Don’t take revenge. Give to those in need. Don’t love money. Don’t judge lest you be judged by the same standard. Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”
That’s hard teaching.
Jesus is serious about his followers actually trying to follow him, to emulate him, and to imitate him, because in Him is life!. He wants disciples, people to come out of their tribes and empires, to learn at his feet what it means to live in the True Kingdom of Peace. To leave behind the tribalism and nationalism and hostility that so poisons our minds.
Paul says it this way, in Romans 12:2: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Anytime we conflate the following of, and advocating for, the interests of our earthly nation or empire, above those of the Kingdom of God, where we claim to have citizenship, we have done deep and grievous damage to our Christian witness.
To pledge allegiance to one flag or nation over another, simply based on where we grew up and were indoctrinated into the local culture, is to promote the value or interests of one nation over another. It is in doing this that we separate people into categories of “us” and “them”. For the Christian, this is anathema and should not be.
There is no “us” and “them” in Christ. There is only “us”.
Ephesians 2:14 states, “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”
A little further in Ephesians 2:19-20, the Apostle Paul continues, “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
So, Christians, we are citizens of a unique Kingdom, separate and different, from any political kingdom on earth. Our first allegiance is to Jesus, and to him alone.
So, back to the original statement:
“Christians shouldn’t have a problem with someone refusing to stand for the national anthem.
We don’t worship the empire. We worship Jesus”
If you get mad or offended by someone that decides to sit down during the national anthem (which is a very peaceful way to express oneself), or does not stand and salute the flag, it is probably because you think the United States of America deserves more respect. It is probably because you think the soldiers and sailors who died and fought to “secure our freedoms” deserve more respect.
I dare say, without judgement, that you are accurately expressing the values and interests of the nation of your true citizenship. You are being honest.
We defend that which is important to us. We defend that which gives us value and identity. We defend that which give us advantage and privilege over others. We defend that which we love. We defend that which we worship.
Our national identity separates “us” from “them”. “Our” soldiers over “their” soldiers. “Our ways” over “their ways”.
Which leads to war after bloody war, with no end in sight. Often between “Christians” who were simply born in another country.
If allegiance to any particular flag or nation can incite you to kill your brother or sister, because he lives on the other side of an imagined political line, because your “king” (President, Prime Minister, Dictator, Premier…..) says “we” need to kill “them” for “our” interests, then I would suggest your allegiance lies with your Earthly Empire…..not with Christ.
Christians should not be offended that someone peacefully expresses their opinion about the empire in which they live. That’s their right, and their privilege, especially here in the USA, granted under the secular law that governs the USA.
Some nations, that’s not so much the case. People sit down at peril to their life.
But, more to the point, it’s not our battle. It’s not what Christians should be about.
Paul, ever wise that he was, pointed out where out battle lies in Ephesians 6:12. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
Instead, Christians should be about promoting and teaching people about Jesus, the True King, the one who has True Authority, as Jesus said in Matthew 28:28-20.
“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is what Christians should maintain our focus, our laser attention, upon: Jesus.
We should “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Christian, don’t conform to the pattern of this world, taking offense when the god’s of this dark world take offense. Instead, focus your sight on Jesus, and His Kingdom, who absorbed the sin and offense of this world, and recycled it into divine forgiveness and mercy.
Matt 6:33-34 leaves us with this admonition, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
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(Now, I’ll grant, this essay is rather esoteric, and leans toward what some may think is an unrealistic expectation of Christians in today’s society. I agree that the bar is set very high. But I also believe Jesus sets the bar high for us, because that’s what he expects of us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” is not supposed to be just a trite slogan.
The bar is high, and the road is hard, but we don’t lower the bar and level the road to make it easier. We train and learn, in order to master the bar, and travel the hard road.)