I came across this article by Bob Hyatt three years ago, and I like to read it and pass it around again each year around this time. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything he wrote, I do think he makes some great points and encourages us to reconsider how we look at things.
Profoundly Disturbed on the Fourth of July:
God, the Flag and the End of AmericaAuthor’s note: This article was first published in the summer of 2003. …In this era of charged political debate, the evangelical church in America seems to have come down on the side of those who say dissent is somehow unpatriotic and that to be a Good Christian also means being a Good American. I again offer this article in the hopes that those now planning a good ol’ patriotic Fourth of July Service (on Sunday this year) will think twice… and perhaps instead of singing the Star Spangled Banner, will spend time praying for victims of war and terrorism alike, for our enemies and for peace in our world.
Our call to worship that 4th of July weekend was This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land. After the Color Guard presented the flag, we stood, said the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Our worship set included The Battle Hymn of the Republic, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, America the Beautiful and God Bless America. We even finished the service by asking the congregation to sing along with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA (“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free…”).
And through the whole thing I couldn’t help but think how moving it was with flags draped from the ceiling, how well-done the music sounded with the drums beating a military cadence throughout… and how incredibly wrong that we were doing any of it.
Read the rest of the article here.
Great article, and my thoughts exactly. I’m going to include it in a post for tomorrow unless my wife thinks it will damage my relationship with my in-laws – who read my blog!
Very interesting. Definitely some food for thought.
Good article all right. It’s a lot of stuff I’ve been thinking about a lot, or trying not to think too much about. My parents don’t understand where I’m coming to (or they understand but strongly disagree). I know the Bible says to render to Caesar, and to obey the governing authority because God has put it in place. But I don’t see it saying anywhere that I have to push my understanding of what the “right” governing authority is.
Personally, I’d like to see a biblical monarchy, where the king willingly submits to Christ because he is a Christian and that’s why he governs the way he governs, because he puts his whole life under Christ and that includes the way he runs his government. But that’s just my romanticism coming out.
I actually would not like to see a Biblical monarchy today (see my July 16 post), if we’re using the term referring to O.T. times. But I do think our faith does, and should, influence all decisions we make.