Old Glory or His Glory?
by Steve Meister
The ancient Christian maxim, Lex orandi, lex credendi (“The rule of prayer is the rule of belief”), succinctly expresses that corporate worship disciples us. How we worship will direct how we believe. I’d suggest this includes even the physical elements around the church in her worship. For this reason, churches ought to seriously reconsider displaying the American flag where they meet.
Really, the passion that can surround displaying a flag in a church building proves the point. In many churches, you can reduce prayer and Scripture reading to near non-existence or twist preaching into a banal pep-talk with little to no opposition. But when you touch the flag, Christians will make their voices heard. I’ve seen it first hand.
The presence of the flag has discipled too many Christians in the wrong direction. To reverse this, we are wise to remind our churches why we worship and think over the implications for displaying our nation’s flag. Here are four reasons to consider.
1. We worship Christ as citizens of His Kingdom. When we gather to worship we are not mainly expressing our identity as Americans, even if that happens to be the earthly citizenship of everyone present. We are expressing our heavenly citizenship (Phil 3:20) and rejoicing that we have been transferred into the kingdom of God’s Son (Col 1:13). Outwardly, we witness to the wisdom of God in Christ (Eph 3:10, 21) and testify that we now are a holy nation, proclaiming his excellencies (1 Pet 2:9).
To be clear, I’m unashamedly grateful to be a citizen of these United States and I have spent enough time around the world to understand the privilege it is. As a father, I also make it a point to cultivate affection for our nation in my children. We honor veterans, use national holidays to teach a sense of American identity - for example, we even read Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation on Thanksgiving Day - and often discuss pivotal events in American history and today as a family. But make no mistake, this citizenship is not lasting. Neither is it the citizenship we are recognizing when the church assembles. When we gather to worship, we are corporately testifying that “we seek the city that is to come” (Heb 13:14).
2. We worship to experience Christian unity. Corporate worship is intended to remind the church that we are corporately united, as members of one another in Christ (Rom 12:5). We are united with one another in our Triune God (Eph 4:1-6). As we assemble, we gather not primarily in the United States, but “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Heb 12:22-23).
I find the profundity of our unity is better grasped when we specify it. So let’s take Iran as an example. The growth of the church there is one of the great stories the modern era. In 1979, it was estimated that there were 500 Christians in that nation. But today, estimates range from 300,000 to one million believers! Now think of just one of our Iranian brothers or sisters. It’s almost certain that they think about politics, economics, family life, and many other important things very differently than you or I. Yet, we have more in common with them than we do with any American who agrees with us on all those things, but not the Gospel.
If that strikes us as strange and - dare I say - off-putting, let us urgently spend time considering the union that we have in Jesus Christ with every other Christian (Gal 3:28; Rev 5:9-10).
3. We worship for the good of other Christians. Worship is intended to edify. We congregate for the “common good” and for “building up” (1 Cor 12:7; 14:26). This is one reason why Christians have wisely affirmed what is called the “regulative principle of worship.” It is expressed in the Second London Baptist Confession this way:
But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures (2LCF 22.1).
When we gather for worship, the spiritual sensibilities and consciences of all Christians should be preserved. We do that by avoiding things that are not prescribed in Scripture. How many churches have considered whether an American flag is distracting or even offensive to Christians of other nationalities, whether they may be visitors or immigrants?
4. We worship to evangelize. We pray that any unbelievers who are present when we gather may recognize the transcendent holiness of the gathering, the eternal truth of God’s Word, and fall on their face in the presence of God (1 Cor 14:25). Our services ought to be correctives to the popular myth that Christianity is a Western or American phenomenon. But that’s tough to do when you’re standing next to an American flag where you’ve gathered.
We could say much more, but these four reasons for worship begin to move us in the direction of removing the American flag. Thus far in my life, I’ve been privileged to worship with local churches in 9 nations on 5 continents. I have yet to see the respective national flag displayed where those churches gathered. They have their own hang-ups to be sure, but this seems to be one of ours.
Pastors and leaders, our churches need to grow in remembering why we worship. We gather to glorify God by the access we have to him, with all other Christians, through Christ (Eph 2:18). Let’s make that the emphasis and distinction of our meetings, not Old Glory. And remember, if we leave the presence of the flag unaddressed, however unintentionally, we will continue to disciple our churches toward the wrong glory.
