Should We Display the American Flag in Church?
We may not even be aware how our attitudes about the flag and its display in houses of worship conflates our faith with our positive feelings about the country. One of the ways we can assess our own hearts on this issue comes when we consider what happens when we relocate the flag or remove it altogether. In this episode, we examine how the flag becomes commingled with our Christian faith, often representing a belief that God has blessed the United States in a way that He has not blessed other countries. Even a majority of pastors believe that patriotic elements should be incorporated into the worship services on certain holiday weekends, while those same pastors report that their congregations sometimes love the country more than they love God. We ask whether American Christians have a unique fondness of flags and pledges, creating new ways to praise Christians flags and the Bible, and how these well-intentioned but misplaced allegiances can take us from the person of Jesus.
Discussion Questions:
Did you grow up in a church that prominently displayed the flag? If so, where was it displayed, and did anyone ever discuss the placement of the flag?
Have you been part of a church where a conflict arose over the display or removal of the American flag? Do you recall the circumstances and why the issue created a conflict? Was there a temptation to make the removal a gospel issue or an issue of faith for those who were opposed?
Do you agree with the majority of pastors surveyed that churches should incorporate patriotic elements into worship services on certain holiday weekends that celebrate the country? What are the reasons to do so, and what reasons are there to avoid this practice?
Do you agree with the pastors surveyed that church congregations often appear to love America more than they love God? If so, what might explain this? Do you believe that churches should be clear in teaching that allegiance to God should be primary over allegiance to the country?
Acts 17:26-27 says that God made all the nations, “and that He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands, doing so in order that people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” How do we find a balanced perspective of the way that God has brought about His plan through different nations and people groups throughout history, while maintaining our focus on our primary citizenship in God’s kingdom?
Are pledges to the Christian flag or to the Bible consistent with glorifying God in our activities? Is giving special allegiance to these items representative of our faith, or are they vestiges of our tendency to gravitate towards patriotic expressions even within our faith?
Has a display of the American flag become a political symbol, or one that is meant to communicate certain views? If so, what has a display of the flag on a vehicle or at a rally come to symbolize? How is our identity as the body of Christ, made up of people from every nation, tribe, and tongue impacted by the display of a single nation’s flag in worship?
