Flags or No Flags: A Biblical Perspective

This letter below was written by my father, James M. Couts, two years ago, addressed to the church council, of which he was a member. Before writing the letter, he was a Lutheran Minister for 28-years, and now runs the largest rural summer-feeding program in the United States.

He was born ouside of Mansfield, Ohio, the youngest of six children, to one of the poorest families in the state. He didn’t have electricity until age 12, when nearly everyone he knew already had a line connected. He is white.

I post this today, because I believe it explains a perspective rarely taken into consideration in today’s Jeremiah Wright-driven politics–and politics-driven religion. Also, I hope it sheds some light on the theological camp from which Rev. Wright was preaching; he was preaching from God’s side, not America’s.

Enough with my blathering, here’s the letter:

Flags or No Flags; a Biblical Perspective

Biblically, I believe this issue is easy to resolve. God does not recognize flags and Worship should help us see the world as God sees it. But congregations and members often have strong feelings of nationalism and patriotism as well as a desire to honor troops, past and present. While these feelings should be respected the New Testament witness must take precedent. That witness is clear, that God sent his Son into the world with the specific intent to eliminate divisions of race, culture, and national boundaries.

The Old Testament witness presents Israel as God’s instrument to unite the world under His reign. But the New Testament declares that the New Israel is the Church and the Church is, by definition, Catholic, universal.

Let’s revue the basics. Galatians 3:27ff: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ.” That verse summarizes a significant portion of the New Testament witness, namely, Christians are called to break down the barriers that divide races, cultures, and nations.

In preparation for his public ministry, Jesus’ resolve was tested in the desert. Luke 4:5ff: “Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.’” All three synoptic Gospels include this passage. It rests at the heart of understanding Christ’s mission in the world.

Two points are important regarding this temptation: First, Jesus refused the offer because taking power and exercising it as head of state was counter productive to His mission to unify the world. Second, the devil was able to offer all the kingdoms of the world because they belong to him. The world’s governments, like all human institutions, are bound to sin and should never be elevated to a status beyond what God assigned to them. The principle role assigned to government is to keep order; without government, in a world of sin, chaos reigns.

But governments, all governments, sooner or later, will act in an unjust manner requiring Christians to resist injustice and to help bring the nation to repentance. Refer to Romans 13 and then to Revelation 18 at this point. These two chapters draw opposite conclusions. Romans presents a positive view of Church/State relations because it was written in 45 AD when there was little conflict between the Church and Rome. Revelation 18 the Church is called to pray for the total destruction of the Roman government because it was written late in the 1st century when mass persecution was taking place.

When the Church and State share a common understanding it is to be celebrated. But the Church remains loyal to its Lord at ALL times. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (The Synoptic Gospels) are all clear that governments, when acting in a just manner, are part of God’s plan, but that the Church must always view government with skepticism, i.e., as a part of a sinful world. The Church is often warned to never become too closely allied with any one government or nation. The Gospel of John is even more clear. Chapters 18 and 19 in John’s Gospel are critically important. (the entire Gospel is worth studying)

I’ve chosen just a couple very important incidents. John 18 and 19 describes the trial of Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Don’t you know I have the power to crucify you or to set you free,” Pilate asked. (John 19:8ff) I suspect he was offering Jesus a way out of this predicament by playing to Pilate’s sense of power. He wanted Jesus to say something like; “You’re right Pilate. You do have this power and I appreciate all you’re doing for me. Set me free I will be a loyal follower.” Instead, Jesus’ response sealed his fate; “you have no power over me whatsoever except that which has been given to you by God….” (Dumbest thing you could ever say to a politician.)

A few verses later describes an incident that Christians should burn in their hearts and minds and should always remember whenever we are tempted to place flags in Church. Pilate was quite angry with the leaders of the Jewish people who put him in the uncomfortable position of having to crucify Jesus. Even Pilate’s wife had warned him not to compromise his leadership by giving in to their unjust demands.

But Pilate couldn’t get himself out of the dilemma so he made the accusers pay dearly. (Read John 19:12ff to get the full impact.) After several attempts to set Jesus free, Pilate finally felt he had no choice so he presented him to the accusers, “Here is your king!” Pilate announced. “Crucify Him!” they shouted. “Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. (He was setting them up.) “WE HAVE NO KING BUT THE EMPORER!” they declared. Pilate got what he wanted.

They humiliated themselves, compromising their fundamental belief that God and God alone is their ruler. They inflicted this humiliation on themselves just so Pilate would carry out their dirty deed.
Every government, sooner or later, will demand loyalty from its citizens in a situation that requires Christians to compromise their beliefs to satisfy those demands. Sometimes it comes in extreme forms such as when Hitler demanded that every Lutheran Church in Germany place the Nazi flag in sanctuaries. That historical moment is extremely important to Lutherans.

During the 1930’s, perhaps even the smallest resistance might have prevented the Holocaust. Instead Luther’s Birthday was celebrated on November 9, 1938 by reading anti-Semitic passages from his sermons. After worship Lutherans charged into the streets smashing windows. 1668 Jewish business were destroyed, over 100 Jews were killed, 30,000 were shipped to concentration camps. That night became known as “Kristalnacht”, the Night of the Broken Glass, the official beginning of the Holocaust, Luther’s birthday. That reality will always remain a dark cloud over our Church. Above all God’s people, we must remember how important it is to declare that Christ and Christ alone is our Lord.

Our first creed has always been, “Jesus is Lord.” Before there was ever an Apostle’s or Nicene Creed, Christians simply declared, “Jesus is Lord.” All governments, sooner or later, will hear that statement as an affront to secular power. “ If Jesus is Lord, that must mean I’m not,” Nero stated as he ordered Christians into Rome’s Coliseum.

Am I an extremist in this matter? Doesn’t the U.S. Constitution protect American Christians from tyranny and shouldn’t we acknowledge that? Can’t Christians in the U.S. celebrate freedom by at least placing our nation’s flag in Church? Those are good questions and many congregations have decided to do just that but too often without giving careful consideration to the Biblical witness. Surely there are other more faithful ways to approach this whole matter beginning with giving ourselves one hour a week during which time we are reminded that we are called to love all people regardless of their national and cultural heritage, especially our enemies. That’s difficult to do in this world which seems to be hell bent on killing every living person who is different from us. So, please, let’s give ourselves this one gift – one hour a week to be reminded that God sees no flags.

Should we give thanks for our freedoms? Of course, and we can do that without violating the Biblical witness. Should we honor our troops? Yes, and there are dozens of ways of doing that. Every Friday night at 7:00 p.m. hundreds of Christians gather at Walter Reed Hospital to pray for the 41,000 American Soldiers who have been wounded, maimed, crippled by this war, as well as the 48,000 who have sought psychological help from having spent their time in Iraq, as well as the families of the 2900 American Soldiers who have died, as well as the tens of thousands of Iraqi families who have lost loved ones since the war began. Why don’t we hold a weekly vigil to join in solidarity with those Christians who gather at Walter Reed on Friday evenings? I can think of no better way to honor our troops.

Indeed, we are American Christians, and we can legitimately celebrate our freedoms as well as the reality that our Constitution is, by an large, in accord with the values expressed in the Scriptures; for that reason the Church has relatively little conflict with our government. But first and foremost we belong to Christ and Christ alone. We are bombarded daily with political messages calling us to be loyal to our country and our country’s government. Each week we must give ourselves the gift of worship when we are reminded where our true loyalty lies.