03/07: U.S. Churches and the 4th of July
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
This post from the Daily Kos has been attracting some negative attention from the conservative blogosphere. For example LGF and OpinionJournal Best of the Web Today.
The Daily Kos post is entitled Red, White and Blue Idolatry & Why I Walked out of Sunday Morning Service. Here is an excerpt:
"Today I walked out of church about a third of the way through the service. A soloist was performing "God Bless the USA." I have always found that song to be especially cloying, but when I noticed it listed in the bulletin I decided to attempt to tolerate it. And I might have managed to do just that had not one or two individuals prompted the entire congregation to stand.
At that moment I felt as though I'd been punched in the gut. And it was a double whammy - not only was I offended politically, I was deeply offended spiritually. I would never under any circumstance stand in tribute to a performance of that particular song. As far as I'm concerned asking me to stand in a sanctuary bordered on blasphemy. How could I in good conscience stand to embrace the lyrics "I'm proud to be an American" in the very same week we learned U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi woman then murdered her and her family to cover up the crime? What spiritually unwise person planned this nonsense?"
(An Okie Gardener again) As a patriotic Christian, I also have problems with Red, White, and Blue Idolatry, though for different reasons. (read more)
God is the God of all the earth, not just of one nation. The Church's prime loyalty is to her Savior and Lord, a loyalty that cannot be compromised. The Church is not to be identified with any one nation or culture, though she exists in almost all nations and cultures. The Church exists because of God's grace, not because of the favor of any nation or culture. The Church existed before the U.S., and if the world stands long enough she will still exist when the U.S. is gone. There is no Scripture to justify any identification of the United States with the Kingdom of God. There is no Scripture to justify identifying the United States as a nation especially chosen by God above all other nations as God's special people. We worship God, not our nation.
Therefore, in congregations I pastor we have a more subdued 4th of July. This year, since the 4th was in the middle of the week, the Sunday service only recognized the holiday in our prayers (which included confession of national sins.) When the 4th falls on Fri. - Mon. then the sermon may be on an appropriate topic. We have no bunting around the pulpit, and the U.S. flag is on floor level off to one side.
I feel very blessed by God to be an American. I thank God for the freedoms we enjoy. I think we do some things as a nation that God is pleased with. I think God prefers freedom over tyranny in human government. I think God has blessed our nation greatly. But, our faith is in God, not in human institutions.
The Daily Kos post is entitled Red, White and Blue Idolatry & Why I Walked out of Sunday Morning Service. Here is an excerpt:
"Today I walked out of church about a third of the way through the service. A soloist was performing "God Bless the USA." I have always found that song to be especially cloying, but when I noticed it listed in the bulletin I decided to attempt to tolerate it. And I might have managed to do just that had not one or two individuals prompted the entire congregation to stand.
At that moment I felt as though I'd been punched in the gut. And it was a double whammy - not only was I offended politically, I was deeply offended spiritually. I would never under any circumstance stand in tribute to a performance of that particular song. As far as I'm concerned asking me to stand in a sanctuary bordered on blasphemy. How could I in good conscience stand to embrace the lyrics "I'm proud to be an American" in the very same week we learned U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi woman then murdered her and her family to cover up the crime? What spiritually unwise person planned this nonsense?"
(An Okie Gardener again) As a patriotic Christian, I also have problems with Red, White, and Blue Idolatry, though for different reasons. (read more)
God is the God of all the earth, not just of one nation. The Church's prime loyalty is to her Savior and Lord, a loyalty that cannot be compromised. The Church is not to be identified with any one nation or culture, though she exists in almost all nations and cultures. The Church exists because of God's grace, not because of the favor of any nation or culture. The Church existed before the U.S., and if the world stands long enough she will still exist when the U.S. is gone. There is no Scripture to justify any identification of the United States with the Kingdom of God. There is no Scripture to justify identifying the United States as a nation especially chosen by God above all other nations as God's special people. We worship God, not our nation.
Therefore, in congregations I pastor we have a more subdued 4th of July. This year, since the 4th was in the middle of the week, the Sunday service only recognized the holiday in our prayers (which included confession of national sins.) When the 4th falls on Fri. - Mon. then the sermon may be on an appropriate topic. We have no bunting around the pulpit, and the U.S. flag is on floor level off to one side.
I feel very blessed by God to be an American. I thank God for the freedoms we enjoy. I think we do some things as a nation that God is pleased with. I think God prefers freedom over tyranny in human government. I think God has blessed our nation greatly. But, our faith is in God, not in human institutions.
A Waco Farmer wrote:
On the other hand, I agree with the Daily Kos poster. I feel like I have been punched in the gut when I hear "God Bless the USA" in church. Note: I have never heard it (and am not likely to hear it) in my home church.
Why my negative reaction to the song?
1. "God Bless the USA" is a bad country song.
2. Church should celebrate Christ and the body of Christ. Jesus rejected politics as a method of bringing about the kingdom. That is good enough for me.
Keep politics and nationalism out of the pulpit (not be statute but by fidelity to the message), although, I must admit, I have been known to wear my American flag lapel pin to church.
3. Can I reconcile my belief in American exceptionalism and separation? Perhaps uncomfortably. I think about some of the Gardener's thinking back in the death penalty post. We are here to make government work and protect ourselves under the "cope of heaven." And, truthfully (but not necessarily 100 percent rational), I have to believe God likes us better than Hitler, Stalin, Osama et al.