We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
As We Approach the 4th
This is the time of year when we start hearing loud bangs at night and you have to ask yourself the following multiple choice question:
Was that bang:
- a car backfiring?
- firecrackers?
- a gunshot? (OK, maybe most of you never think of that, but some of us do.)
It’s also the time of year when we bump up against the idolatry of nationalism. Churches all over the country will be holding services to honor our country and say the pledge of allegiance in a place that should only have one true allegiance. How should Christ-followers deal with this?
David D. Flowers wrote this reflection on his own experience with nationalism as it collided with his faith. It’s challenging and thought-provoking and well worth your time to read in full.
There’s nothing wrong with having a picnic and watching fireworks. We’re not complete fuddy-duddies around here. But don’t ever confuse your allegiance. It belongs to Jesus alone.
From David’s blog:
What had I been teaching that their students would want to put aside their former pursuits to go into missions, love all people regardless of nationality, and not waste their life on worldly gain?
They were discovering a radical discipleship. And I was becoming an Anabaptist and just didn’t know it.
The truth is that these students and adults were drawing conclusions based on a simple reading of the Gospels. And we had all come to realize that this was unacceptable for this Baptist church in rural America.
Saying no to flag worship dethrones the American Jesus and it exposes our cultural Christianity.
Category: General
Tags: America, David D. Flowers, Idolatry, July 4th, Nationalism, Pledge of Allegiance
Related Reading
Nations and Violence
In this video by The Work of the People, Greg shares why there is no such thing as a Christian nation. Nations are not the kind of things that turn the other cheek, love their enemies, or lay down their sword as Jesus commanded. They exist because they use the sword. Nations and violence go…
Should Christians Recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
A number of years ago I attended a basketball game at a Christian school. Just before the game everyone was asked to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. So I stood, placed my hand over my heart, and began to recite our national creed. Halfway through, however, I began to wonder what I was…
Anti-American?
Kurt Willems posted a response to the accusation he often gets that he’s anti-American. He also included a video of Greg giving his own response to this question. Take a look! From Kurt’s blog: I am not, in any way, anti-American. In fact, I’m not anti-anyone. I believe that the way of Jesus compels us…
5 Distinctions of God’s Kingdom
Jesus said that his kingdom was “not from this world,” for it contrasts with the kingdom of the world in every possible way. This is not a simple contrast between good and evil. The contrast is rather between two fundamentally different ways of doing life, two fundamentally different mindsets and belief systems, two fundamentally different…
Part two of a three-part interview with Greg
David D. Flowers is doing a three part interview with Greg over on his blog. He posted the first of those interviews last week. The second interview was posted today. Check it out!
Palm Sunday, Partisan Politics & the Power of the Cross
Today we’re sharing something from David D. Flowers that we found especially insightful as we approach holy week. We hope it blesses you and moves you to more fully manifest the kingdom that is not of this world. ~~~ We remember it in the church as Palm Sunday. This is the triumphal entry of Jesus into…