Recently we took a trip to Pigeon Forge, and I saw so many t-shirts and bumper stickers that said “Stand for the flag, Kneel for the Cross”. If only I had a dollar for every one of those I saw…
But this got me thinking. Is our country really a “Christian nation”? And should it be? Are we obligated, as Christians, to integrate our faith and our patriotism so closely to one another?
In the software industry we call this concept tight-coupling. It is where one module (let’s say a feature in a website) absolutely needs another separate module (let’s say a live database filled with good data) in order to work properly. In other words it is impossible to test, or even work with, one of the modules without having the other. Loose-coupling on the other hand allows us the flexibility to work with these modules, either together as a whole or separate individual pieces.
I honestly wish we had more loose-coupling between faith and patriotic duty. Not that I have problems with either, and I am certainly not advocating for a crippling interpretation of the separation of church and state. But what I am asking is this:
- Isn’t it possible to still kneel for the cross while sitting in protest?
- What if our neighbor sits in protest, but doesn’t yet know their Savior?
- Isn’t it ok for a fellow citizen to stand for the flag while not kneeling for the cross?
- Why do we associate the literal act of standing for the flag during an anthem ceremony, with the metaphorical act of kneeling at the cross (because throughout my years in church I can’t actually recall anyone literally taking the position of kneeling at the cross)?
- What glory does God really get out of us, Christians supposedly living in a “Christian nation”, pressuring (or even legislating) our fellow citizens to give him honor the same way we do?