Patriotism and Christianity

Scott McKnight at Jesus Creed recently posted an article on Flags in the Church. It got me thinking about how both Christianity and patriotism have changed since I was a child.

I have vivid memories of second grade elementary school. It is the year I got glasses, my mother starting taking us to church, and when I became a Christian. At school, we started the day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and singing one verse of a patriotic song (The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle, Hats Off, My Country Tis of Thee . . .). At VBS, we would start the day by reciting pledges to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. The Baptist Hymnal we sang from had a whole section of patriotic songs, which were sung around Independence, Memorial, and Veterans days. Patriotism was part of the Social Studies curriculum of public schools, and being a good (by “good” I mean “patriotic”) citizen seemed to be a way of fulfilling 1 Tim. 2:1-4 and Matt. 22:15-22. Having a national flag and a Christian flag on stage was just normal, and not just for Southern Baptists. Whether one was Republican, because of moral issues such as abortion, or Democrat, because of moral issues such as helping the poor, was not so much an issue at Church. There we were all American-Christians, but some things have changed.

Our country has changed. Patriotism is not taught in schools, and has become more synonymous with nationalism, which in reality is not the same thing. The cultural morality has changed such that social acceptable actions are not always in accord with Scripture. Spirituality has changed in this country as the benefits of freedom of religion, expression, and immigration have allowed a variety of religious influences upon us. While I believe our nation has Christian roots, perhaps as the country becomes less of a Christian nation, the less comfortable Christians feel being dual citizens of The Kingdom of God and the country of the U.S.A.

People have also changed. Our knowledge has changed. It used to be that even people who did not go to church has some basic Bible knowledge, such as the stories or Noah, Moses, David and Goliath, and Jesus. Movies like The Bible, The Ten Commandments, and The Greatest Story Ever Told, only came on television once a year (these were also big budget Hollywood movies of their day), so everyone watched them, but no longer. Also, younger generations have much more of a global mindset, both for the earth and the people of the earth, and they as Christians are integrating that into their Christian ministry and Kingdom mindset. I am not saying that there are not patriots among Millennials. I just see more involved with global missions, poverty, health, and human trafficking, than with politics and military than I recall seeing in the 1980s and 90s.

I am not bringing this up to say that one view is right and the other wrong. I believe either view, the global Christian or the national Christian, can have positive or negative outcomes depending upon how well we keep in mind where our eternal citizenship is maintained. It impacts what type of ministries congregations will want to get involved in, and how we feel we should respond to legislation, such as immigration reform.