I got into the backseat of our car and buckled my lap-only seat belt. The heat of the car was thick and I was full of questions. I was somewhere between the ages of 6-8 and it was summer in WV. Vacation Bible School (VBS) was in full swing at our church. I clearly remember asking, “Mom, what does allegiance mean”? My Mom is a really great teacher and was always happy to engage in a vocab lesson. She explained allegiance. I remember understanding it to mean devotion and loyalty. Next question, “Mom, how can we pledge allegiance to three things?” Like so many other American children, VBS opened each night with hands raised in desperation to be chosen as a volunteer. Once three volunteers were chosen, each stood up front and led the crowd in the Pledge to the American Flag, the Pledge to the Christian Flag, and to the Pledge to the Bible. This is my first memory of questioning something that happened at Church. My Mom and I talked about it while I fired one question after another. “What if there is a time American does something against God? Why, in church, wouldn’t we say the Pledge to the Bible first? Do other Christians in other countries know the pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag? Why would we pledge to a flag and not to God Himself?”
Sorry, Mom, I surely was/am exhausting to parent. I look at younger me and feel tender at the deep need for authenticity because I know now, that need only grows in intensity. I decided then I probably shouldn’t say the Pledge to the American flag, just in case I have to choose God over America someday, I didn’t want to have lied all these years. I also shouldn’t say the Pledge to the Christian flag either, because I wasn’t sure who else knew about this flag. I remember no conclusion from 6-8 year old Allison about the Pledge to the Bible. For years at my Christian school or future VBS, while someone held the American flag up front, I stood, placed my hand over my heart and said nothing. The few times my teachers fussed at me, I posed my question to them, “What if we have to choose between God and America?” The conversation always stopped and they allowed me to stand there quietly.
The good tension lies in the fact that I also grew up in a Patriotic family. The stories my Papaw shared about his World War II experience captivated me. He didn’t share much, but he held America and our freedoms close. He didn’t force me to say the Pledge of Allegiance, but he did describe the beauty of the American flag in a war zone. The flag stood for his home and all the people he left back there. The flag was freedom’s symbol and he was willing to fight and die for that freedom. Papaw and the rest of my family taught me to respect the flag. I can’t count how many times I had to go out in a sudden rainstorm and bring the flag inside to protect it from the weather. (I still get annoyed when I see flags on front porches in the rain). The flag NEVER touched the ground and it was ALWAYS put up properly. The flag was not altered in any way because that was changing the symbol my Papaw and others looked at when they were weary in war. My Papaw’s faith in God was palpable too, more so than his patriotism. His love for God and neighbor was evident to everyone he met. I grew up knowing, as much as someone who's never been to war can understand, how valuable the symbol of the flag is.
There has been so much talk about this American Flag. I’ve watched, somewhat shocked, at the people defacing the flag with symbols, rainbow lines, blue lines, more or less stars or stripes. The same people who get upset at people kneeling during the anthem seem to think it’s fine to place a blue line on the flag. Or the people who think it’s fine to kneel want to put anti racism symbols on the flag. Others place political names on it. All of it is absolutely within our right as Americans to do and change. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the cause represented, the distortion of the flag is bothersome. The beauty of capitalism is, I won’t choose to purchase the distortions of the American flag in any way.
As a believer in Jesus, there is one particular distortion of the American Flag that makes me stare in disbelief. I really wish people would stop placing the cross (or any Christian symbol) on the American Flag. It elevates the American Flag to a place it doesn’t deserve. It degrades the symbol of Jesus’ crucifixion to a place that is sacrilegious. The placement of a Christian symbol on the American flag ultimately distorts them both. It conflates the love of God with love of America. American Christian Nationalism is symbolized by Jesus draped in a red, white, and blue background.
With the mass exodus from church the last few years, it is my suspicion that people aren’t leaving Jesus, they are leaving the Americanized Jesus. Growing up in the Christian version of America, it is easy to confuse the freedoms we have in America with the freedoms Jesus gives us as His children. We tend to view Jesus through the lens of our patriotism rather than view our patriotism through the eyes of Jesus. How do we discern the difference? Like all things with Jesus, it comes back to our hearts. As an American I want to protect what is mine, my property, my rights, my family, my church. As a Christian, the Bible teaches us to use our freedoms to love and serve one another. (Galatians 5 and 6 have been so helpful for me to understand the difference in political freedom and God given freedom). Jesus refused to be the political figure the New Testament characters wanted Him to be. I very much think He still would not want to be associated with man made governments, including the American one I love.
So, happy 4th of July. It is a day worth celebrating as an American. Have the fireworks, the parties, the food, the reflection. Cheer that we are free, some of us have had voice in this democracy since 1776, some of us got a voice in 1870, some women gained their voice in 1920, some didn’t get a voice until 1965, and some are still hoping to use their voice soon. This is a baby democracy experiment that deserves a party. While celebrating though, don’t imagine that Jesus provides extra blessings within these borders. Take Jesus off the American flag and place Him in your mind, heart, and life where He belongs.
I do love America, although I still don’t say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. I’m grateful for those who fought and are fighting for our American rights. I also love Jesus, more and differently than I love America. Jesus died for all of us, not just Americans. He came in brown skin and died for the world, every country, every tongue, every heart. I’m grateful for the rights I’m given as a child of God. Those rights cannot ever be taken from me. I live in the tension of God asking me to voluntarily lay my freedoms down for others. I recognize that loving America doesn’t mean the same as loving Jesus and loving Jesus certainly doesn’t mean loving America. America and Jesus don’t have to be in contradiction to each other, but they are never equal. Jesus is not an American. He never has been, He isn’t now, and He never will be. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Long before there was an America, there was Jesus. I want America to be a beacon of light to the world, but I know that America will never be the source of that light.
My identity is found first in my Savior. It always will be. For that and so much more, I am grateful.
Galations 3: 25-29 But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise. In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.
