Recently on Jay Guin’s blog, there was a vigorous discussion about the appropriateness of displaying the U.S. flag in the church auditorium. (You can see the conversations: first post, second post, third post) I wasn’t surprised at the variety of responses nor the excited nature of the exchanges. People get hot and bothered about this topic.

I can’t help but feel that some of that patriotic fervor is a reflection of provincialism. When all you know is the place you’ve grown up, the things that are done there seem normal, as we’ve discussed. Therefore we tend to suppose that Christians around the world are waving their flags and singing patriotic songs at church. Or worse, we suppose that they too are singing “America the Beautiful” and thanking God for the greatest nation on earth.

It’s not so. I haven’t traveled to every country in the world, but I can tell you that in the places I’ve been, there was no hint of mixing Christianity with nationalism. No chest thumping while proclaiming their nation to be the best. Churches in other countries aren’t perfect, but this is one confusion they’ve been spared.

It seems to me that when you really grasp the fact that you are part of a nation that spans all borders, that people from every tribe and tongue are a part of your family, then the idea of celebrating one earthly country during a meeting of that family will seem ludicrous. I’m blessed to be a part of a church family (our local congregation) that includes people from numerous countries. Off hand, I can think of people from Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, El Salvador, Japan, Honduras, China and Costa Rica, not to mention some students that are from somewhere in Africa (I’m not sure where). If our church family counts them as a part of our body, then it seems to me we have two basic choices: we celebrate every country represented in our body or we celebrate none.

My preference is that we celebrate the nation that unifies all of us, the holy nation of God’s choosing, the body of Christ.

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16)