Flags and Kingdoms
Our church was involved in Vacation Bible School a couple of weeks ago and as a normal part of our opening assembly we did the pledges to the flags and the Bible. The typical order is pledge to the US flag, then the Christian flag, and then the Bible. Now add to this a "Jesus Freak" moment I heard on K-LOVE recently. I don't remember who the person was they were talking about but his king had said that everyone had to pay allegiance to him. The believer calmly explained to the king that Jesus was Lord above all earthly kings so he would pay allegiance to Christ first. The man didn't say that he wouldn't pay allegiance to the king simply that he would honor Christ first. After a short while the man was killed for his stand.
Okay, now add to this mix a conversation with my family about the 10 commandments. During that discussion my son showed us some easy hand motions to remember the commandments in order. The motion for the commandment, "You shall have no other gods BEFORE me" was a two finger salute. WOW… that jumped out at me.
So here is the question – as Christians if we say the pledge to the US flag before we pledge to the Christian flag "and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands" are we putting country before God? I know when we say things about the two we normally say God and Country but when we say the pledges in the order we normally say them are we putting Country BEFORE God?
In this day and time when many in our country, even in positions of leadership seem to be moving away from Christ and things like In God We Trust and one nation under God are being challenged should we believers be even more clear about where our allegiance lies? Should we take a stand and change the order we do the pledges – Christian flag, Bible, US flag? Would anyone notice?
I'm just thinking. What are you thinking?