On the side of your sanctuary opposite the American flag may be a white flag with a blue upper corner and a red cross in that corner. That is (you may have wondered) the "Christian flag," invented in the early 20th century by a Sunday School class and one Charles Overton (no relation to the window). For a deep, enthusiastic, and patriotic dive into the history of the Christian flag, I direct you to this site from the Christian Heritage Fellowship.
It appears that the Christian flag came on the scene in the same era that American flags were proliferating in American Christian churches. This parallel seems significant to me, so much that I hypothesize that the Christian flag came about because American flags were multiplying in sacred spaces. I speculate (and let me name it as speculation now, because I'm not sure how to test this hypothesis) that folks saw the American flag and thought, "Wait a minute, Jesus is Lord over all the earth. So how can the American flag have pride of place?" But removing the American flag wasn't an option (see earlier posts), so the natural move is to fly another flag that lets the American flag know who's in charge.
But who's really in charge? Because the US Flag Code indicates that the US flag must be the highest in a place, Christian flag placement is fraught. James Pollock wrote a Christian flag code for just this reason (see Heritage Fellowship site above). In my view, the presence of a symbol in the sanctuary that immediately questions whether a Christian symbol can be lifted higher than it should immediately give us pause.
We should also pause over the colors of the Christian flag. Christianity has been around 750 years longer than the United States, and on the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa long before North America. It has more adherents outside the United States than inside it. Yet the only three colors on the Christian flag are white, red, and blue--strangely identical to the colors of the American flag.
(If you wonder what those colors represent, look no further than this vendor of flags, which specializes in patriotic and Christian symbols.)
What of the enduring color of royalty (Christ the King), purple? What of the color of wealth (treasures in heaven), gold? What of the color of creation (Maker of heaven and earth), green? What of the grave conquered by the resurrection, black?
It is notable that only American churches and ecumenical groups have adopted the Christian flag. We might best re-name it the American Christian Flag--which leads back to the question of why the Prince of Peace needs a symbol whose use and meaning are tied to battle?
---
As you may have surmised from this series, I find little to commend the use of the American flag or the Christian flag in Christian sanctuaries. I believe it is possible to thank God for the blessings of citizenship in any country without presenting a flag in the front of the worship space. I think national flags in those places dilute the confession of the Church that Christ calls together all nations, tongues, and peoples into one body. I think flag presentation obscures the fact that nations are human inventions--though good and useful in their own rights--far inferior to the power of the Holy Spirit and divisive even in the best of circumstances.
Does the cross not suffice to symbolize our identity and call us to be good Christians and good citizens wherever we are? And if walking the path of the cross were to make us bad citizens, change would be demanded not of Jesus but of the nation in question.
Thanks for taking our faith and symbols seriously. Even if we disagree on the meaning of the flag in worship, in whole or in part, I hope that I've offered you ideas that help you articulate your position more clearly. Holy Spirit, give us wisdom to navigate this world with love, grace, and truth.
~ emrys
No comments:
Post a Comment