As a pastor, one of the times where I have to tread lightly
are on the times of “holidays” that do not have a strong (or really any) significance
for the church. The holidays I am
thinking of but are not limited to are Memorial Day, the Fourth of July,
Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, etc. Each one of these days
certainly has significance and I do not want to discredit that. However,
instituting patriotic hymns, can detract from the real reason that we are
worshiping this Sunday (and every week) and that is because of our Triune God.
When we take a look at a number of those patriotic hymns, the emphasis many
times is on the beauty of America, the wonderful America and not on the
wonderful God who gave us our lives and our nation. Singing these hymns for us
detracts from the redemptive work of Jesus Christ whose blood purchased pardon
for us. We certainly can and should pledge our allegiance to our nation, we
have to remember that our allegiance should first belong to the one who
deserves all of the praise and glory. Our worship is reserved for God and God
alone, not our nation. As the scriptures say, “Thou shall have no other gods
before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Let our focus be on worshiping God not ourselves.
Secondly, we should be sensitive towards those around us.
While this is probably more applicable for those in larger cities, we must
remember that Christianity encompasses more than just the United States of
America. If we were worshiping at a church in Canada, Germany or Japan and
they began to sing songs about their nation being wonderful, would we perhaps
cringe a little bit? A worship service should be a safe place for all.
Our worship then, should reflect what God wants from us. Revelation 7:9 says, “After this I looked,
and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples and languages…” If we are singing songs about our
nation, we may be unintentionally sending a message that God only is for the United
States, which clearly is not the case.
I am thankful to God for those who have valiantly served. It
is not my intent to “slight” or diminish the sacrifices that they have made. As
an American and as a Christian it is my privilege and really my duty to honor
those brave men, women and military families who have sacrificed so much for
our freedom and safety as a nation. You may hear me say a prayer of
thanksgiving on Sunday, but the day that we focus on that should be Monday not
the Lord’s Day.
“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by
Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.”
PS There are a number of blogs and discussions about this
topic on the web, I did peruse them in preparation for the blogs. I don’t
remember all of them but I thank them for their contributions to the
discussion.
Some samples are here.
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