A big Baptist church in Texas heldย a special โFreedom Sundayโ service, featuring patriotic music, flag ceremonies, military presentations, a sermon celebrating America, and other nationalistic celebrations. ย The sort other congregations, I dare say, have plannedย for the 4th of July weekend.
Several observers are condemning the Baptist service for being โidolatrous.โ
Conservative Methodist Mark Tooley describes the service, expresses some reservations, but defends the congregation against the charge of idolatry. ย He doesnโt approve of non-traditional worship in general, but he says that there is nothing wrong with churches being part of the local culture and thanking God for their country. ย This is his conclusion: ย โNonsacred music and other non-Gospel focused celebrations by churches are best hosted outside of worship.โ
I think the main problem with this sort of thing is theย same problem with other kinds of โcontemporary worshipโ that says little about Christ or the reception of His gifts. ย I hasten to say that not all contemporary worship does that, but thisย often happens when the impulse to appealย to the culture and thus sacralize it takes priority over Word and Sacrament.
Read the excerpt from Mark Tooley after the jump, along with his linked article. ย Do you think this service constitutes idolatry? ย Or are such patriotic observances fine outside the church, but not in the context of a worship service? ย Or would thatย still constitute a non-Christian โcivil religionโ? ย How could we apply the doctrine of the Two Kingdomsโwhich teaches that God reigns over both the spiritual and the temporal realms, but in different waysโto this issue?
From Mark Tooley, ย Patriotic Worship? โ Juicy Ecumenism:
Worship style for Protestants is debatable. The seriousness of idolatry is not. This allegation against First Baptist by several critics cited literal American flag waving by worshippers, patriotic music, including military service songs and the National Anthemโs first stanza, that donโt mention God, an armed military honor guard presenting the colors, and asking military veterans to stand during their respective service songs.
Per the singing of โGod Bless America,โ the Presbyterian music director sarcastically blogged: โWhat better anthem to begin patriotic worship than Jewish/agnostic American composer Irving Berlinโs tribute to that good olโ unnamed, generic American pseudo-deity?โ Julia Ward Howe was a Unitarian, but her โBattle Hymn of the Republicโ about Christโs return appears in theย United Methodist Hymnal, among many others, and deservedly so. No doubt other hymn writers are less than personally orthodox, yet their hymns point to God with language in sync with Christian orthodoxy.
More dubious than โGod Bless Americaโ in worship are songs that were featured at First Baptist like โItโs a Grand Old Flagโ and โThis Is My Country,โ which are stirring music for civic pageants but donโt point to God. On Sundays close to national holidays, hymns like โAmerica (My Country Tis of Thee)โ and โAmerica the Beautiful,โ which appear in several denominational hymnals, seem more appropriate thanks to their divine references. โI Vow to Thee My Countryโ is a beautiful English hymn describing duel loyalties to earthly kingdoms and Godโs Kingdom that deserves more American usage,
Per the armed honor guard that presented the colors at First Baptist, it seems in my view likely inappropriate for worship, since it has no traditional role in Christian liturgy, although fine for military funerals or civic events held in churches. Pacifists of course object to any presence of weapons or military regalia in a sanctuary. But mainstream Christianity affirms the military, wielding the sword for legitimate government, and rightly deployed, as God-ordained.
As to recognizing veterans during worship, they are surely no less worthy than graduating students or many many others who are marking life passages, like birthdays, who often receive acknowledgement and applause in less formal Protestant worship.
And the flag waving by worshippers at First Baptist? Itโs not my own preference for worship, but was it idolatrous?
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Photo from Pixabay, CC0, Public Domain