Old Glory Lutheran Church: A Diatribe on Flags in the Sanctuary

A few weeks ago I noticed that the flags were missing from the sanctuary of my church.

I was happy about this. I don't think either the American flag, the so-called Christian flag, or any other political symbol has any business being displayed in the sanctuary. I think it is a bit like if the early Christians would have displayed a Roman standard in their worship spaces to witness to everyone how much they loved Rome and the emperor, so they could avoid being fed to the lions. That's not the witness they gave.

We pray for our country and our leaders. Scripture tells us to do so. God commands us to obey those authorities which are over us because He has established them, unless they tell us to do something contrary to God's word. But, we are supposed to know that this world and its kingdoms are passing away. We are supposed to understand that here, in this fallen creation, we have no continuing city. We are pilgrims, looking forward to when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of Our LORD, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.

Then the flags came back. Apparently, there was some outrage expressed. It was coming up on Veteran's Day, after all. This is not surprising.

Why is this issue a hill upon which so many people are willing to die? Why are people so adamantly in favor of having an American flag inside their church sanctuary?

This genuinely is confusing to me. Whenever I look forward toward the chancel, the American and Christian flags book-ending it seems to me awkward and out of place. Standing among the other artwork, architecture, and sacred furniture are these two oddities: a symbol of political power and authority, and a symbol of 19th Century American ecumenism of which the LCMS was not supportive.

There is no surer way to cause controversy in your LCMS congregation than to remove, or even suggest the removal of the flags from the sanctuary. A possible exception to this is perhaps the suggested removal of delinquent members from the church membership rolls. The difference, however, is that despite the grumbling of the odd distant relative, I have been a part of congregations that have successfully removed names from their rolls. I have never personally seen a congregation successfully remove an American flag from a sanctuary. I hear tell that such places exist, though.

The most common argument against removing the flags that I have encountered is that the flags are there to show our patriotism and love of country. They show that we want God to bless our country and its inhabitants. They express our belief in the idea of the Two Kingdoms: Just as God is at work governing the Church, He is also at work governing our nation, so it is appropriate to display the flag.

That last one's a stretch.

I suspect that the real reason has more to do with our genuine love and respect for our friends and neighbors who are veterans of the US armed forces, and the patriotism instilled in an older generation of Americans according to what I call the American Civil Religion (God and Country).

If you have the unmitigated gall to oppose the display of the American flag in church, however, people get angry. You are denying God's sovereignty. You are denying that America is a Christian nation (which I do, but that's a whole different story you can read here), and you are a filthy anti-American pinko-commie rat bastard.

But I'm not a commie rat bastard. I love the US Constitution, and the principles enshrined therein. The place for showing that love of country, however, isn't inside the sanctuary. It is at the ballot box. And those principles certainly aren't our ultimate hope for salvation. Jesus is.

The sanctuary is the place where we gather to hear God's word preached. It is where we receive God's gifts of forgiveness of sins and eternal life won for us by Jesus' death on the cross, particularly in the sacraments. It is our heavenly embassy. It should look, sound, smell, and feel different than the secular world. It should direct our focus to Christ and what He does for us. When we include secular politics in the sacred space, the best-case scenario is that we confuse and diminish this function of the sanctuary. The worst-case scenario is that we are actually setting up other objects of worship next to Jesus.

Saying this, however, apparently means that I do not love America.

How did the flag get in the sanctuary in the first place? The common myth is that the American flag came into the sanctuaries of LCMS churches during World War I. That's not entirely true. It was, rather, a process that happened over a long period of time stretching back to the 1890s.

In the 1890s the Grand Army of the Republic (the precursor to the modern American Legion) began promoting the patriotic display of the American Flag. The GAR, and other patriotic civic organizations, purchased and donated flags to private and public institutions alike, including public buildings, libraries, and even churches (immigrant and native congregations alike). By the time of the Great War, churches displaying the American flag - though not in their sanctuaries - was becoming a common practice. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)

But the official story goes that, during the Great War, German-speaking Lutherans were suspected of not being loyal to America, but rather to their ancestral home. Being targeted for persecution, we filthy, backward, non-English-speaking immigrants nervously began displaying the flag to show that we were not subversive, and to better fit into American society and culture.

By the time we were getting ready to make the world safe for democracy by entering the Great War, churches displaying the American flag were becoming the norm. The magazine The Lutheran Witness documented the patriotism of German Lutherans in America during the war by showing how proudly they displayed their flags. But, it wasn't a reaction to wartime persecution as much as it was a positive response to community activism, and an effort to blend in. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)

Most importantly, in the examples cited by The Lutheran Witness, the flags weren't inside the sanctuary. That didn't happen until after World War II.

When the LCMS was actually being persecuted during World War I because she was a German-speaking church, and her pastors preached in German, there was a huge fight over whether the Synod should abandon German for English. We seem to never have fought about the flags. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)

In the end, demographics decided the language question in favor of English, but there doesn't seem to have been a similar debate over the flag. Everyone just seems to think displaying the flag was a good idea.

By the 1950s the LCMS was publishing guides to show congregations how to properly display the flag inside the sanctuary. To this day the Synod officially treats the issue of displaying the American flag in the sanctuary as an adiaphoron. (Nickodemus, “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.”)

To me, that is just a pious way to avoid making a decision that the important people know will upset the wrong group of laymen too much. The men in charge all know that the American flag, or any other political symbol, doesn't belong in the sanctuary. No one wants to bother with the argument.

Displaying the American flag in the sanctuary confuses our worship. It makes it look like we are worshiping the State. By the way many people react when one suggests moving the flags out of the sanctuary to a more suitable location, I'm beginning to think that maybe we do worship the State.

We did, after all, follow the edict of the governor (here in Illinois) and suspend worship at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, offering very little resistance. Between March 16 and May 31, I think we can be a little charitable. We were still trying to figure out just what we were dealing with; we didn't understand how deadly the virus was (or wasn't), or whom it affected the most; many of us (myself included) still believed that our government was acting in good faith during that time.

Then came the protests.

When politicians and news reporters began to encourage the “mostly peaceful protests” in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, their lie was exposed. They said people should protest because systemic racism was a bigger public health crisis than Covid-19, but they still worked to keep Christians from gathering together to worship. (Bernstein, “De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban.”) Even after this blatant display of the government's agenda, many church members continued to shout “Romans 13! Romans 13!” and advocate for online worship. Many others were just too timid to say anything. (Klotz, “Civil Disobedience.”)

The point is this: most people were willing to trust the government when the government ordered us to wear masks, even after there was evidence that masks did little to stop infection. People were willing to trust the government when they forced us to stop going to church for our own safety but said it was safe to protest the police, or go to Walmart, Target, or other essential (read corporate) businesses.

Meanwhile, many of us Christians (myself included at the beginning) didn't trust Jesus enough to say that we must obey God rather than men and, willing to accept the temporal consequences, gather in spite of the government ban.

We didn't trust Jesus enough to obey Him, to gather around Word and Sacrament, and to eat His body and drink His blood as He told us to. We were afraid that Jesus would kill us, and we trusted the government to save us. It should be the other way around. In fact, we should trust Jesus so much that, even if He does kill us, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Maybe it's more accurate to say that we were more afraid to disobey the Government than we were to disobey Jesus. If that's so, we would do well to remember what Jesus said about fear: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

That's Jesus, God in human flesh, not J.B. Pritzker.

So, perhaps we do worship the government. Perhaps it would be more appropriate, and cause less of a furor to remove the crucifix from above the altar and keep the flags. We could maybe replace it with a picture of an American Bald Eagle. We could worship our idol by eating apple pie instead of the Lord's Supper; the Scriptures could be replaced by readings from the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers; preaching by telling people to be good citizens.

Our transformation into adherents of the American Civil Religion of generic “god” and Country would be complete.

Or, we could confess our sins, and God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. For the part I played in our unfaithfulness, I repent.

And then, maybe also at least move the flags to the fellowship hall. ###

Works Cited

Bernstein, Brittany. “De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban.” De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://news.yahoo.com/blasio-black-lives-matter-protests-115502505.html.

Concordia Historical Institute. “US Flag in Missouri Synod Churches - Concordia Historical Institute.” Accessed November 13, 2022. https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/about-chi/chi-reference-and-research/frequently-asked-questions/us-flag-in-missouri-synod-churches/.

Klotz, Joseph. “Civil Disobedience.” The Hodgkins Lutheran: Civil Disobedience, November 26, 2021. http://hodgkinslutheran.blogspot.com/2021/11/civil-disobedience.html.

Nickodemus, Ben. “The History of the American Flag in Missouri Synod Churches.” Historical Footnotes, 2017. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://concordiahistoricalinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HF62_2_American_Flag_LCMS_Churches.pdf.

Iconoclasm

    So, now that we all admit that we are idolaters, what do we do about it?

    We could do what iconoclasts (literally image-breakers) have done throughout the centuries to combat idolatry: smash the images to tiny bits, and then burn the tiny bits to ash. That’s what the iconoclasts back in the Byzantine Empire did. That’s what many Germans did during the Lutheran Reformation. Luther distanced himself from his one-time friend, radical reformer Karlstadt over this issue. Karlstadt advocated for the removal of all images and this incited iconoclastic riots all over Germany.

    The problem, however, isn’t necessarily with the images, it’s with people. It is a problem with our will. We naturally want things that aren’t good. We are given Christ, the image of the invisible God: Christ crucified for our sins and risen from the dead. Instead, we want anything and everything else. Most of all, we want to indulge the desires of our flesh. We want to be happy. We want to feel good. We want those things right now. The talking picture box in our homes and pockets gives us a steady diet of things which we think will accomplish this, and we plug it directly into our brains.

    So, what is the answer? Are we supposed to rip our televisions and computers out of the wall and smash them to bits?

    I mean, watching less cable news and fewer Tictoks is always good. The point, however, is not to reject technology or to become a hermit. There were plenty of people who worshiped idols before the invention of the television. We are still the same sinners when we isolate ourselves from society.

    The point is to recognize that we want the idol to make us comfortable and fulfill our desires. Our flesh wants more than daily bread. That desire for evil over good comes from inside our own hearts. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells the crowds to cut off their hands if their hands cause them to sin. His point was that it isn’t your hand that causes you to steal or murder. It is your heart that causes those things.

    We can’t cut out our hearts, can we?

    No, but we don’t have to. Jesus has already done that for all of mankind on the cross. He is calling us to repent, and believe the good news. By the washing of water and the word Jesus washes away our sin. He uses ordinary water and the hands of a pastor to do it, but it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that gives the power. In baptism He applies His word of promise to us directly. He removes our heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.

    He makes us, who were dead in our sins, alive in Him. ###

Idolatry

    We tend to think of idolatry as something from ancient times.

    Only the dum-dums from back in the Stupid Ages would be ignorant enough to think that a carved piece of wood or stone was god. We would never fall for something like that. We would never need something like that. We know so much more about how the world works than they did. We are better educated. We understand things like science and physics. We don’t need moon gods and sun gods, gods of the seasons, gods of fertility, and gods of war. We don’t have to make up a supernatural cause to explain the things we don’t understand – because we know everything. And, even if we don’t exactly know everything, per se, we probably will soon because science and technology just keeps on advancing.

    But I think idolatry is more of a problem than it has ever been.

    The word idol comes from the Greek word for image. In English it means an object of worship. It is an object of strong affection or devotion. It is a false god, or something worshiped as God. Narrowly, idolatry is defined as the worship of an idol. More broadly, however, idolatry means excessive attachment or veneration of anything.

    Man can make a god out of money. He can make a god out of sex. He can make a god out of drink, or drugs, or digging in his garden. Confessional Lutherans might say that anything a man fears, loves, and trusts in above all other things is his idol. Just look around you. What do men fear? What do they love? What do they trust? Is it the Triune God? They might say it is, but only when push comes to shove will we really find out what we are truly worshiping.

    We might not even be aware that we have set up an idol until we are called to be a witness for Christ. Until we are called to choose between our “sincerely held religious belief” and our job. Until we steadfastly refuse to go along with the spirit of the age when it tells us to deny universal truths, or even the existence of Truth itself. Until we are called to live according to the faith in Christ we profess and suffer, or live according to our faith in our idols and live comfortably in this world.

    We are idol worshipers, in the Stupid Ages sense of the term. I don’t mean that in some metaphoric way, either. Don’t think so? We all have an image set up in our homes, around which we gather for hours at a time. Most people have more than one, because they can’t bear to be out of its presence for too long. It tells us what to think. It tells us what to do. It tells us who to love and who to hate. We look to it for knowledge and comfort. We go to it when we just want to shut off our brains because we think that it is only offering us mindless entertainment. In reality, it is possessing us with the spirit of the age and reprogramming our brains.

    What’s worse is that not only do we have the talking, lying image in our homes, we all carry one around with us in our pockets, myself included.

    I’m not saying that St. John was necessarily prophesying about cable TV and smart phones. I’m just saying that, when he writes about a talking image that deceives the people of the earth and causes all who refuse to worship the beast to be killed, maybe we should consider our position for a moment.1 What, or whom do we fear? What, or whom do we love? What, or whom do we trust above all things?

    If we do that, I think we are likely to find that the false god we all finally worship is the idol of Self. That is the god to whom all our talking images ultimately direct us.

    There is one image that we are to worship – the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact representation of God’s being. It is as though God was pressed into the mold of humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary, with everything that it means to be the eternal God concentrated in the person of Jesus. That man, God in human flesh, died on the cross as the ransom for the sins of the world. He gives that gift to us now through His word.

     Repent, and believe the Gospel. Fight against the idol of Self. Struggle against the flesh and its desires. 

    And turn off the TV. ###



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1 See Revelation 13:11-18

Addressing the Areopagus

Areopagus Sermon, by Rafael, 1515.

Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter” (Acts 17:29-32).

Read Acts 17:16-34 here.

Paul demonstrates here what he means when he writes to the Corinthians that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Paul spends his time in Athens talking to the philosophers and thinkers, preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus. God works through His preached word. He wants all men to be savers and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, He brings the means of grace to the people of Athens through Paul.

The Areopagus today.

The Athens in which Paul was preaching looks a lot like the society and culture in which we live today. We may not speak Greek or wear togas, but those types of things are only superficial. Paul looked around at Athens and saw a city filled with idolatry. We too are indeed very religious. We don’t worship statues of the gods of Olympus, but we are the same type of idolaters as the ancient Athenians nevertheless. We, like them, and like all of mankind since the Fall don’t fear, love, and trust in God above all things. We are curved inward on ourselves. We have made ourselves our god, the object of our worship. The Greeks carved images out of stone to represent their gods, but they all suspiciously had the characteristics of men. Those gods were proud, they were jealous, they were vain and capricious. They blessed you when you pleased them, and they punished you when you offended them, generally speaking. They understood quid pro quo.

Today, we may not have giant statues of Zeus in the center of our towns, but we don’t need them. We do just fine worshipping ourselves without the formal paganism. The worship of self is characterized by man feeling some vague need for redemption, and trying to assuage that feeling by some outward act or work. We spend our days sacrificing to the idol of self our time, our talent, and our treasure, to borrow the language of Christian stewardship. We don’t sacrifice animals to the gods, but we do sacrifice just about everything else to try and please the god of ourselves.

Paul’s preaching of the law, however, shows us what is really important. God, the true God, is not far from us. We are so curved inward on ourselves that we can’t see Him. And, as Paul said, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Some mocked Paul, when they earn him speak of the resurrection of the dead, just as they do today. Their sinful minds remain hostile to God; they cannot understand the spiritual things because they are stiff-necked, and always resist the working of the Holy Spirit.

But Christ comes to us in His Word and Sacraments. Through His word, He works repentance for our sins and faith in His promise of redemption in us. Through faith in Christ, He makes us sons of God and heirs of the promise. Through baptism, the washing of regeneration through water and the word, Christ clothes us with Himself and joins us to His death and resurrection. Let us be among those who, upon hearing the Gospel, wanted to hear more, who joined Paul, who believed, and who grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.