The Parable of the Flag Poles
I did a double take and made a U-turn on one of Jennie and my road trips (I’ve dubbed them “retirement junkets”). I wanted to take a second look at something I’d seen out of the corner of my eye in passing. A church had two large flagpoles facing the highway on which the United States flag and the Christian flag fluttered side-by-side fifteen feet or so above the parking lot. What I thought I saw and what was confirmed upon our U-turn return was that the U.S. flag flew 2-3 feet above the church flag and, given the slant of the sun’s rays at the hour we passed, literally overshadowed the Church flag.
A visible parable, I thought. And as with all parables, the Parable of the Flagpoles is open to interpretation by the hearer, or, in the case of my drive-by spotting of it, the see-er. What came to my mind as I pondered the parable were occasions in my ministry when the question arose as to the proper placement of the two flags-- not when they’re in the parking lot, but when they’re in the sanctuary-- and whether there should be flags in a sanctuary at all.
In many, but not all of the churches I served, the primary furnishings in the chancel included a communion table, lectern, pulpit, baptistery, a cross, and two flags. What goes where and why? Is there a theological/biblical interior decorator in the house?
Theology and Bible have something to say on this matter. I’ll let them speak soon, but a voice that was always heard and accorded authority in this conversation is the Flag Code:
When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.
Now for a word from our (Christians’) sponsors: Theology and Bible. Professor of Worship Hoyt Hickman wrote a fine article titled “Should We Have Flags in the Church? The Christian Flag and the American Flag” in which he noted[1],
Both in The Flag Code and in the Bible, it is assumed that placement on the right signifies higher honor than — and priority over — placement on the left and that higher placement signifies higher honor than and priority over lower placement.
So, by the letter of the (Flag Code) law, the U.S. flag is to be placed to the right of the chancel, the Christian flag to the left. This is the positioning I’ve observed in the churches I’ve served and visited that have flags in their sanctuaries.
Theologically and biblically, however, God is above all and Christ is Lord over all. One would surmise that would dictate that the flag of Christ’s Church be on the right. That it is does not raises a question. By subordinating the Christian flag to the nation’s flag, does the Church, the Body of Christ, the people of God comprising all people and nations of all times and places, really intend to profess that the symbol of one nation (and its laws and values) is to be honored above and have priority over God’s kingdom, God’s Law, God’s Messiah, and God’s people of all other nations?
I think not. So-called Christian Nationalists may. I don’t. My allegiance to my nation is subservient to my allegiance to God. “One nation under God.” Not nation fluttering above God as in the Parable of the Flagpoles. Under God. And if side-by-side, in accordance with decorum both secular and sacred that says Right side = Place of Honor, shouldn’t the Church Flag be to the right of any nation’s flag? (I write this as a lefty who is offended by the entire premise of right being superior to left, but that’s another story...)
Bottom line: there is no way to display both flags together that does not dishonor one flag or the other. Put the Christian flag to the right of the U.S. flag and you’re flying in the face of the Flag Code. Put the U.S. flag to the right of (or above) the Church flag and you declare your primary allegiance is to Caesar, not Christ.
Baptists of old recognized the competing loyalties represented by Church and State. Wanting to live with a proper patriotism that renders to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Matthew 22:22) and being persecuted by the state for insisting that God have first loyalty in their lives, the predecessors of the flags-flying Baptists were the people who urged “separation of church and state.” They understood all too well that the flags of those entities are best not placed side-by-side. As someone wryly put it, “Whenever Church and State have gone to bed together, the kids end up looking more like the State than the Church.”
The early Baptists intuited that the way of living faithfully as a Christian and a citizen in this or any nation consigns one to a lifetime lover’s quarrel. Both words are critical. A quarrel because God’s Word will always hold nations accountable for falling short of loving God and neighbor in their policies and practices. No nation is without sin. But it will be a lover’s quarrel because just as God loves and seeks the redemption of people, so does God love and seek the redemption of nations of people.
There is much about the nation in which I live that I love and for which I thank God. But my patriotism is not an uncritical love fest. Contrary to those whose flags overshadow their crosses, whose nationalism compromises their faith, the USA is not the New Jerusalem come down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. But contrary to those who only criticize (“throw shade on”) this country, neither is the USA the beast of Revelation. A proper patriotism embraces a nation’s values and policies that are godly while critiquing those that are not.
Back to the church along the highway. Behind the two flag poles, towering above them in size and visibility, standing sentinel over the messy competing loyalties of church and state fluttering below, was a cross. On it, the One who challenged both Church/Temple and State was crucified by representatives of both entities.
Come to think of it, in all my churches that had flags and got tied up in knots (or not) over where to place them and how to properly exercise their allegiances, all had crosses that, when all other symbols were seen and done being seen, rose high above them.
I did another U-turn and headed on my way with the sight of the cross in my rear view mirror. And it dawned on me that the architects of the Parable of the Flagpoles got it right after all: the cross and all it represents rises high above the fracas of Church and State below, including our stumbling efforts to properly order and live out our allegiance to each.
[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/should-we-have-flags-in-the-church-the-christian-flag-and-the-american-flag
