Patriotism in the Church

This weekend, I visited a church in Nashville. The entire service was patriotic-themed, and I was uncomfortable the whole time. Right now, I am having a hard time articulating all the reasons that I was uncomfortable with this type of service, but I will do my best to communicate my beliefs and reactions.

First of all, the pastor freely admitted that he was not going to preach an expository sermon from Scripture. Rather, he was going to offer a "history lesson." He went on to talk about the fact that America was founded by Christians. Her documents were framed by Christians. And the American principles and standards are Christian. Of course, I would agree with the fact that the overwhelming majority of America's founding fathers were Christians or exemplified Christian standards of morality. And I am very thankful for this fact. However, the pastor went on to say, "America is a Christian nation! America is a Christian nation! America is a Christian nation!" Really? According to the documents that our Christian forefathers wrote, America is a republic, not a theocracy.

It is naive to believe that a simple history lesson will cure everything. I am sure that liberals, agnostics, even anti-Christians, are quite well aware of the fact that America's founders were mostly Christians. But that has no relevence to them today. Many of them would say that we as a nation, and as a culture, have evolved past the need for religion, for God, for a strict standard of morality even. We cannot change the minds of liberal politicians by telling them the history of America. We must change them by telling them the Gospel.

I felt like the pastor was communicating that the way to change America is through voting the right people into office, the ones who will make decisions like a Christian would. I do not believe we can shape America by simply voting the right people into office. The government will not redeem our culture. Our political leaders, in fact, are a reflection of our culture. While it is our duty to vote for politicians who best represent Christian standards, voting is not the way to make America into a nation that upholds Biblical morality and standards. We redeem culture by living as Christ would live - by working with integrity, by telling others of Christ, by creating things of beauty, by showing love and hope to the poor and the helpless, by showing hospitality, by faithful participation in a local church, by preaching God's word. Our culture will be changed by Christians living faithfully. Faithful Christians will reap a harvest of more faithful Christians. The American people must begin to look like a people that is concerned with Christian standards before our government will look this way.

Another problem that I had with the church service was that while the Word was never read or taught, an invitation was given. Why? Salvation comes through faith in Christ, and faith in Christ comes through the hearing of the Word. The invitation was certainly inappropriate for the type of service that the pastor had planned. The pastor also said that he thought God had raised up America, a nation with so many economic resources, to use its money to spread the gospel all over the world. He threatened the congregation that if American didn't "shape up," God would remove his hand of blessing and protection. Where in the world did he recieve such a prophetic word?

So... Back to patriotism in the church. What do some of you feel about patriotic services/sermons/history lessons? Have any of you experienced similar services? What were your reactions? What are practical ways that we can work to redeem culture? How should a Christian be involced in politics? How do you feel about American flags in the sanctuary? What is the Church's relationship to America? I am still sorting through my feelings on this topic and would love others' opinions.