The Flag and the Cross

I have given some thought these last few days to the Memorial Day holiday. Normandy. Auschwitz. Gettysburg. All of these places (and so many more) represent the cost of our national freedoms. What a privilege we have to live in America. We are a free people. And that freedom has been won and preserved by those who have served in the military. What an enormous gift for which we should be thankful.

Then I think about people who live in other parts of the world. What about those who do not have the freedoms we have – to worship, assemble, raise families, spend money, etc.? They are devoid of an understanding of what it’s like to have what we have. That got me thinking further. And I wonder, is it possible to enjoy freedom when the government does not give us freedom? The answer is a resounding YES!

Followers of Jesus can and should celebrate freedom. You see, the greatest freedoms we have were not won on battlefields around the world. The greatest freedom available to all humanity is the freedom from sin. Only God can give us that freedom. The beauty of God’s freedom is that it is not dependent on human effort, governmental legislation, or personal preference. While soldiers have fought wars to preserve our national freedoms, only Jesus purchased our eternal salvation with His own blood.

Things like saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the Star-Spangled Banner have great importance. They keep us tethered to the reasons we have freedom. In our current cultural climate, there is a lot of animosity in some circles, toward those who celebrate our freedoms with reminders like those. In fact, I would argue, that refusals to stand for the national anthem and reciting the pledge are contributing factors to why we’ve lost our moorings as a culture. We have forgotten why we have our freedoms.

Again, let’s think about the freedom we have in Christ. While Christians may point their fingers at the culture and look with disgust on flagrant refusals to honor our nation and those who have paid the price for our freedoms, aren’t they (professing Christians) doing the same thing with God? How often do we celebrate our freedom in Christ? How often do we remember the sacrifice of Jesus? How many ways can we identify that we denigrate His sacrifice with our petulant attitudes toward Him? These are not fun questions to contemplate, because most of us know that we are guilty. Something needs to change.

So, I would encourage you to contemplate, in some fresh ways, the sacrifice of Jesus and what He’s done for you. Are you as proud of the sacrifice Jesus made on Calvary as you are to fly your flag on your property? What shifts might God be asking you to make so that you regularly practice remembering His sacrifice for you? The flag should never be our greatest source of pride and hope. That privilege belongs to the cross! Remember it until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).