The Pledge of Allegiance, 2 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Say It

The Pledge of Allegiance was originally composed in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. Originally the Pledge was composed of these words: 
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 
 Interestingly you don't find the controversial phrase "under God",or even "of the United States of America". Both of these phrases were later additions to the Pledge, leading to the final version that we all know today:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

So, enough about history. I'd like to propose that there are two primary reasons (if not more), why Christians/followers of Christ should NOT say the pledge. Before we get into those reasons I'd like to start with defining some of the key words in the pledge so we are all on the same page as to its meaning.

Pledge: To offer or guarantee by a solemn binding promise, similar to an oath.

Allegiance: [1] the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign. [2] loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.

Flag:  A usually rectangular piece of fabric of distinctive design that is used as a symbol.(In this case, a symbol for the Republic of the United States of America)

From these definitions we can understand a couple of things. Making a pledge is basically the same thing as an oath. And, giving your allegiance to something or someone is basically committing your loyalty to that entity. Also, the flag stands for something more than itself. It stands for the country/government it belongs to. In short, to pledge your allegiance to the flag means that you are making an oath of loyalty to the country, the United States of America. 

Now for the two reasons why I think Christians should NOT be making an oath of allegiance to the United States or any other earthly government. 

#1 Jesus directly and without any qualifiers condemns making an oath to anything for any reason. 

 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’  But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;  or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matthew 5:33-37)

The people in Jesus' day had a practice of making oaths for almost anything. The practice of making oaths was to guarantee before men and God that the person making the oath would fulfill his obligation or carry out a promise. It was looked on as a criminal offense to break your oath. Thus, the Jews had been commanded to "fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made". Jesus, however, changes things. Notice that he does not say, " Do not swear an oath and then break it." No, he says: "Do not swear an oath AT ALL"!!! He says that as people who follow God, less words, more often than not, is better than more. Simply say 'Yes' or 'No', and do not swear an oath AT ALL ! 

#2 Jesus also teaches that men cannot serve two masters at the same time. 

When teaching about worldly treasures, Jesus says we should be more concerned with the things of heaven and God's kingdom than those of this world. 

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24)
  
We can't give our loyalty to two masters and be pleasing to both. Whether the choice is between God and money, God and man, God and a government or nation, the choice is always the same, one or the other. It seems that Jesus is saying 'you can't have your cake and eat it too'. In light of this it just doesn't seem possible to me to give my loyalty to God, and then try and give it to a government at the same time. Jesus also said " My kingdom is not of this world". Jesus has a kingdom, and just like an earthly kingdom , I can't be loyal to two kingdoms at once. It would be impossible to be loyal to the USA and Iran at the same time! It's the same with being part of the kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to be loyal to his kingdom, and if we have given our loyalty to God's kingdom, how then can we try and give it to America or any other worldly kingdom? 
  
To sum up: Pledging allegiance to the flag equates to making an oath of loyalty to an earthly kingdom. Both acts are condemned by Jesus. I'm ready to stop pledging loyalty to the United States or any other kingdom other than the kingdom of heaven. How about you? 

May the peace of Christ be with you today, and in a small way his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Viva la Revolution! 

 

Following Jesus, Yet Not A Christian

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." Gandhi

I, like Gandhi, do not like a good deal of those in the Christian religion. 'Wait a minute!', you might say, 'YOU are a Christian too, aren't you Matt?'. It all depends on your definition of what a Christian is. If by Christian you mean, one who is like Jesus, well then thanks, I'm humbled that when you look at/think of me, it reminds you of Jesus. However, I don't consider myself as having arrived at the destination of being "like Jesus". Don't get me wrong, I want to be "like Jesus". I take his teachings seriously, try to follow his instructions and example, and may very well be like him in some regard. I don't want to be that presumptuous to say that I am like Christ. Like I said, if others chose to refer to me as being Christlike, that is well and good, that seems to be the way the term "Christian" was first used anyway ( see Acts 11:26). So, how would I describe myself and my spirituality? Simply as a "follower of Christ". That's what Jesus called people to do, to follow him. He called people to follow his example, his teachings, and way of life.

So, isn't being a "Christian" and a "follower of Jesus" the same thing? I think it can be. If by following Jesus others call you "Christlike", then yes they can be one and the same. However, it is also possible(as is often the case) to claim to be a Christian or to be a part of the religion of Christianity without actually following Jesus. Many people claim to be Christians (Go to church, say and do Christian things, give money to the church etc), they want the salvation that Jesus offers, blessings from God, a spiritual country club to be a part of, but they are not following Jesus.

On this topic Gandhi said:

                 "The message of Jesus as I understand it, is contained in the Sermon on the Mount unadulterated and taken as a whole......If then I had to face only the Sermon on the Mount and my own interpretation of it, I should not hesitate to say, 'Oh, yes, I am a Christian.' But negatively I can tell you that in my humble opinion, what passes as Christianity is a negation of the Sermon on the Mount"

This is the #1 reason why I don't want to call myself a Christian. For so long, the message of Jesus, his teachings and commands for how to live life in the kingdom of God, have been diminished, downplayed, and negated by the Christian community at large.

Some examples:

Jesus told us to, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you, yet Christians have in the past (as in the Crusades, Inquisitions, Witch Hunts, Conquering new lands etc), and still today go to war and kill not only their enemies but countless innocents as well.

Jesus constantly spoke of the dangers of relying on money and possessions of this world. He said that a rich man entering the kingdom of God would be like a camel going through the eye of a needle. He said not to worry about tomorrow, but trust and rely on God to provide for your food, shelter, and clothing. Yet, Christians don't look much different than anyone else when it comes to how they spend and save their money, the importance they place on having enough wealth to retire on, and the time they spend worrying about food, shelter and clothing.

Jesus said that we can't serve two masters. He claimed that He alone was the one we should give our allegiance to, no other king, country or ideal. Yet, Christians have raised our nation, Constitution, political party, and guns, to near idols. They have trusted in and promoted laws over and against the teachings of Jesus.

And finally, probably the largest difference between the Christian religion and the teachings of Jesus,  the issue of judging. Jesus said, do not judge for by the standard you use to judge will be how you are judged. He said that those without sin can cast the stone of judgement. What have we seen in the Christian religion ? Christians picking out their favorite sins that they see in others, like homosexuality, abortion, or how to dress, and downplaying or ignoring others that Jesus says are more important like, how we treat our neighbors and enemies, greed, pride, self-righteousness, and ignoring the needy of the world.

I'm not judging Christians. I'm not trying to say who is going to heaven and who is not. All I'm saying is that when I look at the vast majority of the history of Christianity(including today), most of the time, people are not following Jesus. They certainly don't look very much like him, which is what they are claiming to be when taking the name of a Christian. So in short, I'm not particularly fond of calling myself a Christian for two reasons. First, I am not presumptuous enough to claim to be "like Christ". Second, the word "Christian", historically and currently has been associated with many views, ideas, and beliefs that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus.

So where does that leave me? With Gandhi...... If I follow the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, then yes... I am a Christian. Also, sadly I must say: I do not like your Christians, they are so unlike your Christ.   

Boston and the Least of These...Responding to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

This last week, the city of Boston bore more than its fare share of the fallen nature of this world we live in. I was at work when I heard the news......

         BOMBS HAVE GONE OFF AT THE FINISH LINE OF THE BOSTON MARATHON! 

We all stopped what we were doing and one by one, made our way to the TV in the lobby and bore witness to the horrible event that had just happened. At first, no one knew how many were hurt, did anyone die? As the afternoon progressed we learned of the near 140 injured and the 3 who lost their lives. More questions....

                        WHO DID THIS? WHY? 


By Friday, the investigative authorities had their suspicions. Two brothers. Both from southern Russia. The oldest (26 years old) was killed in a shoot-out with police. The younger brother (19 years old), Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was arrested Friday night after a day on the run, being shot and severely wounded, and pulled from a hiding spot in a boat in a backyard.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has not gone to trial yet. He has not been found guilty. If found guilty, he could face the death sentence. But, we haven't got that far in the story yet, and quite honestly, for me....it doesn't matter.

What does matter for those of us who follow Jesus, is how to relate to this man. Here and now, guilty or not, how does Jesus tell us to relate to the least of these in our world? What are we to do with the sick (those shot by the police, bleeding and near death in a hospital)? What are we to do with the imprisoned (those under armed guard, who will be interrogated without normal rights of an American citizen)?

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us a story of the final judgement. He separates those who will enter his kingdom from those who will not. And then, gives these words as reason for who will enter:

"Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

The righteous then ask Jesus when they ever saw him hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked , sick , or in prison. And he replied: 

"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

I don't know about you, but  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sure seems like one of "the least of these" to me. He is sick, and he is in prison. He may be innocent, but he may be guilty. Jesus doesn't distinguish between the two. He simply says, VISIT ME and COME TO ME. For those of us who follow Jesus, we are to treat Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as if he is Jesus himself. I may not be able to personally travel to Boston to aid this man. What I CAN do, what we ALL can do, is pray for him. Lift this man up to the Father, thanking him for the forgiveness that has been provided in Jesus. Instead of condemn this man in our thoughts and speech, we can bless and protect him (a fellow image bearer of our King) with our words. In whatever small way we can , we can visit and come to him in this dark hour of his and our lives.

For the American part of me.....I Am Sorry (My Confession)

A couple of weeks ago Red Letter Christian's shared a post by brother Joel Mckerrow. The post, "For the Christian part of me...I am sorry", was amazing! It is one part of a four-part artistic video series in which Joel confesses to the world for the historical, current, and stereotypical Christian, male, white, and rich parts of him. I very highly recommend checking them out. It is a very inspiring and honest evaluation of the place that the religion of Christendom has led us to today.

Today I would like to stand with Joel. I want to confess not only for the four areas that he did, but more specifically for the heritage that has influenced me the most.....


                                          the American part of me.

To start I want to say that I believe America has and still does many good things for its citizens, and others around the world. I am not confessing and saying sorry for those parts, but wish to distance myself from the negative aspects of my nation's heritage and current actions. I know I won't be able to mention all of them, but would like to point out the things I wish to renounce in my American heritage.

Let's begin with, well....the beginning of America. For mainly political reasons (spiritual reasons were used as well) the British colonies in America decided to revolt against England, leading to the bloody Revolutionary War. Instead of following in the way of Jesus (paying taxes, honoring the king, obeying the ruling authorities), our nation's founding fathers decided to forcefully and violently free themselves from ties with England. For this, I am sorry.

Looking forward to the newly formed nation, we find another very often overlooked and downplayed aspect of our heritage: the greed-filled stealing of the Native Americans land, resources, and way of life. Instead of "living at peace with all men", our young nation (very often touting OT violent nation of Israel conquering passages) stole from, deported, and murdered MILLIONS of our lands original inhabitants. To the ORIGINAL Americans I would like to say... I am sorry.

For the sake of time I will limit this already limited confession to a final topic. Let us fast-forward 200 years to the present. This final point is the closest to my heart and has impacted my life the most as I am currently living through it. I want to confess for our current "war on terrorism". I am fully aware that what happened on 9/11 was a terrible, grievous act. Words cannot describe how evil, wrong, and the amount of pain was caused by the acts of a few men on that day. The acts of those few men claimed the lives of almost 3,000 innocent humans. Men, women, and children had their lives cut short. Many thousands more will forever live without those loved ones. For this, my country(including myself) was very angry. Thoughts of vengeance filled our thoughts and minds. However, instead of responding in the way Jesus calls us to, (by loving our enemies, doing good to those that harm us..etc) America launched what has now become the second longest war in our history. We have sought vengeance and justice against our enemies instead of giving love and mercy. Now, I understand that America, as a kingdom of this world, would respond in worldly fashion. However, as so many other times in our history, those of us who follow Jesus should have been living out his call to NOT RESIST evil, to turn the other cheek, to love and serve rather than seek vengeance and domination. Today, CNN posted an article on the hundreds of innocent civilians our nation has slain over these last 12 years (more specifically those killed in our allied nation of Pakistan ,whom we are NOT at war with). Oh how far we have come from the message and call of Jesus. How sad that we let this cycle of vengeance begin in the first place, let alone overlook the thousands of innocent civilians we have wiped out in our destructive path. To my fellow human beings around the world who have fallen under the sword of this place I call home, to the thousands of grieving family members of the innocents slain, to those in whose countries we now occupy....I would like to humbly, in the name of peace and my lord Jesus, who's example I wish to follow, say one last time.... I am sorry.

For the American part of me......    I AM SORRY

No Distinction On International Women's Day

    


 Today is International Women's Day. This is the day that the world has set aside to commemorate the advancements made in women's human rights, and in the spheres of politics, education, employment, and other areas of life.

In light of this day, the question will arise:

How should those of us in God's kingdom treat women?

       The church,and the religion of Christendom, have often subjected women to discrimination based on their gender. Most women are strongly discouraged from leadership roles within the     church, especially any role that would put them in authority over a man. HOW SAD!

 

So, how should we treat women? What should our response be to this day of celebrating the progress and freedom women have won in the secular world? How should we view this progress in light of the fact that role discrimination against women was and still is championed by those in the church?  

 

 

In Paul's letter to the Galatians he says: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is NO MALE AND FEMALE, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

 

Wait a second! Because of and in Christ, when things are put back to the way God intended them to be from the start, there is NO DIFFERENCE between male and female!

 

Again, how should we treat/respond to women in ministry or any other area of life. Paul makes it clear, we are to make NO DISTINCTION between men and women. I rejoice on this day, I celebrate the progress women have made in winning back their God-given equality with men. We in the church should wake up to the truth that those in the rest of the world have realized. We should allow, promote, and encourage women to seek after the kingdom of God, to live in the calling and to follow Christ into WHATEVER POSITION he is leading them into.

 

 

God bless you sisters! Peace 

 

What If Jesus Was Serious?

The other day I had a thought. It was birthed out of my browsing and random readings of the ramblings of fellow bloggers/kingdom of God expounders.

The thought: What if Jesus was serious when he said: Love and pray for your enemies, do not judge others, give to the poor, and don't worry about your life? 

I Tweeted this thought and shortly thereafter, Greg Boyd responded and said: "THAT, my friend, would change EVERYTHING!"

 This thought contains some pretty radical/upside-down/nonsensical statements, yet they are the commands of Jesus to the people of his kingdom. I mean, to most people (and most within Christendom) loving enemies, not judging , and not worrying about your life, are usually not big priorities. We often tend to do the exact opposite and then reach around/over Jesus to pick and choose whatever other part of the Bible we think would support ignoring what he said. We do this in so many areas of our lives, and there is a very long history of those in the church doing this! How can this be,when Jesus, the very one we claim to follow, said that ALL previous Scripture was about HIM! We therefore should view ALL scripture through the lens of Jesus. This is one of the primary reasons that I would identify myself with the Anabaptist tradition. Jesus is the center and lens through which we view not just all of scripture, but all of life!

Here is a short clip from Greg Boyd on this topic:


 

 

What are some topics/areas of life where you have seen others jump over Jesus to other parts of scripture to justify their non-Christlike behavior? 

Viva la Revolution !

Confronted by Peace (Interview @ The Pangea Blog)

As many of you know this last year I've gone through a huge transformation in my life. I have gone from being a Soldier in the US Army, caught up in the idolatry that is nationalism, to a pacifist, committed to the way of Jesus and the ethic of peace. I owe a huge part of this journey to my friend and mentor, Kurt Willems. Earlier this year I reached out to him for advice and counsel as I wrestled with the nonviolent, enemy-love, teachings of Jesus. Over this last year our friendship has grown. He has been there from the beginning and through my process to become a Conscientious Objector. For his role in discipling me I will be forever thankful.
       Over the last month or so we have considered doing a interview/blog post (about my story and our friendship) together on Kurt's blog: The Pangea Blog  The holidays kept getting in the way, he took a trip to Seattle (which I'm still jealous over), I had more Army training, and my wife left for two weeks leaving me in a non-blogging mood. All that said, this week we finally got our heads together and did this interview. So, without further waste of time, below is the link to our collaboration. I hope you will enjoy it!


                                Confronted by Peace: the surprise of nonviolence is leading my friend out of the army



Peace,
Matt