The American Church’s “Civil Season” (?)
New Testament scholar Michael Gorman writes about how churches in the US really have two liturgical seasons: the Holy Season (Advent to Easter) and Civil Season (Memorial Day to Thanksgiving Day). “Civil religion in the U.S. never goes away, but its major feasts are in that six-month period. God-and-country language and rituals are more prevalent, and syncretism in the churches (‘when you see the red in the flag, think of the blood of those who died to make us free, and also think of Jesus’ blood that was shed to make us really free’) runs rampant but is hardly ever questioned.”
So many ministers face this crisis three times every year: Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Veteran’s Day. The pressure is on to turn the worship assembly into a patriotic service.
Randy Harris addressed this danger in his book God Work
“Loyalty to country, loyalty to family, loyalty to friends — all of those strike me as commendable things. The problem is when patriotism becomes nationalism. Now this is a different matter. Nationalism is always evil because it is idolatry. It is the point where we confuse the nation with God, where our primary loyalties become aimed at the nation instead of God. This is always bad news. And nationalism is often lurking just under the surface of much of what we do. . . . Somehow we get the nation confused with a visible representative of God. And we think that our deep loyalty and commitment to the nation somehow is service to Yahweh. Soon we think God is especially represented or only represented in our nation. And then we’re into the deep water of idolatry.”
This is a challenge all through the year (think of prayers referencing “our troops” — as if the antecedent of “our” in a Christian assembly is a nation instead of the international people of Christ-followers!); but it’s especially difficult during this “civil season.”
Gorman includes this wonderful story (in Reading Revelation Responsibly
“I was recently inspired by the way in which a brand-new pastor I know, preparing to lead his first worship service — on Sunday, July 4 — met with the church’s lay leadership the day before to discuss their plans for a service that would include patriotic songs and even the pledge to the American flag. He gently said to them, ‘This is a day to express pride in our country, but not during worship. Here we focus on Jesus, and that’s especially important to me on my first Sunday. Can we do that, and remove the patriotic elements from worship?’ ‘Even the red, white, and blue formatting of the hymn texts we will project on the screen?’ asked a lay leader. ‘Yes, even them, if it’s not too late.’ ‘You’re the pastor,’ replied the lay leader. ‘We will do it.’ And they did.”
One thing I’m thankful for in Churches of Christ is that you never see an American flag up front. In our heritage there has been a strong sense of being “in the world but not of the world.” There are some strong impulses that have (at times) resisted nationalism.
This very thing has bothered me for years – especially since we also like to emphasize in our churches that “our citizenship is in heaven.” Wise words, Mike. Thanks.
Katie – Are you and Jeremiah surviving your first Boston winter?
The one part of that Gorman story that’s a little hard to imagine is this: “‘You’re the pastor. We will do it.’ And they did.”
Praise God in a non-public chapel but praise the nations in public…nations which in the end are just another kingdom bowing before the throne of King Jesus. There’s still just something wrong with our picture here.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
This is, of course, a subject I’ve visited a lot through the years.
Just saw that Richard posted on the topic recently: http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2011/01/can-you-be-patriotic-and-christian.html
Here are a few:
Memorial Day – http://preachermike.com/2004/05/31/memorialday
Baptism and Patriotism – http://preachermike.com/2004/06/01/baptismandpatriotism
Pledging Allegiance – http://preachermike.com/2007/05/30/pledging-allegiance-in-the-assembly
oh, i’ve seen american flags in churches of christ . . . come to Athens, AL
…or Colorado Springs
I’ve seen plenty of flags in CoC’s… Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
What if we co-opted the language of empire and began praying for “our” troops… the ones who have taken up the towel of service across the world and suffered for Christ. We’ve done a bad job in our age of reforming the language of empire like the early church did, but it’s never too late to re-orient people.
Onward Christian Soldiers!
Thanks for this post and the comments.
@ james: I assure you that every word of my story is true.
@Daniel: Amen.
Hey, James, it’s not hard to believe at all. In fact, outside the CoC clan, that degree of deference to the Senior “Pastor” is the norm, not the exception, and it occasionally reaches pathological, even worshipful levels. At least that appears to be true in the so-called non-denominational, evangelical churches. There, the guy in the pulpit is THE MAN, and what he says goes.
qb
#
There, the guy in the pulpit is THE MAN, and what he says goes.
qb
Yep! Especially if THE MAN is also a Deacon [elder.]
In 2001, our congregation had a veterans service in November, just 2 mos. after 9/11. When our preacher spoke about all the men & women who gave their lives for our country through all the wars & terrorist killings, the emotional “amens” that rang out from the audience made me sad, and I confess here, angry. Why? Because before this service, I had never heard amens at all when Christ & His death & resurrection on behalf of our obtaining salvation, (which was most every week during communion or sermons, of course) was spoken about. In fact, I saw women say “amen” at the veteran service, but if we were to do that week in & week out when Christ is preached where I attend, I really believe heads would swivel off people’s heads—especially a lot of the men’s.
Thanks, Annie (and others) for these stories.
I appreciate a note from Michael Gorman. Those who’ve been reading his blog for a while know that I’m a pretty devoted fan of his writings. He is one of the most helpful guides to reading the New Testament that I know of. Check out these:
Reading Paul (Cascade Companions)
Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross
Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters
Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb Into the New Creation
Kathy…yup. If a little power is good, then a lot more must be a lot better.
Related to this, one of the elders at the congregation where qb used to be a member had a Xanga site, sorta like MySpace, where he posted pictures of his remodeling projects, his hunting cabin, travel journals, etc. His profile at Xanga included the standard things like musical and culinary likes, and in particular a “Heroes” section. I just happened to pop over there once after I left and looked through his public profile. To my amusement, his list of Heroes included the normal types of historical folks, and then…the new Senior “Pastor’s” name. Finally, to top it all off, he wrote, “and of course, Jesus Christ.”
It was worth a good chuckle, anyway. I could give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that by “hero” he just meant to express admiration, respect, and affection. But I knew too much!
Laughing,
qb
Ooh, “the deep water of idolatry.” What a phrase.
I am glad to know others see the problem that can arise when you mix worship to God, the God of every nation, and praise for our nation and armies. I am a third culture kid, did not grow up in the states, and though I have lived here many years now and am married to an American, I do not say the pledge of allegiance, more out of personal choice (as to not say it to any nation or anything other than God) but also because I just did not grew up and honestly, I am not very comfortable with pit and other displays of patriotism (not to say I think others shouldn’t or that I think they are wrong when they do). I love the fact that God’s church is international, encompasses everyone, from every tribe, nation and tongue. I love that because I have experienced that growing up. I think many American Christians do not realize that, do not experience it even with their own diverse neighborhood, or do not stop and think what it might feel for, say an Arab Christian, when we include our patriotism in worship. Another thing I wish we would do more is actually pray for our enemies. Yes, for our troops and our nations, but also for our enemies, because that is what we are called to do.