Check out this comment I found under the Moore article
Posted by UMCmember at June 30, 2010 5:04 pm
I took great offense at this article. At my church we have covered the communion chalice and bread with the US flag for years on the first Sunday in July. Also, after the Doxoloy we immediately transition into the National Anthem. Without the Red, White and Blue we Christians would be having to worship in secret for fear of the Nazis!
Duke Divinity Call & Response Blog | Faith & Leadership | Ed Moore: What to do about the 4th?
Unbelievably prime example of idolatry of America in Christian worship. And ironic that they mention the Nazis. The Nazi church did it much this way, mixing and meshing nationalism and Christianity, which when push comes to shove, always ends up on the side of nationalism. Anything distinctive in Christianity is reinterpreted under the rubric of a “palatable” stance that rarely if never accepts the idea that nationalism dilutes and subsumes Christianity.
The article by Moore is quite good, so it is no surprise at all that this post draws the nationalistic “trolls” who take some extensive offense to the suggestion that God is not somehow enamored with America, or that the syncretistic worship that we have in this country in so many communities is any way idolatrous. Where does this energetic taking of offense come from? One commenter said it well:
I think it’s safe to say that
Posted by Chad Holtz at July 2, 2010 8:14 pm
I think it’s safe to say that the degree to which one is offended by Dr. Moore’s post is the same degree to which nationalism has become an idol for said person.
Amen, Chad. I’ll have to check out your blog now.
Moore points out what I often do each year: That this period between Memorial Day and the Fourth is something of a “nationalistic lenten season” when nationalists trumpet the “freedoms” speeches, and often include the “if it weren’t for war, we’d all be speaking German right now”, as if the case for war is solved by the fact that our country remains intact, and that couldn’t be any kind of a problem for Christianity and the church, and as if the church would disappear if we were ruled by Germany. Uhhhhhh, wasn’t there a tyrannical rule by a country called, uhhhh, “Rome” , was it? Moore’s reference to this:
The ministry of translation is particularly difficult when secular culture’s days overlap the church’s gathering for worship, as will happen again July 4th. A local congregation’s traditions for this Sunday may run the gamut from the reasonably mild (red, white and blue floral arrangements in the sanctuary) to the affronting: an American flag draped over the Lord’s Table, the Pledge of Allegiance included in the liturgy, or the choir expecting to deliver a patriotic anthem.
The July-August issue of the UMC publication, InterpreterMagazine, has some stories in it devoted to this topic. These are sure to bring some “fan mail” AND for sure, “troll mail”, just as this article did.
The concluding paragraph of Moore’s article poses a challenge to the commenter who took “great offense” at the suggestion that there was something amiss in covering the elements with the flag (maybe and likely he or she didn’t even read that far)
Although it may be tempting to pronounce judgment upon the congregation’s traditions, the better pastoral choice is to recall the power of sacred sign. Beneath that fragile symbol of temporal power are the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation. When the flag is set aside, the Feast of the Resurrection is revealed. If the communion of saints is powerfully preached, that eschatological sign itself will stand in judgment upon the wilderness, and those receiving bread and cup from their new pastor’s hand may well find themselves headed toward the New Jerusalem once more.
An excellent theological insight brimming with the hope and reality of transformation. It is SO SAD that the commenter cannot seem to see past their defense of national elements in Christian worship.
