CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 954

“The Flag Flap”

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. (1 Corinthians 10:23)

This blog was first published in January 2000. The divisive issue of the Confederate Battle Flag was in the news then and continues again today given the recent tragic murders in a Charleston church by an individual who embraced this flag as a symbol of his racial hatred.

Former South Carolina Governor David Beasley was quoted in 1996 as saying “A flag should be a symbol that unites all of those standing below it, one that every South Carolinian can look up to with respect, and admiration.” The current governor, Nikki Haley has called for the state legislature to remove the divisive symbol from government facilities, while preserving the right of individuals to fly the flag on their own property if they so desire. Several of the nation’s largest retailers announced that they will no longer sell merchandise bearing the Confederate battle flag symbol. These are politically correct responses to the issue. What should be our individual response?

For decades, the Confederate flag has divided the people in our country. While many view it as an emblem of racism, most of the legislators and voters are dead set against removing what they regard as a besieged symbol of their heritage. I wonder how many people on both sides of the argument ever paused to reflect on what Jesus would do with respect to such a deeply emotional issue.

God’s Word is timeless and can be readily applied to the political issues of today if we choose to do so. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Jesus taught that all the Law hung on the commandment to Love God and our fellow man. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

If I argue to continue to fly the Confederate Flag, does it harm my neighbor? Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)

If the situation were reversed, what would I want done to me? Am I seeking my own good over that of others? “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

To honestly answer the above questions in the light of God’s Word, it becomes clear what Jesus would do. Now the question becomes: Do we love the Lord and our fellow man enough to set aside selfish pride and act on what Jesus would do?