When on September 11, 2001, terrorist-hijacked jets slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the soil of western Pennsylvania, the United States experienced a surge of patriotism unparalleled in recent decades. Flags, signs, and a host of other symbols of patriotic fervor emerged overnight in homes, businesses, government buildings, and churches.

Many congregations portrayed the attack as a major human-inflicted human-affecting tragedy. They prayed for healing for the hurting and a change of heart for the surviving perpetrators. In many other congregations, however, worship resembled a patriotic pep rally. It was clearly an us-against-them scenario. It was nationalism at its best—or worst, depending on your perspective.

The latter response, which in some quarters continues today, raises significant questions: How much should the church bear the trappings of nationalism? Does nationalism militate against the church’s greatest mission? Are the two mutually exclusive?

A few years ago someone in our congregation suggested that it might be nice to conduct a special church service honoring our veterans. However, as we discussed possibilities, problems emerged.

The United States is a melting pot. People from throughout the world have settled here permanently. Many others reside here for prolonged periods because of employment or the pursuit of education. So in our congregation, we had four categories of veterans: veterans of the U.S. military, veterans of a U.S. ally, veterans from countries that had fought neither for nor against the United States, and veterans of countries that had been major U.S. enemies. So who should we honor in a celebration of our veterans?

If we honored just the veterans of the U.S. military, how would an ally feel who had perhaps been stationed in the same place and who had made the same sacrifices for the same cause? Wasn’t that person’s contribution equally worthy of recognition? And hadn’t it helped us?

For that matter, hadn’t a veteran of a neither-friend-nor-foe country sacrificed in exactly the same way for the benefit of his or her native land? So what were we honoring? Commitment to one’s country and the willingness to do one’s civic duty? Or commitment to U.S. interests?

All were equally members of the congregation. So how could the congregation single out some veterans for honor while excluding others? Was the church first and foremost American? Or first and foremost Christian? What did we really want to honor?

Of course, the real stumbling block was the possibility of including "enemy" veterans. Yet these men and women, when called to serve, had done their civic duty. In fact, some had served in noncombatant positions because of their deep respect for human life. So although they might have been affiliated with the enemy military machine, they were, in fact, committed to minimizing the loss of life—U.S. or any other.

The idea of including these former enemies of the United States in any kind of church-sponsored act of recognition was totally unpalatable to a majority of those in the brainstorming group. The recognition service had to be a celebration of U.S. nationalism or remain unacceptable. We decided to do nothing at all.

The apostle Paul declares that national/ethnic, gender and socioeconomic delineations were insignificant in the new spiritual community that Christ came to establish—"there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).

In Colossians 3:10, 11, Paul says our social outlook changes dramatically when we "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."

Paul’s statement in Galatians, bolstered by its counterpart in Colossians, constitutes one of the most radical social manifestos ever set forth. Yet it’s crucial if the gospel is to have impact "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Being part of the body of Christ must take precedence over all other affiliations, whether those affiliations were assets or liabilities in the old system of values. The Christ connection is the ultimate definer. The old national/ethnic, gender and socioeconomic barriers must be forever dismantled. Moreover, when Paul observed the old barriers being erected once again—even by someone as significant as Peter—he "opposed him to his face" (Gal. 2:11-13).

The new values demanded of Christ’s followers are so foreign to our nature that Jesus described the requisite change as being "born again" (John 3:3). It’s like having the slate wiped clean. A new start. A totally different set of parameters. A new default setting. And this new-birth experience doesn’t have to do only with one’s relationship to God. It entails a new understanding of our obligation to our fellow humans, as well.

Because of the lofty principles upon which the United States was founded, and because of the spiritual emphasis this country has provided since its inception, it’s easy for us to assume that God and country are more or less synonymous. But it’s a false assumption. God and country are never synonymous. The kingdom of God must always take precedence over the kingdoms of this world.

But won’t such emphasis cause our loyalty as U.S. citizens to be questioned? Not if we take our civic responsibilities as seriously as Christ and Paul admonish. Not if we are indeed the "salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). Not if we are indeed "a city on a hill" (Matt. 5:14). Not if people indeed see our "good deeds" and as a result glory our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).

It isn’t necessary to wear our nationalism on our spiritual shirtsleeves if we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s with the same level of commitment that we give to God what is God’s. But we must keep the two separate and distinct.

The crucial thing, as Paul states so eloquently, is that we never lose sight of the fact that for the Christian "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 2:28).

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