When Did the Glory of the Lord Settle on Mount Vernon?
(I must have missed that day in History class.)
The first time I remember hearing the word was in a cultural anthropology lecture in college. The lecture was about the blending of Roman Catholicism and voodoo in the New Orleans area and the professor said, “It’s just one example of religious syncretism found throughout history.”
“Syncretism,” I thought. “What is that?”
Simply defined, it is combining and blending different systems of belief or philosophy. And my professor was right; not only does syncretism have a long history, it appears in places we might not expect it or readily recognize it.
If you flip through the pages of the Bible, you will find multiple attempts to blend other beliefs and practices with the worship of the one, true God or great efforts to stop syncretism from continuing.
Jacob warned those in his household to “put away the foreign gods” among them (Genesis 35:2).
At Mount Sinai, while God was meeting with Moses, the Israelites constructed and worshiped a golden calf, giving it praise as the power that brought them from bondage (Exodus 32). This idolatrous worship was carried out at the base of the mountain before the visible presence of God. The proximity of the Almighty did not change the sinful hearts of the people as they “turned aside quickly” (Exodus 32:8).
After Israel entered the Promised Land, the temptations for syncretism only increased. Instead of obliterating the false gods of the nations, Israel incorporated them, growing comfortable with the misfit puzzle pieces of idolatry that never truly fit alongside the Lord (2 Kings 21:7). Assyrian and Babylonian national gods were the next in the lineup to take positions in the hearts of the covenant people, and Yahweh was shuffled about in their pantheistic roster (2 Kings 17:30-33, 39-41).
But the danger of syncretism did not stop with the Old Testament. Paul was very possibly addressing the non-Christian practice of baptism for the dead when he wrote 1 Corinthians 15:29, and he also confronted the Athenian’s widespread and varied buffet-of-idols-for-the-choosing (Acts 17). The book of Galatians is an extended defense against those who taught that one must follow certain elements of Judaism blended with Christianity. Colossians addresses the philosophy of Gnosticism that crept into the early church and threatened the purity and simplicity of the gospel. And many believers in the New Testament period experienced great persecution for the worship of Christ alone instead of worshiping Christ alongside the Roman emperor, who was regarded as deity.
Those who pursued unwavering loyalty to Christ understood the clear declaration found in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God.”
From the prosperity gospel to progressive Christianity, we still confront theological error that seeks to adopt biblical beliefs but not without first twisting them nearly beyond recognition.
Syncretism is subtle, pervasive and corrosive. Even if we have good intentions or if the object of our praise is positive, any time we place someone or something on the same level as God, we have begun a slide down a very slippery slope.
These thoughts came to mind a few weeks ago, as I was driving to work. Spotting a banner displayed on a lawn, I later found an image online that was very similar to what I saw:
Some people might look at the banner and remark, “That is a powerful image! The person who placed it on the lawn is clearly supportive of America and loves Jesus! God and country; what is wrong with that combo?”
But it is syncretism.
The cross of Christ, the actual instrument of torture and death of our Savior, where the wrath of God against sin was satisfied, decorated with the American flag? Star-spangled Jesus? Before you get angry, dismiss the concern outright and just quit reading, think a little longer on the idea (and, more importantly, think biblically).
Some might say that the image conveys the message of “America needs Jesus.” Others would perhaps think that it communicates how America had a generally Judeo-Christian connection at her founding. Still others might take things further and claim it is an expression of our nation’s greatness in God’s kingdom. I personally wondered if the banner meant, “God is on Team America!” or if it was trying to convey that (somehow) the majority of those in our post-Christian nation still support and welcome the biblical Jesus into the cultural conversation of the day.
In all honesty, the banner made me uncomfortable; I might even say that I was spiritually provoked. For me, it falls into the same category as The American Patriot's Bible (sadly, a real thing, and more syncretism).
I could not help but wonder how the person who put out the banner would respond if they saw an image of the Union Jack draped over the cross, the flag of Japan pinned neatly to the nails or the blood of Jesus mingling with the red bars of the Canadian emblem. After all, doesn’t every nation need God? (Matthew 28:19). Seems that it should be fair game to mix and match the cross with any country in the atlas.
It’s around this time that objections are raised, “But America is special! We’re different! We have a unique relationship with God! Our nation has a claim to God that no other nation possesses. “‘In God We Trust,’ The Mayflower Compact, The Constitution and The Great Awakening; don’t you know history? Americans are a covenant people!”
But it requires a great deal of terribly unbiblical theology to believe (and even worse practice to live out) the claim that our nation has a biblical covenant with God (Psalm 147:19-20). Yahweh did not come down in fire, smoke and thunder upon Mount Vernon and meet with George Washington to ratify any agreement. Biblically, our nation looks less like covenantal Israel and more like Babylon, Rome or Athens.
The people of God, under the New Covenant, are citizens of a heavenly nation. The wise words of Jonathan Leeman, in his book How the Nations Rage, help us to understand that reality, “Conversion makes us citizens of Christ's kingdom, places us inside embassies of that kingdom, and puts us to work as ambassadors of heaven's righteousness and justice. Churches are the cities on hills, said Jesus. Not America." But the patriotic culture within many churches can lead us away from a singular devotion to Christ alone. To adapt an old adage, we can become so patriotically minded that we fail to think biblically.
If your church struggles in this area, check out this article: "How Would You Lead an Overly Patriotic Church?"
In his book The Unsaved Christian, Dean Inserra lists a number of expressions of cultural Christianity. He refers to one group as the "God and Country Christian." I've included a shortened treatment of a few of the characteristics of these individuals:
Profile: Is “proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free”; digests everything first as an American or member of a certain political party, not as a believer. Can have blinders on to what really matters.
Mistakes true gospel for: Being American and voting values.
Gospel conversation starting points: Ask... Define the “we”? (As in “We believe this or that.” “We are God’s people.” “We are correct in our beliefs.”) What is the mission of the mission of the church? How would you justify or explain your faith to someone from a different country? Or even someone from a different socioeconomic tier?
Gospel remedy / Challenge: Corrected sense of identity - There is now no slave or free, no Jew or Gentile (Gal. 3: 26–28). Our citizenship is in heaven. 1 Peter 2: 9–10 is not about America. It’s about the chosen people of God.
Some might bristle at the description above, or at the title of the book (The Unsaved Christian), but when a person is deeply entrenched in any worldview that supersedes (or is on par with) loyalty to Jesus, you must start with the possibility that the person is "Christian" in name only and is actually lost.
What does it look like when intentionally aberrant (or simply misunderstood) theology leads us deeper into syncretism? Perhaps an example that I have mentioned in an earlier blog post (as well as in a recent sermon-click to watch) would help with our understanding.
My approach to planning and preaching sermons has always been to center the message upon God’s truth, and though there are plenty of “standalone” sermons sprinkled throughout the preaching schedule, I do tend to preach through a series at a time. Sometimes a series is based upon a book of the Bible, and at other times I trace an idea through the Scriptures. Most often, the only times during the year I preach a “seasonal” series of sermons are at Easter and Christmas, but the remainder could be any topic as God leads (sometimes it may be themed to the season, sometimes it is not). This means if someone is dead set with a fixed expectation on hearing a specifically themed sermon on any particular day of note, they will probably leave disappointed.
To be fair, I have friends in pastoral ministry who tailor sermons to whatever holiday or special occasion is next on the calendar. This was the approach of the church I attended as a child. There was a specialized sermon, not only for Easter and Christmas, but for the beginning of a new year, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween (usually used to preach about Satan), Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving. One pastor I heard of stated that he doesn’t need to pray about God’s direction because he determines his sermon topics every week by what holiday is on the calendar or whatever story is on the front page of the paper.
I am not criticizing the hearts or the motivations of those who preach based on the special days of the calendar, but I adamantly believe that we must guard against non-religious holidays becoming elevated to “high holy days” in the minds of people. Though I might occasionally include a sermon more befitting a particular day, my criteria for planning a sermon rarely include what occasion may lie ahead. Thankfully, most of those I have shepherded over the years have not been fixated upon any expectation of a particular sort; the main concern has always been to take every opportunity to reach people with the Gospel and point to utter allegiance to Christ alone. The truth of the Bible, the life-giving Gospel, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit will never change, but we must be willing to put everything else – every tradition, loyalty, expectation, opinion and style preference – on the table.
Notice how I emphasized “most of those” in the paragraph above? That is because not everyone elevates Jesus above all else. On this earthly side of life with Christ, in every flock there will always be some problem sheep, and there will always be some sneaky goats.
A few years ago, one corner of the sheepfold was in turmoil after a particular worship service related to the Fourth of July. Before I go further, understand this: I love America and being a patriot. I enjoy celebrations of America’s birthday and have family members who fought and died for freedom, but I am careful to keep Jesus, not anyone or anything else, front and center of every sermon I preach. The nation is never elevated above or to the same level as the kingdom. On this particular Sunday morning (that happened to fall on the Fourth of July), though I mentioned a couple of things about freedom and used a Revolutionary War reference as an illustration, there was no overtly patriotic mention of America, the Founding Fathers or the armed forces in the sermon. This was no plot among the staff to avoid mentioning anything patriotic; we just prayed and focused on what God would want us to do as we always had done. We planned the service, and I preached Jesus, making much of his sacrifice, presence and glory.
That afternoon, an angry email appeared in my inbox (as well as the inbox of our worship pastor). A church member wrote that mentioning Jesus to such a degree without giving patriotic mentions of America equal time was evidence of our church bowing to “liberal theology,” bringing shame upon the men and women who died for our nation and contributing to the overall decline of society as we know it. Never mind that the week of every “patriotic” holiday, the driveway and circular parking lot of our church was lined and ringed with many full-size American flags, the likes of which could be seen from space. That was not enough; in the member’s mind, America should have been celebrated proudly in the worship service because that is what the pulpit is for.
I responded by asking how God had used the sermon of the morning to challenge, teach, transform, and celebrate the person and work of Jesus even without the patriotic bent. Based on the infuriated response I received, the answer was clear: the member’s stance was right, I was wrong; nothing I had preached that morning was worthwhile or praiseworthy given the occasion, the lack of patriotism quenched the spirit of worship, and God himself shared the same anger, disappointment and grief. We had a face-to-face meeting a few days later, and things turned for the worse.
Every negative thought and every accumulated criticism spilled out in an emotional tirade leveled toward the pastoral leadership. You may be familiar with the suggestion that you should look for and carefully mine the nugget of truth buried in every critical statement, but that is a false notion. Sometimes there is no nugget, but a deep, dark hole that will bury you with a cave-in if you step into it too far.
The member (and spouse, who was also at the meeting) emphatically stated that services and sermons around the time of Independence Day “MUST celebrate God AND country.” Every year. Without question. Without exception. They then proceeded to tell me that I had royally failed by ignoring the opportunity to promote fervent love for the nation from the pulpit.
Then they turned to the military argument. They were adamant that we did a great disservice in not mentioning those who lost their lives defending freedom or the living veterans who were present that morning. “We must always make sure to honor them, especially in church, because of their sacrifices for our country,” they said.
I asked if they had concern for any mention of martyred believers – missionaries included – who have given their lives for the gospel since the founding of the Church. They shrugged. Clearly fighting for the country trumped contending for the faith.
I then tried to explain to them that we must decide what our identity truly is. Are we “Christian Americans,” or are we “American Christians?” If we see our identity primarily as Americans, and “Christian” is just the descriptor of what kind of Americans we are, then we are operating from a non-biblical viewpoint. We must identify as Christians at the core of ourselves, first and forever, regardless of what country we are from; our nationality is the descriptor of our identity, that is, our nationality is where we live as citizens of the kingdom. My identity as a Christian is eternal; my identity as an American is temporary. (Though around 65% of Americans self-identify as Christians, statistics show that in studies where the researchers dig deeper and ask for understanding about key biblical beliefs, only 6-9% of Americans could rightly be called “true Christians.”) We must never prioritize our national identity above or to the same level as our kingdom identity.
When we are in a worship space, we are gathered as ambassadors in an embassy for God. Churches are outposts of the kingdom. Our gatherings are to be little glimpses, even though imperfect, of a future heavenly gathering for all eternity. Therefore, when we gather, our allegiance is to God alone, and we reflect that in how we worship and how we exalt him. This is why it grieves me when I hear people claim to hold the moral high ground when insisting upon the display of patriotic regalia in a church sanctuary while claiming that their worship of God is diminished by the absence of reminders of America. That type of demand communicates one thing very clearly: they have lost sight of the splendor of the kingdom. Imagine their surprise when they find no American flags in Heaven…ever...for eternity.
I’m all for patriotism, celebrating America and remembering our freedom, but let’s be cautious to never conflate being an American with being a Christian or vice versa. You can be a great American without Jesus. If you are a follower of Christ, you have more in common of eternal importance with a Chinese Christian condemned to slave in the salt mines, never to see the light of day again, than you do your most patriotic and beloved family member who does not know Christ yet. That is the true meaning of being a kingdom citizen.
At the end of this explanation, I thought things were clear from a biblical perspective.
The couple looked at me with deep anger and disgust while loudly disagreeing. Then came this zinger from the wife: "In the church's failure to celebrate America, you have dishonored our veterans. We are both veterans, and we know others who feel the same way. The only reason we can meet on Sunday mornings and worship and the only reason you can preach is because the military preserved our rights to do so! Since you never served in the military, you can't love America like we can. You don't know what it is like to sacrifice for your country. That is why you don't love America as much as we do."
There was so much wrong with the twisted tirade that it took me a beat or two to begin to sort it. I began, "First of all, you seem believe that the American church owes her continued existence to patriots instead of our sovereign God alone. That is blatantly incorrect. And secondly, your "you don't love the country like we do as veterans" argument does not hold water. It's an unfair comparison."
"No, it's not," came the snapped reply. "It's true and accurate."
I sighed. "Okay then. Let me use your same logic. I have served in churches on pastoral staff for over 15 years now [closer to 20 at this point in time]. My wife and I have made daily sacrifices as I have been in these positions. I have faithfully served Christ and surrendered many opportunities in order to continue to labor, often with great opposition, in his fields. Serving as a pastor has cost me greatly, in ways you would never imagine. But neither of you have served as a pastor. Neither of you know the sacrifices. So, using your logic, there is no way that either of you love Jesus as much or as faithfully as I do. That is why you do not - cannot - love Jesus as I do; you have never served and sacrificed for him as I have."
They were appalled. "That's a ridiculous argument!" they sneered.
"I agree," I said. "But so is your argument saying that I can't love America as much as you do. If your argument is true, then so is mine."
They said I was completely wrong in my approach and belief. Bible verses were pitched my way that (supposedly) supported their stance. The verses were taken out of context as they were meant originally for national Israel but applied wrongly to America. They had elevated love of country to the point that it was the same as the love for God himself. To them, the “old, rugged Cross” was nothing more than a flagpole for “Old Glory.” The sad reality was clear: this was not constructive criticism, but evidence of the seed of syncretism that had birthed the dragon of idolatry; the disappointment in a perceived lack of patriotism created a failure to recognize God’s presence. They were blind to his glory and deaf to his Word. Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit helping them to see and hear spiritual reality, they would not - could not - understand (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The interesting thing about the couple who complained is this: I don’t believe they were too patriotic.
They were not patriotic enough.
They needed to be more patriotic about God’s kingdom than America.
I love our nation, but one day she will cease to exist. America is, in the words of George Washington at his inaugural address, an "experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” Our nation is not eternal, only the kingdom of heaven is. A Christian's ultimate loyalty must lie in that which is forever, not in the things that are temporal.
I can’t really express how grieved I was over those statements that couple made. My grief was not because we had done anything wrong in our planning or the execution of the service (there is, in fact, nothing I would have changed or added if I could go back and do it again) nor had we dishonored God in any way. My grief was centered on two things: the reality that the couple missed the Almighty altogether because their love for country got in the way, and the fact that so many people are more patriotic about their earthly nation than their heavenly homeland. The level of anger shown in the situation pointed toward either a complete misunderstanding of what it means to worship God alone or quite possibly a lack of relationship with the one, true God.
If you claim that a lack of patriotic songs, absent American flags or no memtion of our Constitutional rights distract and detract from worshiping God on the Sunday closest to Independence Day, your understanding of (and loyalty to) his kingdom can be rightly called into question.
Allow me to speak even more plainly about the subject. If you are not satisfied with Jesus alone, you either do not know him well enough or don’t know him at all.
With all of that being said, let’s revisit the lawn banner that started us down this rabbit trail:
Yesterday afternoon, after passing by that same sight again on my way home, and sensing that same discomfort at the syncretistic display, I wondered how many Christians drive by that lawn daily and see nothing about it that jars them. When I got home, I pulled out my phone and gave an AI app the prompts to generate an image for me:
Uncomfortable yet?
But in all honesty, ask yourself if you are as uncomfortable with the lawn banner as you are Jesus wearing an Olympic tracksuit?
There are only two logical responses: you will either see that there is something amiss and deeply disturbing with both syncretism-laden images, or you must embrace them equally, since both convey the same message.
Waving the flag and sharing the gospel are two very different things. And if, as a Christian, you fly the flag more often and with more passion and enthusiasm than you share the gospel, you need to repent and adjust your priorities.
Celebrate your freedom. Pray for our nation, but understand that America is counted among all the nations to be judged by God (Isaiah 34:2-3; Haggai 2:7; Joel 3:3). Seek the good of our country knowing that our population is raging collectively against our Creator (Psalm 2). We are not a covenant nation that should expect the same blessings of Old Testament Israel (2 Chronicles 7:14). To God, all the nations (America included), “are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales” (Isaiah 40:17). We are one nation among all the other nations.
If you are a follower of Christ, be sure to love and long for your heavenly country more than any other place because you know that you worship, view the cross as a declaration more than a decoration, and faithfully serve and represent the King above all things who shares his glory with no one.
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“I am the LORD; that is my name. My glory I give to no other…” (Isaiah 42:8).
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
“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” (Matthew 22:37).
“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:17-21).