Expert: Rev. Stuart Woodward - 10/19/2011

Question
Is it wrong to pledge our allegiance to our country ? Did God tell us to pledge our allegiance to Him only ? How can we pledge our allegiance to a country that has cast out our God and Savior Jesus Christ ?The Bible says that God is a jelous God .

Answer
Hello Carolyn,
Thank you for your question. I ought to point out that I am English and minister in England where the situation is slightly different to the USA. We have no particular times of pledging allegiance to flag and country though of course we do have sense of loyalty to our country.
First of all, it is right that the state in which we live makes certain demands of us. Any society needs to structure itself to ensure that basic things such as food, water, medical care, housing and so on are reasonably available to those within it and God holds the leaders of nations accountable for how they care for their people. So when Jesus was asked if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, He replied that we should give to Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belonged to God.
It is fair to ask of Christian believers that they seek to be a blessing to the nation in which they live and be a positive influence, promoting Christian values within it. This is true for Christians living in atheistic, communist and Islamic nations as well.
However, the scripture is clear that God must come first in our heart and wherever there is a clash of loyalties between God and the nation we must always follow God's way. This is true in matters like abortion and euthanasia but equally true in matters of feeding the poor and standing against the injustices of our money obsessed society. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were fully involved in helping the society in which they were exiled prosper. They did not seek conflict but when it happened their stance for God was clear cut. The same can be said of Daniel.
There can be lesser loyalties for the Christian and these include, at one end of the scale, family and nation and at the other our college or our sports team. However, in all these things God has to come first (and clearly so) and that means there are times when we will have to stand our ground and openly criticize those lesser loyalties because of the values they have embraced.
Such choices will cause us to be criticized by those who have made their nation their first loyalty - in effect making their nation their God. To stand our ground in the face of such pressure takes great courage.
I hope my comments have been of some help to you and pray that God will bless and lead you in His way.
Stuart Woodward