When Patriotism becomes an Idol

This weekend, President Trump made a statement calling for NFL players to be fired if they don't stand for the national anthem.  He also called for people to boycott the NFL if players continued to kneel, and the team owners do nothing.

I've watched the news.  I've scrolled through social media.  I've read online articles. I personally know people calling for full support of the NFL and people who are determined to boycott.

Two things strike me.

The first, is that most people don't even seem to know why Colin Kaepernick was even protesting in the first place.  In fact he's not simply showing disrespect towards the military and government, as people assume.  Kaepernick started kneeling in protest of police brutality, use of unnecessary force. In protest of the oppression that is shown to minorities - oppression that white people tend to ignore, or even justify.

The second is that many of the people who are calling for a boycott of the NFL are white.  Many of those white people are Christians.  And many of those white Christians aren't mad about these players kneeling because they are protesting police brutality and oppression.  They are mad because they hold the flag, patriotism, above all else.  

I've heard of the United States being referred to as "God's country."  I hate that. In fact, Christianity in the USA is in a decline.  People aren't interested.  Meanwhile around the world, Christianity is growing, thriving.  Why, in a place where so many people claim to be Christian, in a place that has been designated as "God's country," is the church shrinking? 

One of the hardest things for me to understand right now is that my social media is full of talk about President Trump's comments, about supporting or boycotting the NFL, about Patriotism. 

There is barely anything about hurricane relief in, about the earthquakes that have struck Mexico, about the wildfires in the west.   Shouldn't those be the things that Christians are talking about? Or is that just last week's news?

In his sermon this week, Jacob made a comment. "The church should be who you are, not just something you do." We all have identities in something.  I'm a teacher, I'm a hockey fan. I'm a pastor's wife, a pastor's daughter, I'm a sister,  I'm a friend, I'm a puppy-mama, I'm a dual citizen, I'm bilingual, I'm a traveller, I'm a cook.  I am so many things. 

But first and foremost, I am a Christian.  

The athletes who are kneeling (or even choosing to not participate) during the national anthem have the right to free speech.  Everyone who is choosing to boycott also has the right to free speech.  But before choosing to boycott, people should think about why the athletes are doing this in the first place, and then think of why they think the boycott is necessary.

Is it simply because they think that the NFL players are wrong to exercise their freedom of speech, to peacefully protest something that has come to the forefront in our country? Or is it because they have made an idol out of the flag?