First it was one church. Then a second joined.
Now there’s an online presence and a campaign for people of faith across the
nation to recognize that God comes first, ahead of nation, and that means the
Stars and Stripes will be accorded second place, behind the Christian flag.
According to a report
from WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina, Pastor Rit Varriale is placing the Christian flag at the top,
with the American flag below it, on the flagpole at Elizabeth Baptist Church in
the town of Shelby.
“Our typical flag etiquette is to have the
American flag above the Christian flag. But when you stop and think about it,
it should be our commitment to God first, then our commitment to country,” he
told WBTV.
He admits he got the idea from Pastor Walter
Wilson, down to road, at Focus Missionary Baptist Church.
And Wilson said the idea just came to him.
“As I was changing the rope one day, the Lord
just laid on me that He is first and when He told me that, I switched the flags
around.”
Now Varriale has
launched the God
Before Government website,
through which other pastors are encouraged to join the movement.
There, he writes, “If there was ever a time when
people need to stand up for traditional values and beliefs, it is now. On Sunday
July 5th, Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina, took its stand
with a flag raising ceremony that displayed the Christian flag over the
American flag. This new approach to flag etiquette symbolizes that our service
and commitment to God is greater than our service and commitment to government
– especially a government that coerces us to violate our commitments to God.”
He said churches need to “start flying the flags
in such a manner that it is clear we will serve God before government. If your
church is willing to join ours, please take a picture of the flag pole at your
church, post it on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using the hashtag
#GodBeforeGovernment, and join the conversation about religious freedom and the
role of government in modern society.”
On the site, he advises readers that silence is
“no longer an option.”
He recalled a prayer offered to the North
Carolina General Assembly, in which he said, “The sad truth about the church is
that it often takes the path of ease, when instead it should take the path of
resistance, responsibility and reform. … The American church, like the German
church of the 1930s and 1940s, is free of persecution because it has done
little that is worthy of persecution.”
Both pastors told WBTV they hope to spark a
movement across the land – especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s
recent ruling that created same-sex “marriage” in all 50 states.
Varriale acknowledges that some claim the move
is disrespectful. And unpatriotic.
But the former Army Ranger brushes it off.
“I really don’t need a lecture on patriotism,
I’m willing to give my life for my country. When you think of military mottos,
for example, God and country, God first and then country,” he told WBTV.
Varriale he said the position of the flag is a
symbol that congregations will serve God first.
One online commenter, Dave Higginson said, it’s
a wakeup call for Americans “that God blessed us with our country and
[Christians] should not, nor ever will, play ‘second fiddle.”
See video at:
http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/church-flies-christian-flag-over-american-flag/
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