Let me introduce you to the Christian flag. It actually is one of the oldest unchanged flags in the world. It was conceived at Brighton Chapel, Coney Island, New York, on September 26, 1897.
It was the start of church school year, Rally Sunday. I imagine a muggy, sticky, Sunday morning like many of us are experiencing. I imagine lots of squirming children crowded into pews. There was to be an out-of-town speaker. But the speaker did not show. I imagine children getting restless, ponytails being pulled, spitballs flying. Sunday school superintendent Charles C. Overton charged in to save the day.
There was an American flag draped over the pulpit (where the speaker should have been speaking). Overton talked to the children about the symbolism of the American flag. Then in a flash it came to him: Why not a Christian flag? He made up the design for a Christian flag on the spot, explaining it to the children verbally as he developed it.
Quick thinking! Pretty impressive. It took Overton a whole week to present the first Christian flag to his church. It was exactly as he had described; it has never changed.
We Christians live under dual citizenship. We are citizens of the kingdom of God first and then of our country. I believe the best thing we can do for our country, the most helpful thing we can do for our country, is to try to understand God’s will for America and to struggle to do it. Patriotism is never “Our country, right or wrong,” as Stephen Decatur once said. Rather it’s “Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right. When wrong, to be put right,”as Senator and newspaper editor Carl Schurz responded.
This information was taken from the book Holidays Are Holy Days: Sermons For Special Sundays by Alex A. Gondola, Jr

Leave a comment