Can We Sing the National Anthem in Church?

Can we sing the national anthem in church? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.

Well, hi and happy Independence Day from all of us here at CORE Christianity. I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you and you can call us with your question anytime.

833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also leave us a voicemail anytime today. And you can post your question on one of our social media sites or email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Bob, who's calling in from Willard, Missouri. Bob, what's your question for Adriel? Well, how do I see the story of where it starts out with the sons of God, saw these women that were so appealing to them that they had sexual relations with them and produced, according to my pastor, Nephilim, which are giants. Nowhere in the word of God do I see where the sons of God are interpreted as demons or Satan. I don't see because of the nature of angels, where Jesus says you'll be like the angels in heaven, you're not going to read the Bible.

and you're not going to reproduce and you're not going to be given in marriage and those kinds of things. So my pastor says that they produce so many hybrids half demon half humans that's why the flood came because they were wiping out the whole human race basically with these demons or replacing them. I don't see where that happens at all and I tried to get with my pastor and asked him a question and he just chooses to ignore me. Now if you're in the word and the word says what the word says I'm for that but I'm really perplexed here. What happens to those half demons and half human beings as far as Jesus is concerned who die for all? Do they get salvation through faith in Christ because of God's grace or I just don't understand those kinds of things when I don't see it in the word? Hey Bob thank you for that question and you're bringing us right to a real sticky passage a passage that has been interpreted a few different ways.

Genesis chapter 6. First let me let me begin by saying I'm grateful that you're having conversations with your pastor about this. I hope that you can continue to have conversations. Let me just say Bob as a minister myself as a pastor I love it when people in my church come to me with questions about the sermon, feedback, their own thoughts, stuff that they're wrestling through and so I think that that's good and it's good for us in the church to have those kinds of conversations and to have that kind of relationship with our pastor where we can dig into the scriptures together.

We want to be Berean. Now the view that the sons of God in Genesis chapter 6 are fallen angels does have some historical backing. I mean in the history of the church there have been many who have taken this view and in part there's exegetical biblical reason for that.

Sons of God in the Old Testament in various places refers to angels, angelic beings. It doesn't always have to refer to angels but it certainly does in places like the book of Job I believe also in the Psalms and so you have that and then also you know you have a couple passages in the New Testament that some people say well I think Jude is alluding to this scene where he talks about the angels who rebelled and so there there is you know as we're looking at scripture I think that biblically speaking that that's one interpretation that people have taken there is they're trying to understand the Bible but it does raise a lot of questions like how is that even possible you know for angels to have relations like that with the human being angels as these as these spiritual beings and then and then with regard to their offspring so you're right and that's one of the reasons why other people say no I don't think that that's the right interpretation it doesn't even seem possible based on what we know about angels and based on what the scriptures reveal to us but there are other ways also to take the sons of God in Genesis chapter 6 some people understand the sons of God there's these divine king or these kings who have this divine authority so they're they're they're humans but they have this this kingly role this divine role Psalm 82 talks about rulers judges serving in one sense in this divine role in their in their position the sons of God who are judged because of their sins look what I like to say and when I preached through the book of Genesis some time ago and I got to Genesis chapter 6 I laid out the various views that are out there but but I just said look the focus of the text right the focus what what Moses is trying to communicate to us is that things were just really bad prior to the flood that there was this sexual deviancy and it just kept kept getting worse and worse and worse again Genesis chapter 6 verse 1 when man began to multiply on the face of the land and the daughters were born and daughters were born to them the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive and they took as their wives any they chose then the Lord said my spirit shall not abide in man forever for he is flesh his day shall be 120 years the Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them these were the mighty men who were of old the men of renown now verse 5 the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only continually evil and the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart and the Lord said I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land okay so that's that's what's I mean the point here is whatever the sons of God whoever they were what they were doing was calling down the judgment and wrath of God we know that it was it was some kind of you know sexual immorality whether they were angelic beings or you know these these kings there in in in that time taking wives to themselves some people say polygamy was the sin that was being practiced other thing it was the mixing of the godly line with the ungodly line so it was mixed marriages all of those things I think there there's biblical warrant for each of those positions but let's not miss the focus it's the things we're just getting really bad that apart from God society continues to go down further and further away from the Lord invoking his judgment and of course God did judge the world and and the takeaway for us anytime we see these stories of judgment whether it was in Genesis chapter 6 or later in Genesis with the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah the takeaway for us and of course God promises after this never to flood the world again but we know that sin brings down God's judgment that we're called to repentance that we're called to faith and so these these stories for us are warnings for us really to turn to the Lord and to call upon the name of the Lord and that's what we should do when you know when we read these stories is say Lord have mercy upon us and help us to follow you according to your word Bob thanks so much for your question thanks for listening to core Christianity we do receive emails here and if you have an email question for Adriel you can feel free to email us anytime here's the address it's questions at core christianity.com here's an email from one of our listeners named Taron Taron says I've been asking God in prayer to help me overcome my anxieties and find a local church to join I finally visited a church after many years it happened to be the memorial day service and I've never felt more welcomed anywhere however at the beginning of the service the pastor brought out the American flag and called the congregate congregation to salute the flag sing the national anthem and to say the pledge of allegiance I felt very troubled by this was this appropriate to do and should I consider visiting a different church hi Taron thank you for that question and and certainly a timely one I'm glad to hear that you felt well received at the church that people were were friendly but I would have been uncomfortable too not because there's anything wrong with being patriotic I think we ought to give thanks to the Lord for the many gifts and and blessings that he's given to us here but we we have to distinguish between the church as this universal institution the kingdom of God on earth isn't associated with one particular country or nation the church is itself a holy nation scattered abroad throughout the whole world in the midst of the kingdoms of this world and we are embassies of the new creation of God's kingdom and so I think having this sort of strong association with one particular country under the old covenant it was it was Israel right but one of the things that we we say is distinct about what Christ is has brought to us through the new covenant through his work is now the church now the church isn't identified with one particular country the United States of America is not the kingdom of God the church on earth today again throughout the whole world is a manifestation of God's kingdom now again don't please don't get me wrong I'm not saying we don't want to be patriotic and grateful and thankful and be for the good of our neighbors here or in whatever country that the Lord has us we should be we're called to pray for civil authorities to submit to civil authorities to seek the good of the nations where the Lord happens to have us and to be lights wherever God has us salt and light but when it comes to worship you know gathering together as the covenant people of God a local expression of that universal church throughout the entire world I don't think it's appropriate to to salute the flag of a country or uh to sing the the the national anthem that's that's just not what we should be doing in the church we should be singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs we should be directing our gaze onto God and the gospel Jesus Christ and his work for us that's what the church gathers together uh to do and so and so you know I I would also have been very uncomfortable and frankly I think that that's not the right approach I've been you know as a Christian I've been to many different churches over the years now obviously not so much anymore visiting other churches they had to preach on Sundays but I've been to churches where on memorial day or on the 4th of July they had this this you know huge extravaganza you know lights and and confetti and flags everywhere and fireworks I was even at a mega church one time where they actually had fireworks within the service and no I just thought yeah I mean talk about a fire hazard right but but I just thought look is this where God wants us to focus God cares about how he's worshipped and and he cares about the fact that we worship him as scripture has prescribed as scripture calls us to worship him and certainly all of the stuff that you have happening in so many churches around this time of the year frankly they're not things that you find in the bible and I think that they can be distractions frankly at times they can even be you know idolatrous and so and so we want to be wise we want to be discerning again we want to be grateful and rejoice for God's good gifts to us whatever those gifts are and wherever we are and and pray for civil authorities and and be for the good of of the places where the Lord has us but that should not be mingled into the worship where we're singing national anthems and saluting you know the American flag I just think that that's that's not what scripture calls us to do and so if I were you I'd search for a church that has a healthy understanding here and a right balance recognizing that hey we're citizens of the United States if we're in the United States and so we're grateful for that we're thankful it's good to be patriotic there's nothing wrong with that you don't have to be ashamed about that but we're primarily citizens of heaven and we gather together for worship on Sunday it's that citizenship that heavenly citizenship that we're exalting in and praising God for through the blood of Jesus Christ God bless you Terry and I do hope that you find a good church where Christ is exalted and you are encouraged thanks for that Adriel this is core Christianity with pastor Adriel Sanchez we want to say thank you to a very special group of people we call them our inner core these are folks that believe so strongly in what we do here at this ministry that they have committed to making a monthly donation to help keep us on the air and we're giving you an opportunity to join the inner core this week yeah what a blessing it is to be able to partner together and that's what we hope that you'll do with us consider joining the inner core if you've been blessed by the broadcast if you're encouraged by the biblical answers that you hear on this program and your walk with the Lord would you consider joining the inner core as bill said it's a monthly donation of 25 dollars or more and it helps us to continue to produce this broadcast and a lot of the content that we give away so often for free things that are going to encourage you and help you in your walk with Christ and so again consider joining the inner core there's information online on our website core Christianity.com on how to do that and when you join the inner core we'll send you a copy of the book core Christianity by Dr Michael Horton a wonderful introduction to the core doctrines of the Christian faith that we think you'll find very encouraging and so thank you for your support and for partnering with us to learn more about joining the inner core just go to core Christianity.com forward slash inner core that's all one word core Christianity.com forward slash inner core to learn more about becoming a part of that special group of people well we do receive voicemails here at core Christianity and here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Joseph. My question was just what do you do when you work at a place that is beautiful on the outside but there's a lot of toxicity on the inside and you yourself end up being part of that I thank you for any like you might be able to give me I have days where I just feel like I'm exactly where God wants me sometimes and then many days where I'm like I need to get out of here I need to go somewhere but I have no idea where and a lot of it is because of the job that I work at yeah if you have any help by the grace of God I'd love to hear yeah thank you hey Joseph thank you for that question let me let me just first pray because this is a wisdom issue I don't think that it's necessarily sort of black and white right and wrong it's something that you're going to have to use wisdom and wisdom comes from God comes from the Holy Spirit and so I want to ask God to give you his wisdom right now father I thank you for Joseph's question I thank you that his desire is to honor you wherever you have him and that he wants to draw near to you and to walk with you to honor you Lord but we do know that so often Lord our environments can shape us and sometimes they can shape us in in ways that are not good and not honoring to you and so I ask Lord God one that you would guard him his mind his heart that you would help him father in all things to honor you to be steadfast in his faith and to glorify you where he works and I pray that you would give him wisdom Lord about if if maybe the right decision for him is taking a step back from this or a step away from this Lord God and finding a situation that will be more conducive better for his own growth as a man and in particular as a man of God and so father please be with Joseph please fill him with your Holy Spirit with the spirit of wisdom and lead him guide him in this situation I pray in Jesus name amen amen one of the things I love about Jesus is how he engaged with people with people in the bible who oftentimes were reviewed as you know those are not the people we want to be around the tax collectors the sinners the prostitutes right those people being around them is going to taint us and yet Jesus was never tainted Jesus was bold he was courageous he was compassionate and he never compromised he never compromised the truth he was able to engage with non-believers we might even say in toxic cultures and places and yet he always brought light and love and truth and and calls to faith and repentance and I think God calls us to be like Jesus when we're engaging with the world to be compassionate but also to have conviction to to be firm in what it is that we believe not to compromise and we know that that's a temptation as we engage in the workplace just just generally with with culture with society that that there's this this temptation to compromise our beliefs to be ashamed of what we believe or even to begin to act out in ways that we know are not honoring to the Lord the apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 said do not be deceived bad company ruins good morals bad company ruins good morals corrupts good habits wake up from your drunken stupor as is right and do not go on sinning because I would say look if you're in an environment where you feel I'm being pulled away from God I'm not strong enough I'm not spiritually strong enough to be here and to be a witness to be a light actually what this is doing is drawing me away from Lord I would say be wise if you have to take a step back or find a different place to work because this is having you know really really bad effects on your relationship with Christ it's leading you into temptation if you will and and you're participating in this toxic culture then I would say maybe the the smart thing to do then is to say this is this has become a huge stumbling block for me and I'm not strong enough to to handle this environment I need to get out of this situation and and maybe the Lord opens the doors for you to be able to do that or maybe the Lord gives you grace in the midst of this situation to stand firm and to be bold and to be able to relate to the people that you work with with truth not with toxicity you know not engaging in the toxic culture whatever that looks like I don't know what it looks like if it's crude joking if it's gossip whatever it is I think as Christians you as a believer you have to stand firm in the truth and and may the spirit of God give you grace and strength to do that you know Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 when he talks about associating with the ungodly because look when I wrote to you to you Corinthians and I talked about not associating with the ungodly I didn't mean with with the ungodly in in the world otherwise you'd have to be you know transported out of the world you'd have to take a rocket ship to another planet because the fact of the matter is as as believers in the world we're rubbing shoulders with people who don't believe in Jesus and God doesn't call us to just avoid them no he calls us to love them and to speak the truth to them we're called to not associate with anyone who is a so-called brother and is guilty of sin is living in sin and unwilling to repent and so it's not that the Bible says you have to you know leave that job because of the people there are because of the culture it's a wisdom thing it's am I able to be here and honor Christ or is this pulling me away from the Lord and that's something that only you can answer but may God give you wisdom in answering that question and guide you and I pray that the Lord you know wherever you are whether you stay there or you go somewhere else that God uses you to be a light and gives you that boldness that compassion that courage that all of us need as Christians. Joseph thanks so much for your call and I can certainly relate to his situation Adriel I've been there done that in that difficult toxic work environment and it can be so stressful on day in and day out so we'll be praying for you Joseph and your work environment.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez we do receive emails here and if you have an email question you can write to us at questions at corechristianity.com. Here's one from Jeannie she says is it wrong to have wine or beer on occasion I feel Jesus would not have turned water into wine if this were a sin obviously we're not to get drunk but I feel so overwhelmed at times and I see King David and others celebrating and drinking wine for enjoyment so I'm not sure what to think. Yeah yeah great question I mean we have to differentiate between what the Bible teaches and our sort of cultural practices in in the church and there are some churches that really do treat alcohol as as if it's sinful in and of itself like like having a beer or having a glass of wine is sin well that's not something that you see in scripture of course Jesus turned water into wine some people say well it wasn't wine you know wine like we think of today but there's no indication that Jesus turned the water into you know non-alcoholic grape juice or something I know this was wine this was a a wedding it was a party it was a celebration and oftentimes in the Bible wine is this drink of celebration it's the drink of God's kingdom Isaiah chapter 25. If drinking wine was sinful Paul would not have told Timothy to take a little bit of wine on occasion to settle his stomach Timothy had some stomach issues and and and Paul says try try a small glass of wine to help settle your stomach and so you know I think that in the church in the United States I think you know there are there are I think some some traditions that we might have that aren't necessarily rooted in the scriptures or in the teaching of the Bible now of course as you say you know this drunkenness in the Bible is a sin Paul says in Ephesians do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit and so the question is what are you controlled by and that's the whole idea when he says don't get drunk with wine don't be under the influence of wine don't let that be what drives you what what controls you be controlled by the Holy Spirit be under the influence of the Holy Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart that's what we're that's what we're called to do that's how we're called to live and and having wine or a beer or whatnot that's not an issue that's not an issue it's certainly not something that the Bible says is sinful but we do need to exercise wisdom and we also need to consider the people that are that are around us people for whom it might be a stumbling block and so and so this again is another issue of wisdom and may God give you wisdom as you look at the scriptures for the answer that's what we want to do thank you and God bless you thanks for that question thanks for listening to core Christianity to request your copy of today's special offer visit us at core Christianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673 that's 833 the core when you contact us please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together