The Cross and the Flag

I recently did a funeral for a christian man who served in WW II and marched across Europe defending and freeing those who were under the oppression of Nazi Germany.

The first half of the service was “religious” and the second half was “patriotic.”
I concluded the “religious” half by presenting the cross of Jesus and a marine concluded the second half by presenting a folded flag to the eldest son.

As the son began to weep; for a moment I began to get caught up in his emotion, but then I stopped. Something was happening. I was seeing the stark contrast between the cross and the flag. They are not synonyms. They are opposites. The two do not go hand-in-hand; the one is the antithesis of the other.

I don’t think I can do it anymore. I don’t want to confuse the two; I want to be separate from the kingdom-of-this-world and serve within the Kingdom of God.