The Place of Patriotic Songs in Worship

Is there a place for patriotic songs such as My Country Tis’ of Thee, God Bless America, America the Beautiful, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, or The Star-Spangled Banner in church worship? Many of these songs explicitly mention God, after all, some in a spirit of prayer and thankfulness, and one that even mentions Christ’s sacrificial and redemptive death!

I think a better question is to ask how we might as shepherds teach our sheep how to be thankful for all of God’s blessings in a way that is obedient to Scripture and therefore honoring to the Lord.

When the church gathers, we each bring our own particular and personal offerings of praise along with us. Some will come with gratefulness for a new job. Some will come with praise for a positive medical diagnosis. There might even be smaller groups within the church sharing one heart and mind on a particular area of thankfulness to the Lord.

But in all things, the songs we sing together should be fueled by a heart of gratitude to God. The central theme will not be one person’s experience, story, or even the patriotic spirit of most of the congregation. Instead, the main theme of our songs should be Christ alone and what God has done and continues to do in His kingdom.

Certainly, we want God to bless America! We should be thankful to God for our nation (Colossians 3:17). We should seek its welfare and prosperity (Jeremiah 29:7). We should pray for its citizens, for their blessings and freedoms, and for those whom God has chosen as His delegated authorities over it (1 Timothy 2:2). But most importantly, we should do so as God has directed, for His good and glory.

God once commanded Israel to raise a symbol of their salvation and freedom on a pole to point them toward their ultimate Savior (Numbers 21:9). Before long, the symbol became an idol and a distraction from the only One worthy of their worship (2 Kings 18:4). May God make us wise and faithful through the knowledge of His Word so that we do not fall into the same error.

Who Makes up the Church?

The church is a kingdom made up of people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9-10). This kingdom spans both time and space. It is broader and more inclusive than any kingdom that has ever existed. It is a kingdom that dissolves worldly allegiances and distinctions (Galatians 3:28). It is a kingdom born of heaven, not earth (John 18:36). It is a kingdom whose citizenry is established and upheld by faith alone (Romans 3:21-30). This kingdom is eternal (2 Peter 1:10-11).

If you are American, the fact that your church worships on the soil of this sliver of the Western continent is simply circumstantial. The country of your birth was not your choice to make. Your earthly citizenry was ultimately God’s choice. But it was also God’s providence to align every believer and every church, no matter their nationhood, under one banner – the banner of Christ their Lord (Exodus 17:15, Isaiah 11:10, Romans 15:12, John 12:32). When a local church gathers to worship, it does so in spiritual union with a ‘holy nation’ that spans the globe (1 Peter 2:9).

In this context, singing patriotic song in the assembly of the Kingdom may be out of place at best and, at worst, an exercise in sowing division where God seeks to bring unity. The church gathers to magnify and declare our loyalty to the one true King. We gather to wonder in awe as this King opens the gates to every nation so that they might bring their glory into its streets (Revelation 21:24-26). The church gathers to proclaim allegiance to that kingdom alone.

What Should the Church Sing, and Why?

Thankfully, the Bible gives us a clear directive on why we sing and what we are to sing about in the context of gathered worship. Scripture commands the church to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). This verse guides us toward singing songs that Scripture sources or inspires us to sing to build up the Body of Christ. They rehearse the story of God and the Gospel and act as vehicles of prayer and praise.

Many patriotic songs do not fit this paradigm. Their purpose is to inspire national pride and allegiance to that nation alone. Therefore, singing patriotic songs in gathered worship can introduce a foreign element into God’s design for His church’s worship. On that subject, the Bible also keeps no secret (Leviticus 10:1-2). God will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 48:11). When the church gathers to sing, it does so to proclaim the excellencies and victories of Jesus Christ, their Savior (1 Peter 2:9). They do not gather to proclaim the glories of a work of man’s hands. We should therefor be cautious before including patriotic songs in corporate worship.