I am a graduate of Goshen College. It has recently returned to the news. In 2010, the college’s president, James Brenneman, announced that for the first time in the school’s history, the National Anthem (an instrumental version, without words) would be played at athletic events. This decision aroused controversy among students, faculty, alumni, as well as within the Mennonite Church. I blogged about it here and here.

This week I received a communication from Goshen College announcing the results of the lengthy review of that earlier decision. The upshot:

Following months of prayerful consideration, the Board, in consultation with President Brenneman, has asked the President to find an alternative to playing the National Anthem that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College’s core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.

The full text of the decision is here: anthem-decision-statement-1.

Apparently, the media is spinning this rather differently: it was banned, it is said, because the lyrics are too violent.

We live in a culture in which patriotism and Christianity are easily conflated, “God bless America” rolls unthinkingly off the lips of politicians, and most people assume that to be a faithful Christian means being a good American, and vice versa. A healthy love of country is no bad thing, but there should always be a tension between one’s love of country and commitment to membership in the Body of Christ.

For Mennonites, whose citizenship was for centuries shaped by their commitment to Jesus’ teachings of non-resistance to evil, love of enemy, and turning the other cheek, flying the American flag or singing the National Anthem was problematic when the memories of those who suffered because of their commitment to follow Jesus Christ came into conflct with their country’s demand that they take up arms in its defense.

The Episcopal Church has not had the same set of conflicts. Traditionally, we were in some sense the nation’s church. Our members served as presidents, beginning with George Washington, and served in the military as well. That includes figures like Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Alabama, who was also a General in the Confederate Army.

Christians of every political persuasion need to remember that one of our great threats to our faithfulness is idolatry, to worship things lesser than God including nation, in place of God. It was one of the great sins of Israel in the Hebrew Bible and has continued to afflict nations throughout history down to the present. Goshen College’s struggle with the National Anthem is a stark reminder of the importance of remaining vigilant against the threat of idolatry.