Doing something a little different on here today. A friend of mine recently posted an image of this vexing window decal on Facebook, and as I started to write a response, I realized I had a bit more to say than would fit in a Facebook comment.
The “Thin Blue Line” flag variant is a statement of support for American police officers, and the picture of this cross-shaped sticker has caused some controversy around social media. While I think the logo is well intentioned, there are a number of issues with this sticker (namely how it’s incompatible with Christian beliefs), but I think I know how to fix it. First the problems with this image…
Problem 1: It’s dangerous to wrap the cross in the symbols of any earthly institution.
Christians believe Jesus and his Kingdom are eternal, and at the time when that eternity is fully realized, earthly institutions (among them America and its police force) will cease to matter. It would be a fair statement to say “There won’t be Americans in Heaven” because at that point, nationality becomes irrelevant (see Galatians 3). Dressing up a Christian symbol with the flag of a country implies the country is as eternal or worthy of worship as Jesus, and taking something earthly and behaving as if it were holy is the textbook definition of idolatry. Back in the Old Testament, God smote the crap out of some people over idolatry, so best to keep flags and crosses separate lest we start to toe that line.
Problem 2: Jesus’s relationship with law enforcement was complicated at best.
Jesus’s encounters with law enforcement were few but notable. On the one hand, he praised the faith of particular officials who sought him out (Matthew 8, John 4), but on the other hand, he certainly wasn’t a fan of the local or occupying authorities and their harsh treatment of marginalized people. Setting aside the few officials who asked him for miracles, the nicest thing Jesus said about law enforcement was asking his disciples not to chop off their ears while he was being unfairly arrested and sentenced to death in a justice system completely rigged against him. So yeah, there’s some nuance here that makes it difficult to parse out Jesus’s exact stance, and it doesn’t boil down to a neat “for” or “against.”
Going a little deeper, check out the list of Jesus’s twelve disciples at some point (Matthew 10). Sure, there’s one tax collector in the mix, Matthew, who would have previously been loyal to Rome primarily out of convenience and considered a traitor to his people, but you also have Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were one of the more uprising-prone revolutionary groups in the ancient middle east, so at least one of Jesus’s followers had probably been into some pretty intense anti-government shenanigans. It’s possible another disciple was even more politically vocal though.
This next part is theoretical, so take it with a grain of salt: it’s been suggested that Judas’s traditional last name (Iscariot) could have been a title. The Sicarii (literally “dagger men”) were a hyper-violent rebel sect who assassinated political leaders with concealed daggers. It’s unknown if Judas’s last name really places him among these insurgents, but if so, Judas would have had a rap sheet that puts Antifa to shame, yet Jesus made him one of the twelve. Again, this connection is disputed, but it sure is an interesting theory which points to the disciples being a more politically minded group than we might initially imagine. It’s also interesting to imagine Simon and Judas having to get along with their new friend the reformed tax collector (someone they might have previously tried to stab).
Now, all this being said, Jesus clearly didn’t condone violence— turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, all that Matthew 5 stuff. Still, there’s an undercurrent of resistance to authority in many of his teachings. “What do I have to do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Sell everything you have and give the money away.” (Mark 10) “Should we pay taxes to Caesar? Well, the coins with Caesar’s face are clearly idols, so the wiser move would be to get rid of your money entirely and focus on God.” (Matthew 22) “The Temple has turned into an unholy marketplace, so we must cleanse it. Hand me that whip.” (John 2) These are not pro-corporate, pro-institution messages. In Jesus’s teachings and actions, we are not saved by the sustaining of social order and government; we are saved by the radical acts of a loving God who turns over tables and then sets up new ones with room for everyone. Jesus never instigates violence against police or government, but he doesn’t support these groups either.
Problem 3: Early Christianity had a complex, often-antagonistic relationship with authority which is preserved for us in the Bible.
Sometimes it feels like the apostles spent more time in prison than out of it, and they weren’t just there visiting people! The early Christians were frequently on the run from the law, and many of the greatest early Christian texts are written from prisons. Hell, God even stages a few jailbreaks in the book of Acts, resulting in the conversions of the jailers and the humiliation of the magistrates (Acts 12 and 16). And for the record, by the majority of accounts, all but one of the apostles were executed by governing or religious authorities. So yeah, much of the New Testament has a very clear anti-authoritarian tone, but as with Jesus and law enforcement, there’s some nuance.
Paul could not be more unclear on this topic. In some places, Paul calls on people to rise up against the powers of the age (Colossians 2, Ephesians 6), but in other places, he encourages good citizenship and submission to authority (Romans 13, which still isn’t a carte blanche endorsement of whoever is in power). Also, I’m going to let you in on a secret: we’re not 100% sure all the letters were written by Paul himself. In fact, it’s infinitely more likely some came from later followers, which raises a lot of questions about the context of some of these verses.
As someone who has a masters degree in Jesus stuff and has read Paul’s letters many times, I am of the opinion that Paul sees earthly authorities as morally neutral, capable of being used for good or for evil and ultimately motivated by self-preservation above all else. To put it simply:
The chief aim of the government is to sustain the government.
The chief aim of the media is to sustain the media.
The chief aim of the law is to sustain the law.
And so on.
When our society’s authorities act in the best interest of the world and fulfill the command to love, we should support them. When the authorities violate those commands and act solely in self-interest to the detriment of others, Christians should oppose them nonviolently (as we’ve seen beautifully in many of the responses by Christian ministers to border policies and to the justice department). Left to their own devices, manmade institutions will settle for the status quo every time; if we want them to be forces for good instead, we need to intervene by voting, calling, talking, and yes, protesting. Of course, given the drastically different political landscape in their day, the apostles also had to run, hide, and meet in secret, and we should keep this in mind as we read their words and try to apply them to our context.
“But Tom,” I hear you say, “times have completely changed. Christianity is 100% legal now, and the government isn’t rounding up Christians like they were in Roman times.” Well, yes and no. We have a first amendment that protects the free expression of all religions so long as their expression does not infringe on the rights of others. Still, many Christians read the words of Jesus as a call to nonviolent protest on behalf of those whom society has oppressed. Sure, you can’t be arrested just for being Christian (thank you, first amendment), but figures like Rev. William Barber have shown us you can be arrested for acting Christian. If Rev. Barber is too recent and controversial an example, go back a few years to Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or the countless others who have engaged in political resistance because of their faith. Governing authorities only like Christianity when it’s docile; when Christians actively stand up for Jesus’s message of radical love to all, it has the potential to put us in tension with social and governmental systems, which sometimes include law enforcement.
Side bar: the conflict described above is nothing like the entitled Evangelicals who cry persecution because a barista said “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas.” In my opinion as an ordained minister, those people can cry me a river, build a bridge, and get the hell over it.
So yeah, in conclusion, the bulk of early Christian teaching seems to argue law enforcement is an impermanent and morally neutral force which can behave in a good or evil fashion, and as such, Christians must discern when to support law enforcement and when to resist it nonviolently. While there’s nothing wrong with loving a country or its institutions, a Christian’s first loyalty must be to God. When we blur those loyalties together or when we prioritize country over cross, that ain’t Christianity any more; it’s state religion and maybe even idolatry.
Now, all that being said, I don’t think the driver with the cross/flag window decal is knowingly promoting idolatry. I suspect this driver means to voice support for local police and has gone about it in a really crappy way. As such, I have some suggestions for supporting law enforcement without compromising faith.
Suggestion 1: Acknowledge the difficult position of Christian law enforcement officers.
I know some damn good Christian police officers, all of whom I’d trust with my life. But thoughtful Christians in law enforcement face a difficult balancing act. As stated earlier, American legal institutions are not sacred, and faith in God must transcend them. So a Christian police officer would have to say, “I pledge to uphold the law so long as the law behaves in a manner consistent with the love of Christ. When the law ceases to do so, I will step down.” Hooboy is that a tough tightrope to walk, and it may mean a thoughtful police officer is ready to quit at any time. (FYI, this is not a Kim Davis scenario where people can just refuse to do their jobs but remain in office; the truly principled move is to step down in protest when the job conflicts with your beliefs. Kim Davis, on the other hand, held a government office hostage to force an anti-LGBT agenda on her constituents, and that’s not okay.) A Christian in law enforcement must be ever discerning about the contents of the law and how it is being enforced, and as such, they need not just our support, but our accountability.
Suggestion 2: Redesign the sticker by putting the flag under the cross.
Instead of the cross being made out of the thin-blue-line American flag, how about folding up the flag and placing it at the foot of the cross? In Christian jargon, “laying it at the cross” means bringing all you have (the good and the bad) and placing it in front of Jesus for redemption or blessing. If America and its police are important to you, set them at the foot of the cross and ask for God’s blessing on them. You cannot assume God is supportive of America just because America has a lot of power right now, but you can always ask God to give our leadership clearer minds and more loving hearts (because holy crap do they need both). For Christians, God has to be the most important thing, and a desire to show God’s love should surpass all other motivators. We can still value this country and its officials, but we must always keep their proper place in mind: they’re not on the cross; they’re at its feet.
Of course, this answer may not be very satisfying to some. I understand many people would prefer a black-and-white “yes” or “no” to the question of Christian support for law enforcement, but like all the things in this world worth fighting for, there’s some nuance.