Maybe the Libs ARE On To Something With this KNEELING During the National Anthem Thing…

I was walking/jogging/running this morning and I was in front of the ESPN TV screen (next to the Clinton News Network one) and I saw this woman kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem at what looked like a soccer game – not sure if it was this one or not but she was protesting that as a gay woman she had felt the US flag did not stand for all their rights as gay people.  Here is the comment Rapinoe made:

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”

And I would say that this gesture was respectful and dignified.

But I was thinking about Rapinoe and her elegant kneel at the time of the playing of the national anthem and seized with a thought (that could be dangerous!  ):  Maybe followers of Jesus ought to kneel during the national anthem.  Kneel in prayer.  Pray for national repentance and a return to God and the Bible as the ultimate authority in the United States of America.

There is a verse that is a great example of God’s willingness to bless any nation that comes back to Him and His Word (it is often cited as a promise but it was only technically a promise to the Children of Israel but it still illustrates the mercy and power of God):

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  (II Chronicles 7:14 [KJV])

Maybe we as believers ought to set a time, play the national anthem at home (Look if I can find the national anthem of Tajikistan online anyone should be able to find the national anthem of our own land!) or if you are daring at an event, kneel and pray (be sure to lift up your hands folded in prayer so that others do not think you are in agreement with Kaepernick or Rapinoe but if others ask you it might be a time to speak about Jesus to another!) and ask the Lord of Hosts to have mercy on our nation and to send His Spirit to call our nation back to repentance and holiness.

Here is one Christian viewpoint (written by Paul Asay) I found similar to this one but from a different standpoint than mine.

To stand for the National Anthem is not, I believe, a blanket endorsement of what or where we are as a country right now. To stand is, I believe, a way to honor the principles on which this country was founded, not to excuse how those principles are sometimes corrupted or twisted. It is an unspoken promise to work together to make the country better, not to accept it as it is.

But Kaepernick’s kneel-down does remind me that those founding national principles are based on something greater than a mere human construct. They are predicated on something higher and holier, a belief that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Well said!  Now let’s kneel and pray!

If anyone reads this and is ready to repent of sin and follow Jesus, go here!