In a stark break with flag protocol, two North Carolina churches have pledged their allegiance to God over the United States. Literally.
“Our typical flag etiquette is to have the American flag above the Christian flag,” Pastor Rit Varriale of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina, tells WBTV. “But when you stop and think about it, it should be our commitment to God first, then our commitment to country.”
Pastor Varriale says he got the idea from Focus Missionary Baptist Church down the street.
“As I was changing the rope one day, the Lord just laid on me that he is first and when he told me that, I switched the flags around,” Pastor Walter Wilson says.
Both pastors, one black and one white, say they’re taking a stand “just as the LGBT community has been doing recently.”
“The reality is, they have been willing to sacrifice more and be more bold for their cause than the church of Jesus Christ for serving God, and that’s got to change,” Varriale says.
“I really don’t need a lecture on patriotism,” the pastor says, who is a former Army Ranger.
“I’m willing to give my life for my country. When you think of military motto’s, for example, God and country, God first and then country.”
The pastors know the move may be unpopular, but it’s a reflection of the times in America.
“We know that not everyone is going to agree with that. But that’s not going to make us sit down and stop talking about what’s important,” Wilson tells the news station.
The pastors held a joint service this week for a flag-raising ceremony.
Varriale recently launched a website called God Before Government.
It reads:
If there was ever a time when people need to stand up for traditional values and beliefs, it is now. …
This new approach to flag etiquette symbolizes that our service and commitment to God is greater than our service and commitment to government–especially a government that coerces us to violate our commitments to God.
“The support has been overwhelmingly in favor with the responses we’ve received from our local people. Our congregations have been completely onboard,” Varriale tells the Shelby Star.
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