For those living in America, you know July 4 is coming, which is the day we celebrate our independence as a nation. For my international readers, this is a day that is often used to honor those who have served our country in the military. This typically means the Sunday connected with this holiday becomes the place where these celebrations take place. You will find a variety of approaches, from churches doing full blown patriotic musicals in place of the corporate gathering, to nothing different than a normal Sunday service.
Some go way over the top, while others do nothing, trying to make a statement about how church is not a place to celebrate your country, but worship God. Regardless where you find yourself on this spectrum, most American churches have men and women who either serve, or have served in the military who are present on Sunday. How does a pastor encourage these members in his church?
I must confess, in the early years I was more concern with upholding Sunday as a day to worship God, not honor our country. This caused me to make some unhelpful and insensitive rookie comments in discussions with a few folks wanting more done on Sundays.
I still feel that Sunday is the Lord’s Day and should be focused on the Lord, but here are a few ways I have learned we can still encourage those who have served in the military over this holiday weekend without compromising our convictions about Sunday worship:
1) Recognize vets in your congregation publically.
We do announcements at the beginning of the service as well as any other logistical issues before our call to worship. This is a great time to do things like this, as it is placed before worship begins in our view. This can be a great encouragement and help church members learn something about each other they didn’t know before. The last time we recognized all those who serve or have served in the military, we observed four different generations standing, which was a wonderful way to see the presence of a multi-generational church in our midst.
2) Pray for the leaders of your country in a pastoral prayer.
American holidays as this give us a great opportunity to teach our congregation how to process them in light of the gospel and God’s glory, not a man-centered focus. A well prepared pastoral prayer can accomplish this in a powerful way. We should be regularly praying for our president and those leading our nation in our public gatherings throughout the year. It is also nice to have a mature Christian man respected for his military service pray in the service in some way.
3) Thank military service men and women privately.
There is an elderly saint in our church who fought in a war defending our country over 50 years ago. For several years, we argued about why we don’t do a musical and sing patriotic songs in place of Sunday worship. I have learned throughout the years how kindly to explain why we don’t do this. Yesterday, I decided to go to him first before we had a chance to meet and discuss the service planned for that day. I went to him, looked him in the eyes, and thanked him for all his service. I acknowledged I don’t say it enough, but I am aware of the freedoms I enjoy came at the sacrifice of men like him. This 80-year-old man looked up at me with tears and just hugged me. There was no argument about the service.
This is a lesson I wish I had learned years ago. These faithful folks don’t want a musical, they just want to feel appreciated by what they have done and the sacrifices they had made for us. They want to know their young pastor cares about this important part of their life and history and does not take our freedoms for granted.
Pastors, we don’t have to change our convictions, but we need to be sensitive to all our people and seize the opportunities to encourage certain folks. The 4th of July in America is one of those days. Make a plan in the next couple of weeks to call all the vets in your church and thank them for their service. You may be surprised how much it means to them and will open future opportunities for ministry with them.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/WellfordT
Brian Croft is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church. To find out more, please visit Practical Shepherding.