Why Are Our Nations’ Flags in the Rotunda (and Not in the Sanctuary)?

—thoughts by Pastor Charles

We have over 60 nations represented in our Immanuel’s congregation. The flags of most of these nations hang in our rotunda. At times the question surfaces, “Is there a reason why the national flags are generally displayed in the rotunda and not in the sanctuary?” Actually, there is a reason.

The worship center of Immanuel’s Church is loosely configured along the lines of Solomon’s example. For example, the two massive pillars visible on the two sides of the platform (which actually hold up the roof!) have the Hebrew names on them that Solomon gave to the same two pillars in the Temple—Jakin (“He establishes”) and Boaz (“In Him is strength”; 1 Kings 7:21)! Also, the Ark of the Covenant is seen in the front of our sanctuary—making it a “Holy of Holies.” We consider the main sanctuary area, therefore, the “inner court,” the Holy Place, while the rotunda is the “outer court.” (As a side note—In the Temple, kingdom buying and selling were permitted in the “outer court,” but not in the “inner court.” That is why we permit kingdom buying and selling in our rotunda, but not in our sanctuary.)

In the rotunda we also celebrate our cultural and our national diversity; that’s why our flags are displayed there, in the “Court of the Gentiles,” but in the sanctuary we celebrate the amazing central truth of the Gospel—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28)! In Colossians 3:11 Paul also declares, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.” One translation reads: “There is only Christ, and He is everything.”

Consequently, when we pass from the rotunda into the sanctuary, we are declaring that even though we do celebrate the beauty of our diversity (in the outer court), we also now celebrate the beauty of our unity (in the inner court). In the sanctuary the theme of our Holy Place celebration is that “there is only Christ, and He is everything”; “Christ is all and is in all”; we “are all one in Christ.” In worship and in the Lord’s Table and in hearing God’s Word, we are not conscious of our being Caucasian or Hispanic or Asian or African; we are only conscious of our being together “in Christ,” and that He is everything! He is all! He is our ultimate and our singular identity! And this is what the Body of Christ is all about—we are many and we are diverse, but in the Kingdom of God, Christ is our new identity and our new unifying life! Amen!

—This is the second in a series of articles on this subject by Pastor Charles. If you have not read the previous articles, “Is the Body of Christ a Melting Pot or a Tossed Salad?” and "Confessing The Sins Of Our Fathers... And Of Our Nation." Please check for them on this website.

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