The Little Flag That Stood

A blurred image of a church sign and its LGBTQIA+ Pride Flag.

In the deep country of a rural Kentucky community lies a small but mighty congregation that gathers weekly (and often more than that) to celebrate the truth of God’s loving promises. From the look of the country church, you might make assumptions about them — unless you pay close attention. At the edge of the road is a small LGBTQIA+ Pride Flag standing as tall as it can in order to show the world that this church is serious about God’s love.

There are so many stories about pride flags on social media. Most of them negative. Most of them describing the hatred of those who tear down the flag or vandalize property that holds one.

That same story could be told of this congregation. As quick as they were able to put up a flag, it was torn down. Scary, isn’t it? Perhaps it is a group of wild kiddos or maybe it was a bigoted, hate-filled adult trying to send a message? For whatever reason, it isn’t the most comfortable message to receive from anonymous community members. This is where the story diverts from the usual plot of the other news articles, though.

This small, but mighty congregation could easily say that putting up another flag could hurt their finances or their perception in the community. They could easily decide it isn’t worth the consequences to put up a tiny flag. In fact, dozens of people and organizations have made that decision. It is easier and more comfortable to just lay low and forget about it.

Nope. Not this gathering of Jesus-following folks. The flag gets torn down? They put it right back up. Torn down again? Zip ties. Again? Time for a new flag. Again and again, this congregation chooses the high road. It isn’t the easiest path, but they understand a core truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ — that evil may come, but joy comes in the morning. Death is a reality, but so is resurrection. Lies are plentiful, but so is the ability to stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around their waist.

Let this flag (and all the other flags of truth that have been torn down) be a reminder that standing for truth doesn’t come without consequences. Despite the world’s desire to kill the truth, it will stand tall with our help.