We speak every day by our actions and words. But are we speaking the truth about God or lies? It depends on what banner we are operating under when we speak. All of us operate under some kind of banner even when we are not aware of it. Everyone has presuppositions and a practical theology which gets worked out into our daily thoughts and actions. This practical theology drives the motives behind what we do and think, and sets the tone for how we treat others in any given moment. We all fly these colors without even realizing it. So we need to ask ourselves, what banner are we operating under at any given moment? What types of banners are there?

The Law

The first banner I want to consider is the banner of law, which is the old way of trying to earn approval by the works of the law.

“And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Romans 2:12b).

How do you know when you are operating under this banner? Ask yourself if you are in any way thinking along these lines:

“What must I do, or how can I act, to be approved by people or by God?”

“What things are others doing that I should be doing, to be thought well of by my fellow Christians?”

These are really saying that there must be something more that I can do to gain a deep level of acceptance of my inner person by people. This is not talking about societal norms in a mere social context. It is doing things to seek a confirmation of your standing –that you are indeed ‘in.’ But let’s look what is driving this desire. By always seeking to be accepted by man, (whom we can see) isn’t it really an attempt to be accepted wholly by God (whom we cannot see)?

This banner is very works-based, and it is always striving and never arriving. But the problem is not the works, which are good in themselves, but the motives that drive them. It is the seeking to do something more to be truly accepted, as if anything more could be added to what Christ has already done on the cross.

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

This verse states that you gain righteousness not through works but through faith. You are justified freely by His grace which means at the point of salvation you are now on the inside and accepted before God. You are ‘in.’

So, if you are accepted by God, what would it matter if some human does not accept you? What would it matter anymore what anyone thinks? Why go back into the prison you were just let out of to try to continually re-earn that deep level acceptance? No one is justified, nor given that deep, saving approval, by works. And if you try, you will be chasing the wind, becoming more bound by what you ‘should be doing’ but can’t do. In the end, you will either gain a false sense of approval, (which is pride) or you will be burdened down so heavily that you will be crushed under the weight. This deep level of acceptance can only be gained in Christ at the cross, and once it is done, you’ve got it.

So this banner of the law is a false banner, and it is misleading. How do you know if you are subtly operating under this banner? It can take the form of perpetual people-pleasing, changing who you are to fit what others want you to be as if they were the highest entity to please. This is a form of enslavement because you are trying to please ‘mortals’ that cannot love you perfectly, who are fallible and prone to change. You will end up trying to hit a moveable mark, and so never truly arriving.

“and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection,..” (Philippians 3:9,10a).

Another form this can take is one of competition where you are trying to earn your approval by comparing yourself to others to see if you are keeping up with the spiritual Joneses to get the approval prize. The result of this is also negative, because it causes competition between people without the joy and love that are at the base of a true standing with God and your fellow man. Your focus will be all off with your sight being on the other person as the standard for approval and not God.

The comparison game is deceptive, because if you do make your mark and somehow feel you have arrived, then now you have a different problem, one of pride. What is subtly happening here is that you are looking sideways and not up at God for your mark. This too is all works based. You are in essence trying to earn God’s approval and judging your success by what the competition is doing.

The practical result is that you must either keep scrambling to the ever- changing bar that is being set by others, or you must tear down that bar to an attainable level. This causes strife and little love. The underlying premise is that what God did at the cross was not enough, and there is only a limited amount of love and approval to go around, so if someone else has it, then you don’t. To get what you need, you’ll have to somehow tear it away from them.

You will end up constantly looking at your fellow Christian as more of a threat and less of a blessing, and you will view yourself as less than nothing and unworthy of God’s love, that love you are striving so hard to gain. This is not a constructive banner to operate under . It doesn’t speak the truth about God who has plenty of love in His house to fill all His children, and His acceptance of us was complete at the cross.

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).