The first attempt was to label kneeling as a form of "disrespect" and when it didn't work, some people decided to vainly bring the name of God into the picture. I've heard at least one professional baseball player and a NBA player with the Orlando Magic, citing their "Christian faith" as a reason to not kneel in protest during the national anthem. Standing is ABSOLUTELY OK - just don't use Christianity as an excuse to say, "I can only kneel before God."
Kneeling to fix your kitchen sink does not mean you are worshiping your kitchen sink. It also, is NOT the same as kneeling to PRAY. The kneeling posture in itself is meaningless because the activity during the posture, is what defines the relevance of the posture. Even king David did not equate kneeling to worship. In Psalm 95:6, he used the words worship, bowing down and kneeling as separate acts: "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!" You can sit, stand, bow or kneel when praying during worship. You can pray while driving without closing your eyes. This is why I often use Stephen as an example. He was praying while being stoned to death (Acts 7:59-60) and Jesus did the same on the cross. The connection to God is always there and it is through the Spirit. This shows that kneeling DURING worship is just an outward act to show respect and/or submission.
"Every Kneel will bow" means to acknowledge with respect that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11, Romans 14:11-12). This would be like Jesus saying on the day of judgement, "I'm gonna make y'all put some respect on my name." - hypothetically quoting but you get my point. Standing up in a New York City subway train when the seats are all taken, is different from me standing up in a courtroom full of seats, to acknowledge the entrance of the presiding Judge.
We MUST all, one day acknowledge, appear, show respect, show up or you can say, "stand before the judgement seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10). This includes believers and unbelievers. When an unbeliever shows respect by kneeling with a bow, to face judgment or finally acknowledge Jesus as Lord, this act will not be considered as "WORSHIP." Unbelievers cannot worship God, only the children of God(Christians) have the ability to do so. Unbelievers are short of God's glory because they have not accepted the gospel of Christ, which is NEEDED to be able to come into His presence to worship (John 1:11-14, Romans 3:23-24). They have NO FAITH in Jesus, so it is impossible for them to please God through worship (Hebrews 11:6). If kneeling equates worship, then unbelievers kneeling will equate worshiping to God.
Let's not get caught up in man made narratives to confuse ourselves especially on simple topics like these. We need to stop manipulating this issue of kneeling for personal or political gains. I will no longer entertain questions about "kneeling during the national anthem" because I believe I've said enough in at least two to three post relating to this issue. Stay Blessed My Friends.
