In a 2021 article for the more liberal-leaning, Christianitytoday.com, Paul D. Miller explains that Christian Nationalism, “differs from other forms of nationalism, patriotism, and Christianity.” And the face of these ‘nationalists’ are quite often gun-toting MAGA Republicans. Miller admits, though, that Nationalism is a hard word to define––and in a 2022 article on pewresearch.org, they say Christian Nationalism is also hard to define. So this phrase is open to interpretation, which makes it dangerous. Can anyone who wants to see a rise in Conservative Christian principles be described as a Christian Nationalist? Maybe not in any definitive sense, but it can be insinuated as such.
In fact, anyone who considers themselves someone who puts God above government (or does not make government their god) could be called a Christian Nationalist (can we say, 666?). Just watch below. Does Heidi Przbyla correctly define Christian Nationalism? Who’s to say when it hasn’t really been defined. Will our Leftist press define it, and therefore tag anyone who disagrees with their brand of Leftist Christianity as extremists? Notice in the video below, she doesn’t define ‘real’ Christians, from her point of view, but does tag real Christians as extremists.
But this isn’t an isolated discussion. There is a lot of talk about the issue (mostly from the Left) now that the 2024 election is ramping up. In fact, there is so much discussion posted on Youtube now that it’s impossible to keep up (A couple of personally selected Youtube videos from Christians on this matter is added at the end of this post).
From the 2022 pew research article:
Respondents also associate Christian nationalism with particular groups and public figures. Those mentioned include: conservatives and the right wing, evangelicals, fundamentalist Christians, Republicans, former President Donald Trump and the “MAGA cult,” and Southerners. A handful of respondents also suggest that Christian nationalism is a newly emerging party or group of its own.
As with Americans’ views of “Christian nation,” ambiguity is a recurrent theme throughout respondents’ descriptions of Christian nationalism. Their views fall along a spectrum, from strict theocratic rule on one end to a loose embrace of morals, such as helping others, on the other end. It is often unclear exactly how much control and influence Christianity has in their descriptions. For example, respondents describe Christian nationalism as “living under the beliefs of Christian values,” “religion having a major impact on the political process,” and “the promotion of Christian ideals within the political sphere.”
Though Americans with unfavorable views of Christian nationalism often describe it in a dominant way and those with favorable views often describe it as a positive influence, sometimes their views transcend these categories. For example, a considerable portion of those with favorable views of Christian nationalism describe it as a form of Christian dominance in society (11%).
In addition to the 55% of Americans who are unfamiliar with the concept of Christian nationalism (or declined to say whether they have heard of it), 18% say they have heard at least a little about it but also say they do not know how to describe Christian nationalism, and an additional 2% give answers too ambiguous to understand.
In a lengthy article in Secularhumanism.org, Katherine Stewart, quite cleverly insinuates that Christian Nationalists have their roots deeply planted in––not the ‘moral majority’ or whatever the movement was 35-40 years ago––but slavery. That’s right. She says that while we might disavow such ideas as slavery and segregation now, she says we were once the very ones who twisted the Bible to promote such things hundreds of years ago––and are eagerly willing to continue to twist the Bible to our own advantages now.
Stewart forgets, though, that it wasn’t the gung-ho Conservative Republicans, but the Southern Democrats who endorsed slavery, and it was of course the first Republican president who officially brought an end to the atrocities of slave ownership–not to mention our founding fathers who, though slave owners themselves, began to recognize that even those who were once thought as lesser beings were also made in the image of God. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn a blind eye to the Johnson era, which brought an end to segregation in the 1960s. But at any rate, Stewart does her due dilligence in making sure she points her finger not only at conservatives, but also those within church leadership, who are engaged in right-wing rallies and whatnot (as if that’s a bad thing).
Also from the pewresearch article:
At the same time, however, many Americans express positive views of a Christian nation with Christian-based governance. For example, one respondent [defined Christian Nationalism as], “A nation that honors God and Jesus Christ, and doesn’t make laws that fly in the face of what God has said, and certainly doesn’t persecute Christians for following what they believe the Bible tells them about issues such as homosexuality and abortion being sinful.”
But, one way to accomplish this is not to just support candidates and legislative efforts, but for church leaders to also (and even more so) encourage their congregations to pray for revival and another Great Awakening. And that is truly what is missing among most articles about so-called Christian Nationalists. According to the pew research article, and from my own personal experience listening to Conservative Christian leaders over the past three decades, what we truly want is a Christian culture back in this nation again.
Though we support Christians being actively involved in local, state and national politics, we do not desire for the Church to control government; nor government to controll the Church. We believe in the First Amendment just as much as anyone else, and we respect the rights of others to worship (or not worship) as they wish. We are also grateful for the freedom of speech which the First Amendment also guarantees, and allows us to preach the gospel as is. And no, we don’t want to use some kind of legislation to shut others up who preach differently than we do.
And speaking of preaching, our true goal as Christian conservatives goes way beyond politics. We want to see churches filled with people loving God, being transformed by His loving power, and truly committing to living a new lifestyle in Christ. We want to see revival. We want to see a Great Awakening. We want to see people on their knees, and as a result, we hope to see The Holy Spirit sweep through this nation with a life-changing power that infiltrates the heart of mankind and thereby changing all aspects of their lives, which will spill out into our culture including the arts, entertainment, educational and political spheres.
But misunderstanding who we are as Conservative Christians and what we truly desire isn’t going to help. Understanding that we want the people and institutions of our nation to willingly turn back to God isn’t so bad, at least I don’t think so. But Satan surely does, and he’ll work overtime to make sure our intentions are skewed, and that we’re painted as extremists. So it begs the question, is there such a thing as Christian Nationalism? Perhaps on a technicality. Its adherants are so small in number that the fear the Left is propagating is certainly unwarranted–and should have blown over by now, hardly a footnote in their coverage. So why harp on it? It makes you wonder if this is all just a wretched scheme intentionally overblown so that the Left can demonize the Right, and its candidates (nevermind just relying on the arena of ideas), thereby lumping all conservative Christians in the loop as well.
At any rate, our churches should not abandon the gospel for politics. There is a time and place, and while Christians (and even clergy) have the right and civic duty to get involved in the political sphere in whatever way they can, the primary role of the Church is to preach the gospel, make disciples and edify the body of Christ. I was once told that the primary role of the pastor is to make sure your sheep are well fed.
1 Timothy 6:12
But you, man of God…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Psalm 33:12
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
The following song came up on my playlist as I finished editing this article. Perhaps it would be fitting to add it here, as a reminder that our Christianity is not just a worldly focus on changing the political landscape, but more importantly than our social/poitical worldview is the invitation to know God in a deep, rich and powerful way. This invitation is open to everyone, everywhere.
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