If you’ve felt the cultural pressure to run from Christian Nationalism, you’re not alone. The term “Christian Nationalism” (CN) started getting thrown around haphazardly during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The establishment media, Democrats, and even some Christians were stunned by the momentum and eventual presidency of Donald Trump. To help explain Trump’s popularity among evangelicals, dozens of articles, documentaries, and even books were filmed and written on CN—a phenomenon, explained by the media, of far-right Christians who mix politics and faith, sometimes to the extent where it’s hard to draw any distinction. In this description of Christian nationalism, America is the chosen nation, conservatism is as inherent as Scripture, and Trump is the promised messiah.
But there are two big problems with this narrow description of CN. First, the terminology is dishonest. Words are important. We must use them carefully and precisely, especially when describing beliefs and ideological frameworks. To call what I described above CN is to do a disservice to both the terms “Christian” and “nationalism.” There’s nothing Christian about viewing America as God’s chosen nation, wrapping Scripture in the American flag, or pointing to Donald Trump as our Savior. That’s heresy, idolatry, and blasphemy. The term “nationalism” has also evolved from what it originally meant into something completely different. Nationalism used to simply mean loving your nation more than loving any other nation. The great journalist G. K. Chesterton said, “Nationalism means ‘The more I as an Englishman love England, the more I should realize that an Irishman loves Ireland.’” John Calvin also understood the natural positivity of being a part of a specific group of people when he said, “Regarding our eternal salvation it is true that one must not distinguish between man and woman, or between king and a shepherd, or between a German and a Frenchman. Regarding policy however . . . our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to mix up nature, or to abolish what belongs to the preservation of decency and peace among us.” To Chesterton and Calvin, national distinctions are not antithetical to the gospel when they are properly applied to society. Today, nationalism has somehow been exclusively linked to white supremacy and connected to radical far-right groups and neo-Nazis. It’s possible that neo-Nazis are nationalists, but it’s also possible to be a nationalist without being a neo-Nazi. Let’s be careful with our words.
The second problem with this description of CN is that the characterization is dishonest. While sadly there are professing Christians who hold to an idolatrous view of America and some that are a part of radical and racist organizations, to paint even a significant number of evangelical conservatives in this light isn’t accurate. Evangelicals who voted for Trump aren’t neo-Nazis—they just love their country and voted for the man whose policies showed love to their country too. Let’s be careful with our characterizations.
As Christians, we are called to love our country, whether that be America, China, or anywhere else. And we love our country by preaching the authority of God’s Word and advocating for His standards to govern our fellow countrymen and our government. So, if by Christian Nationalism, you mean desiring and fighting for our country to be governed by God's perfect Word, then what’s there to be afraid of?
A lot, if you hate Christianity and America.
It’s important to notice who is speaking out against CN and why they are speaking out against it. In many cases, it’s hard to tell exactly what the critics of CN are concerned with. Much of the criticism for CN isn’t arguments against turning America into an idol or mixing the worship of God with the worship of country—instead, they are arguments against Christianity being central in the public square, influencing and controlling culture and politics. Specifically, they are arguments against viewing America as a Christian nation.
Rev. Dr. Paul Baxley, an endorser of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, said, “To suggest that the church needs the protection of the state in order to flourish and thrive is idolatrous.” He’s right that the church doesn’t need the protection of the state, but he ignores that one of the government’s duties is to protect the freedom of the church. Conservative Christians aren’t suggesting that the church is powerless without the state. They simply want to hold government accountable to its duty. That’s not idolatry.
The Christians Against Christian Nationalism official statement reads, “Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation.”
First, let’s agree with the statement where we should. Equating your Christian identity to your American identity is wrong. Your identity in Christ is far more important than your identity in America. Christ saved you, not America. Christ keeps you secure, not America. Christ will rule forever, not America. You can be a Christian without being an American, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Christian anywhere who disagrees with that. You can also be an American without being a Christian. Thankfully, our nation doesn’t require your faith and repentance for you to live here. Part of what makes America better than orthodox-Muslim countries like Iran is that the state doesn’t require your submission to a specific religion. If that’s what you mean by CN, then yes, we should all reject it. But again, you’d be hard-pressed to find an American Christian who wants us to turn into the Christian version of the Ayatollah.
So far, the statement looks good, but it goes downhill quickly. The third core tenet of the statement reads, “One’s religious affiliation, or lack thereof, should be irrelevant to one’s standing in the civic community.” Think about that argument for a second. Notice the disconnection from reality? If you have a religious affiliation, it by definition cannot be irrelevant in your standing in the civic community. If you can make your religion irrelevant the second you enter the public square, you don’t have a religion; you have a hobby. Any orthodox Muslim, Jew, or Christian will laugh at the idea that their religion doesn’t instruct them in civics.
The fifth core tenet of the statement continues in fallacy. It states, “Religious instruction is best left to our houses of worship, other religious institutions and families.” What is public policy if it is not religious instruction? What is law if not agreed upon religious principles that teach society how to live? If “religious instruction is best left to our houses of worship, other religious institutions and families” then we have no government. Romans 13 tells us that government is “not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” Government cannot punish evil if it does not hold to a religious understanding of what is right and wrong.
Before we condemn CN, we should understand what we’re condemning. If it’s the idolatry of equating citizenship in America to citizenship in Heaven, then we must condemn it. If it’s the blasphemy of calling Trump our Savior, then we must speak up against it. But if we’re staying true to the real meanings of Christianity and nationalism, then we have nothing to fear. America is better when Christian principles and beliefs rule in the hearts of the people and on Capitol Hill. Christianizing America is a part of the Great Commission. That’s nothing to fear—it’s something to pursue.
Nice work Zach! Love the writings.