There’s been a buzzword running around; lately, I’m sure you’ve heard it, “Christian Nationalism.” Now, I’ve been a Christian my whole life and have paid attention to politics for half of it, specifically from the Christian Conservative angle. So after this phrase had kept popping up over the course of the last few months, I took a deep breath and psyched myself into taking a gander at exactly what those on the “other side” of the political spectrum (who apparently coined the phrase) had to say about those us, “Christian Nationalists.” Sure enough, it was as bad as I thought.
In an 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 hard to define––and a recent article on pewresearch.org says that Christian Nationalism is hard to define as well. So this makes one kind of interpret for themselves who and what Christian Nationalists are, and that’s the most dangerous point. Can anyone who is a Conservative Christian who wants to see a rise in Conservative Christian principles be described as a Christian Nationalist? Maybe not in any definitive sense, but quite likely in the arena of public opinion.
From the 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 winks and pokes her elbow at the idea that while we might disavow such thoughts as slavery and segregation now, we were once the very ones who twisted the Bible to promote such things back then––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 that, and it was, of course, the Republican Party that brought an end to slavery. And I won’t turn a blind eye or pretend that it wasn’t a Democratic president who helped bring an end to segregation in the 1960s. But I digress (I think). At any rate, Stewart does her due diligence in making sure she points her finger straight at conservatives, and those within church leadership, who tell people at rallies, with no hesitation, to vote Red, as if that’s bad or something. But if you want to stand for certain principles in our realm of politics and legislation, and those principles are endorsed by one party and not the other, what else are you going to do?
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 just to support candidates and legislative efforts but for church leaders to also (and more so) encourage their audiences and 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––not Christianity forced down people’s throats through legislation. Our true goal goes way beyond politics.
We want to see our churches filled with people loving God and being transformed by His loving power, and truly committing to living a new lifestyle in Christ. It used to be more that way, but over the past 50 years or so, there has been a downturn. We want to see revival. We want to see a Great Awakening. And that’s what is at the heart of so-called Christian Nationalism––a nationwide repentance. 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 and political spheres, among others.
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 and desperately surrender 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 we’re painted as the bad guys. So it begs the question, is there such a thing as Christian Nationalism? I guess it depends on your point of view, but I’d say probably not. What some may call Christian Nationalism, I just call plain-old traditional, historic Christianity.
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.
Featured Image by Mohan Nannapaneni from Pixaba
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