But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light….
For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
We are beset and besieged by a Christian nationalism which though present from the inception of the United States, is now bearing its full fruit.
Christian nationalism plain and simply is pure heresy. Heresy has to do with wrong theology and the wrong practice which results from that. And Christian nationalism at its core is idolatry. It doesn’t matter how it expresses itself, or who or what party is in power. When we see it as sacred so that it has God’s imprimatur or signature so to speak written on it, then we’ve entered into profane space, bringing into what’s sacred and of God’s kingdom something which is only provisional and subject to God’s judgment.
What is especially egregious about the present expression of this heresy is actually nothing new, but it seems especially rampant and endemic now. I speak sadly about its presence set in evangelical circles, but also found in other churches such as mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic. An easy manifestation of its likely presence is when an American flag is in a church building with a Christian flag.
We must never ever give what is provisional sacred status as if it somehow is part of God’s reign and kingdom in Christ. And yet that is what many do when they equate the sacrifice for the nation to be like Christ’s sacrifice for the world. Or see the nation in its founding as pure good and pure light, and as some ideal it is called to live up to.
We can and should appreciate the good that we find in any and every nation. The ideal within the United States that “all men are created equal” should be something appreciated, which we should hold up as a goal for which this nation should aspire. While we can appreciate all the good, we must not have a blind eye for what is not good, no matter where that may be found.
And more to the point of the post: We must never invest in what is not sacred, the thought that somehow it is. That God is on our side, or at least on the side of the United States as it was formed in the beginning. And yet this is what Christians did back then, and continue to do to this day. And that is blasphemy.
“You will know them or whatever it might be by its fruits.” Heresies often have the same effect as cults in the present day understanding of what cult means. It has a choke hold which won’t let go, no matter what the result. And as we see in the present day, the result is far from pretty or good.
To follow Christ together as church in God’s kingdom present now by the Spirit is something completely different, even antithetical to that. It is an existence of love for all, even for our enemies, just as Jesus taught. With the knowledge that there is only one holy nation and sacred kingdom. That of God in Christ. Only one Lord to whom belongs our allegiance. One word which we follow: The good news in our Lord and Savior, Jesus. In and through Jesus.
Jesus community 