Christian Nationalism Doesn’t Just Threaten Our Nation - It Threatens Our Faith

“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” - Mark 12:17

These words came directly from the mouth of Christ, when confronted by a group of Herodians and Pharisees arguing over the power of the Roman emperor. The left and right alike have used this verse to the moon and back to justify their own political beliefs. It has been read as pro-big government, pro-small government, pro-taxes, anti-taxes, and every other ideology under the sun. But that is not what this verse is about, rather, it is the antithesis of what this verse is about. 

With his words, Jesus makes one thing abundantly clear: The government is just the government. It is just a fixture of this world, not a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no government in heaven. No corruption, no crooks, and yes, no taxes. But the world is not the Kingdom of Heaven, it is merely the world of man. 

Jesus, of course, supported no political party - our political parties did not even exist in the time he walked among us. He heeds the word of neither Biden nor Trump. He doesn’t open up emails from Nancy Pelosi. He doesn’t tune in to CSPAN to hear Mitch McConnell speak. He doesn’t pick up phone calls from fundraisers. This is because our world, our politics, are simply that of this world. But as John 16:33 told us, he has overcome the world!

The trivialities of red and blue mean nothing to our Lord. In his time on this earth, Jesus never sought supremacy. He never sought to build his own government. He never called upon his apostles to declare themselves as superior to the rest of the world. Rather, he lived simply by the word of God. Honor God in all you do. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do not kill, do not steal, do not be greedy.

Jesus' words stare in contrast to the rise of Christian nationalism we see taking root in our community today. Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation should be a Christian theocracy, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. Christian Nationalism seeks supremacy over all else; whereas our Lord never did.

Our nation is a country founded for religious freedom—for all religions—even those we don't agree with. Does that mean as Christians we can't hope that others will join us in our faith? Absolutely, not. We pray everyday that all Americans will ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. However, we can not and should not force our faith onto others, nor should we marginalize them for not believing. Doing so would only damage the strong nation that our forefathers fought for and worked so hard to forge.

If we truly want to have a positive Christian influence on society, we will do so with our actions that follow Christ's commandments of loving others and reflecting Christ's values into the world through our actions (not our orders). As Jesus demonstrated during his time on earth, our actions are our witness. 

But let us ask ourselves, what danger does Christian Nationalism pose to our faith? The undertone of Christian Nationalism implies that our faith can only be legitimate if it rules over all other faiths. This trivializes and outright disrespects the Word of the Lord. What belongs to the empire belongs to the empire. When Jesus gave us this word, it was not an endorsement of the empire, nor was it a rejection. It was simply a statement: The empire is not of God. God does not need an empire. We do not need our own government, we do not need our own nation, we do not need any institutional support to legitimize our faith. Christian Nationalism not only threatens our republic, it belittles our faith. It is a fixture of the empire, not of the Kingdom.