“There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction…” — 2 Peter 3:16
God’s Word is holy, and we must handle it with humility. Scripture is not ours to bend, reshape, or use to defend what we already want to believe. The Bible itself warns that people can take truth and twist it—sometimes to gain followers, sometimes to protect power, sometimes to excuse sin, and sometimes because correction is hard to receive.
Christian nationalism is one way this twisting shows up in our time. It takes the language of faith and wraps it around national pride, political control, cultural fear, and human ambition. It can make loyalty to a country, party, leader, or movement look like loyalty to Christ. But Jesus never called His church to confuse His kingdom with any earthly nation. He said plainly, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
When Faith Is Used to Sanctify Power
Paul warned that a time would come when people would not put up with sound teaching. Instead, they would look for teachers who tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3–4). In everyday words, people can become more interested in a message that feels good than a message that is true. They want their ears scratched, not their hearts corrected.
Christian nationalism feeds that appetite when it tells people that God is mainly concerned with preserving their nation, tribe, culture, or control. It can turn patriotism into an altar and power into an idol. It can make fear sound like discernment, domination sound like righteousness, and harshness sound like courage.
That should sober us, because the cross must never be used to bless what Christ came to redeem. The gospel does not belong to one nation. Christ purchased people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The church is not the servant of any earthly kingdom. Our first citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
Christians can love their country, pray for leaders, serve their neighbors, and seek justice in society. But our highest allegiance must always belong to Jesus. Whenever love of country begins to compete with obedience to Christ, we are no longer dealing with healthy patriotism. We are dealing with spiritual confusion.
How Christian Nationalism Twists Scripture
Christian nationalism twists God’s Word when it uses Scripture to bless what Jesus came to confront: pride, partiality, greed, violence, fear, and the hunger for control. It takes verses about righteousness and turns them into weapons of self-righteousness. It borrows biblical language about blessing and calling, then uses it to suggest that one country has a special claim on God while the church is pulled into serving politics instead of Christ.
It also twists Scripture when it ignores the parts of the Bible that command humility, mercy, justice, repentance, and love for the stranger. God told His people not to mistreat foreigners, but to love them (Leviticus 19:33–34). The prophets cried out against worship that sounded holy while ignoring injustice (Isaiah 1:11–17; Amos 5:21–24). Jesus commanded love for neighbor and enemy alike (Matthew 5:43–48; Luke 10:25–37).
So any teaching that uses the Bible to make contempt, cruelty, suspicion, or fear look holy should be tested carefully. Peter warned that some people twist hard parts of Scripture to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). That warning should make us pause. Twisting God’s Word is not a small matter. When people change the meaning of Scripture to fit their desires, they can mislead others and place themselves in spiritual danger.
Not Everything Wrapped in Scripture Comes from God
The Bible tells us to watch out for people who cause division and teach things that go against the truth we have received (Romans 16:17–20). Not everyone who sounds spiritual is speaking for God. Some use smooth words, religious slogans, patriotic emotion, and carefully selected verses to lead people away from the narrow way while convincing them they are defending the faith.
The danger is that deception often enters dressed as devotion. Satan himself is described as disguising himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14–15). Lies do not always arrive with obvious warnings. False teaching can sound peaceful, popular, inspirational, patriotic, and “pro-Christian” while quietly leading people away from obedience to Christ.
Jesus confronted religious leaders who knew the words but did not live the truth. They preached, but they did not practice. They placed heavy burdens on others while protecting their own pride (Matthew 23:1–39). That warning still speaks. Bible language without repentance is not holiness. Public faith without humility is not faithfulness.
What the Word of the Lord Requires
Faithfulness requires repentance. It requires us to love truth more than comfort, obedience more than influence, and Christ more than control. We must test every teaching by Scripture, not by popularity, personality, emotion, tradition, or political usefulness.
We must reject every message that distorts the gospel, excuses pride, stirs up fear, sanctifies hostility, or uses faith to gain money, power, attention, or control (Galatians 1:6–9; 1 Timothy 6:3–5; Romans 16:17–20).
The gospel does not need to be edited. God’s Word does not need our improvements. The church does not need worldly power to be faithful. Our task is not to force Scripture to agree with our politics, fears, or national stories. Our task is to bow—heart, mind, belief, and life—beneath the authority of the living God.
So let us be careful. Let us be humble. Let us love our neighbors, tell the truth, pursue justice, and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Nations rise and fall, movements come and go, and leaders change. But Christ’s kingdom remains. And His people must never trade that kingdom for any earthly throne.
Minister A Francine Green I June 2026