“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…
Christian nationalism can be hard to make sense of because it uses the language of Christianity to support ideas and actions that often do not reflect the heart of the gospel. That is what makes it so perplexing. It becomes even more concerning when its beliefs and behavior are placed next to biblical truth. When we compare political ideology with…
How religious language is used to define national identity, shape belonging, and legitimize exclusion. Christian nationalism is best understood not simply as a religious movement, but as a political project that uses Christian language and symbolism to define who counts as a legitimate American and whose values should govern public life. Its power comes less from theology alone than from…
Understanding Christian Nationalism and Responding with the Heart of Jesus What Is Christian Nationalism? Christian nationalism is the idea that Christianity should be closely tied to a nation’s identity, laws, and politics. People who hold this view often believe that their country will only thrive if it follows Christian principles and that their faith should influence public life, government, and…
I write this with real concern for both the Christian faith and the country. Christian nationalism can sound like patriotism with stronger feelings, but it is not the same thing. Patriotism can love a country while still telling the truth about it. Nationalism goes further. It treats the nation as the highest good, divides people into insiders and outsiders, and…
Few debates reveal the fault lines of American public life more clearly than the question of whether the United States is, at its core, a Christian nation. At stake is more than religion alone. The issue touches power, identity, and belonging: who is imagined to represent the nation, whose values are treated as normative, and whose place in public life…
A plainspoken case against turning national identity into a sacred cause—and against using Christianity as a path to power. How faith gets twisted into power Nationalism is not patriotism turned up louder. Patriotism can love a country while telling the truth about it. Nationalism treats the nation as supreme, divides the world into insiders and outsiders, and measures human worth…
Over the past few years, I have found myself deeply burdened as I have watched much of the Christian community and church culture around me. I have seen sincere believers who truly love Jesus, and that gives me hope. But I have also seen confusion, compromise, and division on a level that has genuinely grieved me. In too many places,…
Understanding God’s Word to Challenge Misleading Ideologies Christian nationalism is the idea that being a Christian and being a patriot are one and the same, and that a nation (like the United States) is favored or chosen by God in a special way. While faith and love for one’s country can both be good things, problems arise when people start…
