When the people went into Canaan, they were to remove the name of the false gods. He places his name on them, tying his reputation to them. In the Old Testament, God identifies himself with the children of Abraham and the nation of Israel. God very much cares about where he places his name. When the dimmer switch for establishing a religion is all the way up, a state effectively says, “This is our god, and we are his people-plus, sure, the Gentile rabble with us.”Ģ. Still, most of us recognize that, even when you factor in the complexities of the dimmer switch, there’s a basic difference between establishment and non-establishment. These latter three have “secular” constitutions, but all three offer a few practices or laws that privilege one faith over others, if nothing more than state recognition of a religious calendar and holidays. It’s a dimmer switch, which is why debates exist over whether Turkey is a Muslim nation, or India is Hindu, or America is or was Christian. Now, the distinction between an established and a non-established religion is not an on/off switch. This is like calling Saudi Arabia a “Muslim nation,” Israel a “Jewish state,” or even China a “Communist nation.” When I say “no” to Christian nationalism, I’m referring to Christian nationalism as a matter of identity,as if to say “We the people” are a Christian nation.

The government should implement justice as he defines it, not justice as some other god defines it. If influence is the standard, then I’m a Christian nationalist. Others mean that the nation and its government should actually identify as Christian.Ĭritics of Christianity will denounce any Christian influence as Christian nationalism.

Some people use the phrase to mean that Christianity should influence the nation and its laws. People mean at least two things by Christian nationalism-Christian influence and Christian identity. Why should we say no? Because Christian Nationalism misrepresents Jesus. When I first envisioned this article, it had the title, “No to Christian Nationalism Yes to God-Fearing Governments.” Yet its growing length crushed my dreams, so I decided to play Negative Nelly and just say no to Christian nationalism. Editor’s Note: This article was originally given as a talk at a Carl Henry Center public theology forum at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Political Church by Jonathan Leeman