Curated topics for a disillusioned church
Talk of Christian nationalism has skyrocketed. In 2021 there were 200,000 tweets on Christian nationalism for the entire year, in just July of 2022 there were over 289,000 tweets on the term. Journalist Daniel Sillman provides a thorough, nuanced look at the word, from those that see it as a positive and those that see it as a negative, along with polling statistics and interviews of pastors, authors, and historians.
Any kingdom of the world is incompatible with the kingdom of God. As a result, when Christians fuse the sword and the cross we just become another version of a kingdom of the world. In an ardent sermon that resulted in losing over 1000 members of his congregation in 2004, Woodland Hills (St. Paul, MN) pastor Greg Boyd says the defining marker of the kingdom of God is that it looks like Jesus. Therefore the distinct marker of a disciple of the kingdom of God is Calvary-like love (Eph. 5:1-2, Lk 14:27).
Preaching from Mark 11 and using Israel as an example of a nation that could not separate God and country pastor Phil Jeansonne humbly asks, is it possible nationalistic pride is in conflict with Jesus' values? Is nationalism so ingrained and culturally acceptable we are unaware of our divided devotion? Is the way we define freedom contaminated by the kingdom of the world?
Power of the sword versus power of the cross. Control of behavior versus transforming lives from the inside out. A tribal kingdom versus a universal kingdom. A tit-for-tat kingdom versus a returning evil with good kingdom. One set of characteristics describes a kingdom of the world while another details the distinct way of the kingdom of God. In The Myth of a Christian Nation author and pastor, Greg Boyd provides a strong scriptural foundation to repudiate that any nation on earth can be a Christian nation because any kingdom of the world is intrinsically opposed to the kingdom of God.
In a well-rounded and straightforward conversation lead pastor at Cornerstone Church of Ames (Amex. IA) Mark Vance and Iowa State University professor Alex Tuckness discuss if Christian nationalism is real, how Christian nationalism can be distorted, and the dangers of Christian nationalism in the public square.
Pastor Tyler Alverson of Seven Oaks Church (Mayfield, KY), preaching from Philippians 3:20-21, invites us to reconsider Christian nationalism. A term that he defines as when self-identifying Christians put the love of God and the love of country on equal ground with no distinction between the two.
Is there a difference between Christianity and Christian nationalism? In just three minutes Amanda Tyler points out the stark differences between the two belief systems.
Russell Moore, former head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, shows that Christian Nationalism is a virulent flavor of secularism and cannot, as no secularism can, save the world, or even save an individual.
New Life Church (Colorado Springs, CO) pastor Glenn Packiam says pastors need to point out the symptoms of Christian nationalism before providing a diagnosis. Packiam then touches on idolatry, kingdom theology, the global church, and much more in a wide-ranging and nuanced interview.
Was America founded as a Christian nation? That depends on how you define Christian and how you define nation. In the 1800s did most of the population identify as Christian? Yes. Was this also a time when 1/3 of the population was in forced labor? Yes. Was this also a time when the majority of the population attended church? Yes. Was this a time when laws and social norms discriminated against Native Americans, black people, Catholics, and many other groups? Yes. Host Chris Staron illustrates that the claim that America was founded as a Christian nation or the statement that we need to "get back to being a Christian nation" is dubious. American history bears witness to a vague Christianity. One where people identify with the religion but don't follow the way of Jesus. Staron calls this the battle between the economic Jesus and the servant Jesus.
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