The Relationship Between God’s Kingdom and Our Nation
Series: Cracks – Navigating Our Divided Times?
Brad Bailey – February 27, 2022
Intro
We’re continuing in our series focusing on navigating through our divided times.
It’s about recognizing that when you see cracks emerge ... we should assess the foundations... solidify them so that we can build a sound and solid future.
And today we are engaging the nature of how we relate to our national identity....in particular...
The Relationship Between God’s Kingdom and Our Nation
This relates to a breadth of underlying questions such as:
• In what way does the Kingdom of God, which Jesus inaugurated, relate to the United States?
• How should or shouldn’t we think of America as being a Christian Nation?
• How should we think about “saving” our nation?
These may not seem like big issues for everyone. We may think of ourselves as simply residing in this nation and exploring or having a relationship with Christ. But the relationship between the kingdom Jesus declared...and one’s national identity... was something Jesus sought to transform.
And this relationship is a very challenging issue...because it can relate to very deep parts of ourselves... to our fears for our country... our affections for our country... our identity with our country.
As such... let pause for a moment... bring our hearts before God... in prayer.
PRAY
Today... the whole world is watching as a nation is fighting for it’s survival.
There is a sense of pride and protection that anyone can feel for the place in which they were born.
And in a unique way... many feel a unique sense of wanting to protect this nation.
In the last 40 years... in just a single generation of time... there has been what many see as deconstructing of many of the distinctly Christian views and values that were foundational to this nation.....and to it’s strength.
As a Colombian Philosopher wrote:
“Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the values which created it.” – Nicolas Gomez Davila (Colombian Philosopher)
Many people sense the cutting of the branch we’ve sat upon. [1]
There’s a natural instinct within much of America’s Christian culture, to want to get the country to turn back to it’s Christian beliefs and values. But how? Based on what right? Based on what means? How does God’s Kingdom come?
These questions that involve a breadth of thought that I can only touch upon.... but I hope we can discuss together more in a time of discussion to follow.
The main issue we need to stop and consider...is about what it means to make a nation Christian.
I believe that we must allow our lives to be oriented ...or reoriented...around that reality of what Jesus made known about the Kingdom of God.
We do well to consider how Jesus confronted and transformed the whole narrative of those he first called. They had presumed that God wanted to restore their national identity by providing a new warrior king... who would sit on an earthly throne as the previous King David had.
Jesus showed no interest in Rome. He said, “Give Caesar the emperor what is his by way of running things here...but give to God what is His...which is yourself.”
They were so set on the fact that God’s goal was to restore them as nation... God’s nation...that they could hardly imagine what Jesus was saying. They thought what God wanted was to overthrow Caesar.
As Jesus was finally brought before the Roman governor Pilate... Pilate could tell this was being ushed upon him by the religious leaders who said that Jesus claimed to be a king...and that meant that Pilate had to execute him based on that being a threat to Rome. Pilate’s perplexed because it’s members of the Israelite nation who are demanding this... Jesus hasn’t threatened Rome. So he asks Jesus about his kingdom.
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." - John 18:36?
It could be said that it wasn’t so much his threat to Rome that instigated this call for his execution... but his threat to the national pride of the religious leaders. He wasn’t going to be the warrior king.
And the grand reality is that the Kingdom of God transcends all earthly rule.
And this became the transforming reality for all who followed him. Jesus transformed them by his very nature of announcing a new kingdom of which he was the King of all... whose focus was not on an earthly nation.
The role of a religious nation, of a theocracy, was being transcended.
And when he defeated death... and appeared to them... it changed everything.
As a result, his followers became those who brought transformation to the Roman Empire (and the western world) through their own alternative allegiance to Christ and his call to live and love one another in such a way that the “world would know that he was from God.” Their allegiance was defiant... but it understood that it did not rely on political or physical force.
This profound distinction would be tested through time.
What seemed clear for the first 300 years... was faced with a change when the fourth century Roman Emperor, Constantine the First, made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
This brought what was then the Catholic Church into a union with the power of the state.
Some would look upon this as the beginning of the western spread of the Christian Faith. But almost immediately the very nature of that faith changed...and some would look back and say it was the beginning of the end for much of the church....because the kingdom of God and the ways of this world’s kingdoms were not the same...and were never meant to be. [2]
However unintended it may have been,
“Constantine turned Christianity into a piece of political machinery.” – A.B. Lewis [3]
And with this came the justification of killing to further the cause of Christ. The way was opened for the persecution of religious minorities that has marred the church’s history to our own day. [4]
And with this came the beginning of coopting the nature of the covenant that God had made with Israel...to that of Rome. [5]
So how does Jesus want us to understand America?
Is America a Christian nation?
In so many ways... my instinct is to say yes.
So may came seeking religious freedom.
So many of the founding Father’s spoke not only of God...but also of their Christian Faith...and referred to the Bible. So much of what formed the vision of the founding fathers was fundamentally rooted in the Biblical views and values they held.
And what seems even more clear is that they spoke of how they saw that the qualities of this nation could not survive without it.
In this sense America was formed with very significant ideas rooted in the Christian worldview as well as the personal convictions and faith of many.
But the best of minds... understood that it was still another earthly kingdom....it was still only another nation of human governance... human in nature.
That understanding is reflected in separating the powers of state and faith.
The Constitution that establishes this nation makes no reference to God... but rather establishes two directives regarding religion. [6]
In Article VI,
“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States...” – The Constitution of the U.S.; Article VI
and in the First Amendment,
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” – The Constitution of the U.S.; First Amendment
The meaning of these statements have been the source of endless debate...but what seems clear...and perhaps surprising is that they were so intent on NOT establishing any official religion. Given the Christian Faith of many of the Founding Father’s...it may seem very surprising ... but I would contend... it is what is so distinctly Christian about it. If Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world...and is not intended to be confused with any nation... nor corrupted by such powers....then we can understand that the Constitution of this country reflects a profoundly Christian understanding of establishing a nation.
There is no particular belief that was made inherent to it’s citizens.
I don’t think our forefathers ever imagined a country on which the culture would be dominated by anything other than some form of Christian faith....but they built that possibility into it’s foundation. They may not have imagined how such pluralism would play out...but it’s potential is built into it.
In this sense...it is most Christian. [7]
Despite the Christian values which were foundational in shaping it’s ideals, it is essential to understand how America was never inherently a “Christian nation”...because the idea itself defies a true understanding of God’s Kingdom and it’s nature.
Jesus called us to a new kingdom... that is not of this world....and if we join God’s kingdom...we become what some refer to as resident aliens in this world... we represent a different kingdom... while being residents in this world.
And how do we represent that kingdom? By allowing the love of Christ to continue in us.
As Gregory Boyd writes [8],
The church was established to serve the world with Christ-like love, not to rule the world. It is called to look like a corporate Jesus, dying on the cross for those who crucified him, not a religious version of Caesar.
If Jesus wasn’t concerned about ‘taking Israel back for God’ by political means, why would any who align themselves with his kingdom aspire to ‘take back America for God’ by these means??Did Jesus ever suggest by word or example that we should aspire to acquire, let alone take over, the power of Caesar? Did Jesus spend any time and energy trying to improve, let alone dominate, the reigning government of his day? Did he ever work to pass laws against the sinners he hung out with and ministered to? Did he worry at all about ensuring that his rights and the religious rights of his followers were protected? Does any author in the New Testament remotely hint that engaging in this sort of activity has anything to do with the kingdom of God??The answer to all these questions is, of course, no.”
“The question that wins the world is not, how can we get our “morally superior” way enforced in the world? The question that wins the world, and the question that must define the individual and collective life of kingdom-of-God citizens is, how do we take up the cross for the world? How do we best communicate to others their unsurpassable worth before God? How do we serve and wash the feet of the oppressed and despised?”
- Gregory Boyd
?Christ’s primary calling is to embody his sacrificial love. He asked me to trust in the way of the cross... the power of self-sacrificial love to transform hearts ....knowing that the power of the sword merely controls behavior.
This helps those who join Jesus ...to find clarity about the idea of “saving” America.
As the Bible clearly speaks of...there is the power of the sword that is given to human governing... meaning an authority to contain evil.
But the Kingdom expands only by love....and the human heart surrendering to God.
If we don’t see the radical distinction between the Kingdom of God...and the nature of our nation’s governance... the two become confused. We can think if America had it’s past values it would be more Christian... or that if we could have Christian symbols it would be more Christian.... a civic religion of sorts.
This is what has been referred to as “Christian nationalism.”
“Christian Nationalism” has been described as the “merging of Christian and American identities.... until the line between them is blurred or even erased altogether.” [9]
“...an insidious union of patriotism and Christian belief that shakes the two together until it’s hard to know where one ends and the other begins.” [10]
It can seem natural to assume that any connection made between our national identity and the Christian faith is positive. But if we can step back.... we may be able to see what Jesus saw...when he related to the cultural religious life of Israel. They were using God to serve their personal positions and identity.
When the Christian Faith becomes mixed with national identity... it leads to nothing but a confusing and convoluted mess. [11]
One could consider an example to be that of former Vice President Mike Pence concluding a speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) when, towards the end of his address, he issued an exhortation from Hebrews 12,
"So let's run the race marked out for us. Let's fix our eyes on...Old Glory and all she represents," as he gazed up to the American flag. He continued, "Let's fix our eyes on this land of heroes, and let their courage inspire." He replaced 'Jesus' with a colloquial term for the American flag, 'Old Glory'...and the American land of heroes. While this might be deemed a simple mixing of sentiments, it is striking in it’s overt change in the very object of our faith and worship.
Another example could be heard amidst the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Following terror attacks in Kabul that killed 12 U.S. Marines, President Joe Biden sought to express honor to the military lives by quoting from an Old Testament passage in the Bible. He said, “Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the book of Isaiah when the Lord says, ‘Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?’...“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” American military has been answering for a long time, ‘Here I am, Lord, send me.’ ”
Again, it may strike one as a simple sentimental comparison, but again we have the authority of God used to serve a purpose that is clearly neither intended nor appropriately related. The mission of God being met by a prophet is not the mission of America being met by it’s military. As Ed Stetzer wrote: “It is never appropriate to take the mission of God in Scripture and apply it to the American military, the American dream or the American way of life. They are not interchangeable. The Kingdom of God and earthly kingdoms are not one and the same, nor does the kingdom of God depend on the success of earthly governments, movements, campaigns or wars.” [12]
A far stranger form of Christian nationalism could be seen in the January 6, 2021 incursion of the Capital. Notably in the conflation of symbols.
As Michael Luo described, political beliefs may have driven “the Capitol invasion, but distorted visions of Christianity suffused it.” There were Christian symbols and prayers raised up by the very lives perpetrating violence towards those seeking to protect the nation’s capital and those serving as elected leaders. [13]
These are just symbols that we shouldn’t create some straw man enemy out of.
Not every political concern... or expression of patriotism should be dismissed as representing Christian Nationalism. But we do need to identify and challenge the underlying assumptions that can be at work.
In a strange way, such Christian nationalism can become that which claims a love for democracy yet is actually rejecting it and favoring the presumption and practices of a theocracy... like that of Biblical Israel. Not surprisingly, Christian nationalism finds roots from the beliefs that America bears a special covenant-like relationship with God... often cast as a “new Israel.” Subsequently, many presume that the promises made to the covenant formed people of Israel can simply be applied as covenant promises to this nation of America.
Some principles to guide our distinct and redemptive hope for the world..
As distinct citizens of God’s Kingdom...
Realize these reflect more than the brevity here...so I welcome the opportunity to discuss and further in a time following.
1. May we honor the exceptional qualities of this nation, often reflecting God’s revealed view and values, and the profound sacrifices that have been made to secure them.
America’s “exceptional” nature should be appreciated for what it is...not for what it is not. - America is exceptional in so many ways...and we should appreciate the exceptional qualities including those which are rooted in a Biblical worldview.
Are you thankful that this nation even aspires to equality? That it aspires to respect religious freedom? That his nation has provided more potential for personal opportunity than any other?
This country has developed advancements in so many areas of medicine and technology...that have served our live and the world.
If we love what God loves...we will never lose a love for this country.
And we should never lose sight of the sacrifices that have been made to protect the freedom of our freedom...and the freedom of others.
So many real men and women have given their lives to bear the sword when the sword was needed. There is a sacred sobriety we all need.
We do well to take time to visit a national military cemetery... and if you can’t feel anything... pray that you do.
2. May we avoid the presumption of any God-given superiority over other nations... and embrace the new common unity that lies in Christ...and not in nation.
Even as we appreciate what is exceptional about this nation...we must not assume that it has some special superior position with God that separates us from the common humanity of all the world.
If we sing “God Bless America”... let’s have hearts that presume that could be sung for any nation.
May our national identity become secondary to a new identity in Christ that has the power to unite.
As one group described [14],
“As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by faith.”
3. May we embrace the common need to set right our nation’s wrongs in order to fulfill it’s aspirations.
America’s ideals are not served by avoiding unresolved sin and injustice... but rather by participating in the process of engaging legitimate injustices with the heart and mind of Christ.
I know that there is a lot of resentment about how much attention is being given to the sins of our nations past. But the church has to face the call to be those who should have led the way of repentance and restoration... and has too often been too complicit.
While this can include thoughtful debate over issues, we do well to be those who embrace genuine initiative and contrition. The way in which God called into light the sins of Israel, would suggest that there is a righteous role in shared confession among God’s people. [15]
4. May we recognize that God’s true reign and righteousness lies in relationship to a distinct Kingdom ... for which allegiance cannot be imposed.
We do well to see our political roles as a means of serving the common good... through supporting more righteousness in structures and statutes...but with no allusion of that this makes the country more Christian. Christ doesn’t save nations...only people. And America can never be a Christian nation...but it can be a nation with Christians.
And the hearts of America will not be changed by imposing morality... or control... or force.
One may recall, that as he was being arrested, “one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:51-52).
5. May we realize that the nature of Christ, when honored as most distinct from any earthly governance, shines most brightly.
I want to conclude with this vital point.
Western culture... while still enjoying much of the foundations rooted in the Bible... has had a major stepping back from the Christian Faith.
I want to bring home one very significant truth. I have not heard one thing said against Christ. The aversion many hold is towards what is perceived as a segment of “Christian culture”... or “the Church”... or “some Christians”... but not Christ. If the actual life and teachings of Christ are raised by those in contention, it is always to recognize that Christ would not act in the same manner. [16]
The point is that amidst the drama of our world, Christ shines as distinctly as ever. I have found I have MORE reason to learn how to live in and from the life of Jesus. I have MORE reasons to proudly speak of why there is no one like him...on any level.
Let us stay focused on what has NOT been shaken,
Christ, our true center, remains unchanged... shining as distinctly as ever.
Again... it comes back to his calling.
He calls us to enter into a new kingdom... to the eternal reign and rule of God.
And to become his representatives of love...and truth...and grace...and compassion.
And that begins with choosing what Kingdom we are a citizen of.
George Shultz, Secretary of State during the Reagan administration, kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed ambassadors had an interview with him and when ambassadors returning from their posts for their first visit with him were leaving his office, Shultz would test them. He would say, "You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country."
They would go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on the country to which they were sent--unerringly.
When Shultz's old friend and former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan, even he was put to the test. This time, however, Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and put his hand on the United States. He said: "That's my country."
It stunned Shultz because he realized how confused they all had been. [17]
When you understand your citizenship...and that you are living as an ambassador... your true country is not where you will live... but the country you will represent.
So the question may be asking us this morning...is :What country do you belong to?
Is it the country where the king calls me to follow him in the way of the cross...to die for the sake of others.
Where the blessed are those who are meek... for they will inherit the earth?
I can imagine Jesus...standing next to Pilate... the governor for the Roman Empire... as Jesus hears the calls from the religious leaders to execute him...because he would not affirm their moral superiority...and then the crowds joining in...because it was now clear that he would not overthrow Rome and become their warrior king...and restore their national identity.
And his yes may have looked for his followers... some hiding in th shadows... and wondering...what kingdom will thy choose?
PRAY
Notes:
1. Similarly, George Orwell...well known for his book 1984 which captured to nature of human decline amidst progress... was an agnostic who recognized that the good of Western Civilization was rooted in Christianity. He once described Europe's rejection of God this way:
“For two hundred years we had sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately there had been a little mistake: The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all, it was a cesspool full of barbed wire...It appears that amputation of the soul isn’t just a simple surgical job, like having your appendix out. The wound has a tendency to go septic.” - From Notes on the Way, 1940 (Cited in The Book that Made Your World, Mangalwadi)
2. “Historians now debate whether "the first Christian emperor" was a Christian at all. Some think him an unprincipled power seeker. What religion he had, many argue, was at best a blend of paganism and Christianity for purely political purposes.”
Constantine - First Christian emperor. - https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/constantine.html
3. Paganism Surviving in Christianity By Abram Herbert Lewis, Chapter X; pg. 208 cited here
4. When Christianity Triumphed: The achievement brought new difficulties.
By William H. C. Frend, CT - https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-27/when-christianity-triumphed.html
5. So when Rome was decimated in 412 AD... it became a major division between the pagans and Christians as to whom was to blame...because some of the church had claimed God had a special covenant.
As Peter Hubbard cited,
In 410, the Visigothic army under King Alaric conquered the city of Rome. They burned the buildings, slaughtered the inhabitants. But this military action meant much more than just the defeat of one city. For many in civilized society it was the end, the end of the world.
And the finger pointing began immediately. The pagans blamed the Christians because the pagans had gathered all the gods of the nations in the city of Rome so that Rome would never be conquered. It was assumed the pagan gods would never allow the city they dwell in to go down. The Christians had different versions of what happened. Some believed that because Paul and Peter’s bones were buried in Rome, it would never be defeated. Some believed that because the Roman Empire had so broadly received Christ, God would never allow the city to fall. Augustine wrote “The City of God” to refute both pagan lies and Christian myths. This “god of the land” heresy is not new. It’s the idea that the way you protect your land is to worship the God who is over that piece of real estate to ensure the security of your way of life.
It’s any time we wrap the cross with a flag, a kind of civil religion, a Christianized version of American exceptionalism. From Peter Hubbard, North Hills Church, July 4, 2021 - here
6. In Search of a Christian Nation by Ronald B. Flowers, 07/04/2004. Professor of Religion Emeritus, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas.
7. It is notable that a likely majority of the world might think of the U.S. as a “Christian nation”... many common or cultural Christians may think so.. with a more emotional than theological contract... but the majority of religious leaders in the United States would recognize that it is not.
8. From Myth of a Christian Nation, by Gregory Boyd. Boyd further contends...
“We have allowed out allegiance to the kingdom of God to be compromised by allegiance to our nation, and allowed the flag to smother the cross. The time to turn completely from this Constantinian Idolatry is long overdue.”
“Perhaps it would be a benefit if the word GOD wasn’t so trivially sprinkled on our coins, our Pledge of Allegiance, our civic functions, and elsewhere. We end up wasting precious time and resources defending and tweaking the civil religion – as though doing so had some kingdom value.”
“What if the energy and resources used to preserve and tweak the civil religion was rather spent feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, befriending the drug addict, and visiting the prisoner? What if instead of trying to legally make life more difficult for gays, we worried only about how we could affirm their unsurpassable worth in service to them? What if instead of trying to defend our religious rights, Christians concerned themselves with siding with others whose rights are routinely trampled?”
9. From Under God: The Rise of Christian Nationalism By Tyler Huckabee, January 7, 2021 - here)
10. From relevant magazine article here.
11. Regarding the way that using worldly power corrupts the Christian cause, Clifford R. Goldstein articulates well, when he writes,
“...no matter how sincere and honest their motives, whenever Christians get heavily involved in the political process—all with the desire to make their respective nation more "Christian"—what happens is the reverse. Instead of the nonbelievers becoming more Christian, the Christians wind up acting more like nonbelievers. All through history that has been the case, and—as Jerry Falwell (who seemed to consistently transgress the commandment about bearing false witness) and others have shown—it's no different with the church today.’
after the "conversion" of Constantine, the church gained worldly power, the precise kind of power that Christian Rightists of today could only drool over. Was the result, then, a reign of righteousness? Hardly. Instead it began the complete corruption of the church, which led to centuries of persecution, torture, wars, and suffering, all done in the name of Jesus Christ and, ostensibly, for the furtherance of righteousness and holiness.
Where in the Great Commission are Christians called to gain political power and use that power to bring about a moral revival in their respective countries? Text and verse, please. The fact is the texts and verses aren't there, because that's not what Christians are called to do. And, besides, it never works anyway.” - Clifford R. Goldstein (Liberty Mag book review January/February 2008 - here
12. Ed Stetzer: Don’t Confuse Military Action With the Mission of God By Ed Stetzer -August 27, 2021 - here
13. From: The Wasting of the Evangelical Mind: The peculiarities of how American Christianity took shape help explain believers’ vulnerability to conspiratorial thinking and misinformation. By Michael Luo, The New Yorker, March 4, 2021 here. It includes noting that “One group carried a large wooden cross; there were banners that read “In God We Trust,” “Jesus Is My Savior / Trump Is My President,” and “Make America Godly Again”; some marchers blew shofars, ritual instruments made from ram’s horns that have become popular in certain conservative Christian circles, owing to its resonance with an account in the Book of Joshua in which Israelites sounded their trumpets and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.” As Luo states, “The intermingling of religious faith, conspiratorial thinking, and misguided nationalism on display at the Capitol offered perhaps the most unequivocal evidence yet of the American church’s role in bringing the country to this dangerous moment.”
Another valuable article: How Citizens of Heaven Think Through the Chaos at the Capitol, Jason Meyer January 9, 2021 – here
14. From - Christians Against Christian Nationalism, a group formed in 2019 by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty - here
15. David French notes...
Baylor historian Thomas Kidd, who says much of [Christian nationalism] is a sense of emotional attachment, rather than a theological construct.
Even Christians deeply enmeshed in Christian nationalism wouldn’t recognize the academic theology of it. But what they do have is a deep set of emotional convictions, and those convictions place the United States in a special, virtuous, godly position in world history. There will be a fierce defense of the history of the country. Any revisionism that says America’s history is more checkered than you might think will be met with a fear, a pushback.
I like the way C.S. Lewis characterized a more toxic version of nationalism: one that’s committed to a certain vision of history that may be at odds with the reality of the nation and a particular commitment to the superiority of the nation over other nations. There’s a version of patriotism that is quite healthy and can see the virtues of the country but also see its faults.
From A Q & A with evangelical writer David French on Christian nationalism
here
16. As Shane Claiborne described a few years ago,
“People today want a Christianity that looks like Jesus again. The good news is that Jesus has survived the embarrassing things that we Christians have done in His name, as found in the dark side of the history of fundamentalism, the messiness of the religious Right, and even more recently, in folks who burn the Koran and hold signs that say “God Hates Fags,” all in the name of Christianity. What’s remarkable is that young people know there is more to Christianity than that, and that such destructive acts don’t represent Jesus.
In the same way, African American friends have said that the fact that the Black church survived or that Native Americans still love Jesus is one of the greatest signs that God is at work in the world that we can ever imagine, considering the hideous, terrible things that we have done in His name.” From Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo: A Dialogue on Community, October 16, 2012 - here
17.Wallace Alcorn, notes that on June 27, 1993, Shultz related this to Brian Lamb on C-Span's "Booknotes."
Some further potential reading:
Short articles / messages
• Is America a Christian Nation? By Dr. James Emery White - here
• A Q & A with evangelical writer David French on Christian nationalism - here
• America Is Being Pulled Apart. Here's How We Can Start to Heal Our Nation, By David French, September 10, 2020 - here
• Christian Nationalism, sermon by Peter Hubbard, North Hills Church, July 4, 2021, a very thoughtful message that helps discern what develops in us. here
Book
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
by Gregory A. Boyd – Note: I do not agree or commend some of Boyd’s beliefs, most notably in this work, that of dismissing all use of force as a false way to sin the kingdom. However, the articulation he has given to the underlying beliefs that underlie the culture wars is to be listened to.
