A Critique of Christian Nationalism

Dear friends,

I hope you are doing well today. I do not plan to send something like this often. I have been hesitant to specifically mention the movement known as Christian Nationalism from the pulpit. This is partly because I would rather focus on the pure preaching of the gospel (and avoid sending messages like this) than let spurious trends in churches dictate what I say each week. I generally take the same approach toward making references to cultural sins, unless the text somewhat demands it. I have been criticizing this movement indirectly at times. However, ministers of the gospel are called to be watchmen (Ezekiel 33:7), warning the church of the dangers of sin and of false teaching. The influence of this group in our circles is significant. We have CN churches in our (that is, Providence) front yard and backyard presently. The PCA and OPC have established study committees to report on this movement. In this respect, I offer what is written here.

There is an abundance of written and digital material available from both sides. Navigating through this can be overwhelming. I have read a significant amount on this subject and listened to podcasts and interviews. Based on this, I am sharing with you my own scaled-down critique (10-15 minute read) of this movement. This will include teaching from others that I have incorporated into this lesson. In my service to you, I hope this provides clarity on the matter. The aim here is two-fold: 1) to create in us a greater appreciation for the current ministry and direction of Providence, an inheritor of the Reformed tradition (as based on Scripture and apostolic practice and teaching); 2) to see more clearly the dangers of this peculiar stream of so-called Christianity.

Christian Nationalism is hard to define. But it is a movement that, minimally, includes a belief that the church, in whatever place, but especially here in the US, should use its resources and time to “Christianize” the nation. This would include promoting the installation of Christian civil leaders who would lead the country in becoming self-consciously Christian. Two of this movement’s leaders and spokespersons, Doug Wilson and Stephen Wolfe, have written books on this subject, “Mere Christendom” and “The Case for Christian Nationalism,” respectively (“The Case for…” is published by Wilson’s publishing arm, Canon Press). There are other works.

In and of itself, desiring civil leaders who promote Christianity is not a bad thing. Who would not want a political leader in power who sincerely “takes our side” defending most, if not all of our moral values in the public square? Nowhere in Scripture is this guaranteed, though. Nor is it even likely, especially in the way CN adherents want. We are called to pray for our leaders and pray for a relative peace in our land, that the gospel may go forth unhindered and that we may live quiet, godly lives. We should possess a measure of honor regarding our native countries, and we should support and pray for those who serve them. In fact, Christians are to show honor to even the most vile leaders. Peter said to the church, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor”(1 Pet. 2:17). That emperor was likely Nero, under whose leadership Peter was martyred (tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down).

But we are not called to put our ultimate hope in any nation or political leader. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), and the indestructible Kingdom of which we have been made a part is, as Jesus said, “not of this world” (John 18:36). The Bible gives clear distinctions between church and state, and their roles in our lives. The Reformers consistently maintained this. John Calvin referred to the church and the state as two distinct “governments” under which we live. Men like Wilson and Wolfe would have us blur that distinction for worldly purposes. The pure preaching of the gospel and administration of the sacraments, humble daily obedience, regular worship, and sharing in Christ’s suffering are not enough for these men. To them, the church falls short in its mission, and even Christ’s present victory is stunted if God’s Law is not enforced top-down, in its fullness, throughout a political region such as ours.

Regeneration cannot be forced by the state, though, friends. The new birth comes from above, by the free movement of the Holy Spirit working through the means God has appointed. These are the preaching of the Word, administration of the sacraments, and prayer. Thus the worship and witness of the church are crucial. God ultimately determines the kind of state authority under which each generation of believers will live. Individual Christians are free to serve in the civil realm and even hold the highest office, using their influence there to promote Christian ideals in government. Ultimately, though, the church must recognize that God “changes times and seasons” and that He “removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21) in accordance with His will.

This includes even those civil governments that oppress their people and persecute the church. I’m not sure the American church, as an institution, has experienced harsh persecution like that seen currently in parts of Asia and Africa (one of our missionaries, now living in the States, just reported that, in Asia, several churches were raided and pastors and members were imprisoned. His own name was on a list the government planned to target). Mandated mask-wearing may be government overreach, but it can hardly be considered persecution or oppression of this kind.

The “Nationalism” part is already deeply problematic, but there are other concerning elements. This would include unbiblical notions of male and female relations in the home and in the church. Some of their comments regarding this are borderline misogynistic, if not so completely. The Bible, however, exalts the woman along with the man and promotes servant leadership and loving self-denial on the part of men, in the church and in marriage; “whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (Matt. 20:27); “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). The Bible does not do away with proper order and distinct positions of authority in these realms. Christ, though, entirely subverts a worldly understanding of leadership, both by His teaching and by His example. CN teachers encourage an ungodly domination and an unhealthy assertion of a confused, unbiblical hyper-patriarchal authority in the lives of God’s people.

In this movement, there are strands of racial superiority, kinism, holocaust denial, perversions of justification by faith, false teaching regarding the fall of man (this is present in Wolfe’s book), erroneous teaching on the mission of the church and the sacraments (Wilson’s works), and now, from Pastor Wilson and his denomination, muddled statements about the Trinity, asserting that the Son and the Spirit are essentially subordinate to the Father in a host of ways (though they would not admit this outright, it is imbedded in their supplementary statements on the Trinity)

Thus, what we see here is that participants in this movement are willing to subordinate clear teachings of Scripture and historic Reformed theology to their own political and personal agendas. They make it very difficult to wrest away what may be acceptable in their teaching from the more pernicious elements. It seems to be all part of one system. If promoting this system means that the Word of God must bend, so be it. It is spiritually dangerous and manipulative. Christians may be initially drawn to them because they sound good. We hear the words “Christian”, “Reformed”, “Church”, and “Nation” in their rhetoric and think they are promoting something profitable to us.

We are weary of the ungodly secular movements of our age and their leaders, and how, in very real ways, their atheism affects our daily lives and the laws of the land. We hear a masculine voice barking from a pulpit and decrying the sins of secularism online and in print. He castigates the church for not speaking up like him. It seems many of these teachers and pastors promote this kind of thing because it is popular. Railing against secularism and liberalism from the pulpit and in books draws crowds today. A pastor’s online presence is magnified.

But what is he truly calling us to? What are they actually promoting? In the end, it is his own righteousness, and not that of Christ’s, that is heralded. Brothers and sisters, while there are some forms of CN that are more radical than others, I have yet to find a good form of this movement anywhere. They apparently have even adopted the phrase “Christ is King” as a party slogan for their movement in some cases (One CN book is entitled “King of Kings”). This is not unlike the adoption of the rainbow by the secular liberals on the other side. That which is biblically glorious and full of power by definition– the rainbow symbol and Christ’s title as reigning King–has been co-opted by these two movements to serve political, and thus worldly, ends. In fact, one prominent Reformed pastor, critical of CN, calls their movement “Right Wing Wokeism”. In other words, when a CN proponent looks in the mirror, he might see the aggressive LGBTQ+ party member looking at him on the other side.

They have other like-minded siblings. The CN proponents mirror the proclamations of health, wealth, and prosperity teachers. They set before their hearers a utopian, Eden-like vision of America that might come into existence if only we had a “Christian” prince. Like the false prophets of old, they cry “peace, peace” when calls for repentance to God’s people should be made (Ezekiel 13:8-10). In this scenario, we are always victims, bemoaning our marginalized status in society and in the public arena.

But this ideology contends against the Bible’s teaching regarding our identity as Christians. We are exiles and sojourners in this world (1 Peter 2:11). Though we have already been raised with Christ, seated with Him in the heavenly places, while we live in this world, and even under the most secure governments, we will suffer. Suffering is part of who we are. The Bible depicts Christian suffering, in all its forms, as a badge of membership in Christ’s household; “it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).

CN advocates seem to long for a geopolitical realm where Christian suffering is nearly eliminated. But this virtually denies a fundamental aspect of who we are as followers of Christ. We must grant that their zeal for a realm such as this is partly correct. But the Bible locates that realm, not here, in this world, but in the age to come, in the New Heavens and the New Earth in resurrection glory. Until then, in this life, we should not think that our suffering or marginalization in society is “strange” (1 Peter 4:12).

Dr. Gaffin, former seminary professor and now retired minister in the OPC, writes, “The misplaced expectation, before Christ’s return, of a “golden age” in which, in contrast to the present, opposition to the church will have been reduced to a minimum and suffering will have receded to the periphery for an (at last) “victorious” Christendom—that misconception can only distort the church’s understanding of its mission in the world. According to Jesus, the church will not have drained the shared cup of his suffering until he returns. The church cannot afford to evade that point. It does so at the risk of jeopardizing its own identity”.

In the midst of much political turmoil and increasing wickedness in our day, and in the daily trials and sufferings we endure as those whose true home is elsewhere, namely Heaven, what we need is a secure Refuge and an impenetrable Fortress. We need an invincible hope and a steadfast anchor for our souls. The state cannot give us this, nor can any political leader. The safety we truly need, wherever we are and at whatever time, is only found under the loving wings of Christ. CN teaches otherwise, and they pervert clear teachings of Scripture to defend their claims. Could it be they must do this because this is not what the Bible teaches?

No one knows for sure what the future holds for our nation, or any other. In the meantime, we can be sure that the kingdom of God will advance and that it cannot be destroyed, and that in Christ, we are more than conquerors. But this particular kingdom, unlike any earthly nation or kingdom, is, again, not of this world. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). This heavenly kingdom is advanced, not by might, but by God’s Spirit, working in the hearts and minds of God’s people, as we suffer and as we receive the ministry of the Word.

Christ’s cross was a Roman cross, an instrument of justice used by a godless nation, in concert with His own people. He did not resist it. He submitted to it. And in this way, He inaugurated an everlasting and heavenly kingdom, of which we, our children, and our children’s children are a part. We are now called to take up not protest signs, but crosses. And as we bear the burden of our particular crosses, in the church, the family, and the workplace, we strain forward not toward an uncertain geopolitical utopia made up, primarily, of one race, but toward resurrection glory and a New Jerusalem made up of all the redeemed from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 7:9-10). We experience a foretaste of this glory now, in this place, as people from all four corners of the world, from all backgrounds, male and female, the high and low, gather together for worship each week on the Lord’s Day.

And the resurrection will come, beloved, regardless of the fate or trajectory of any one nation. This is the hope that the gospel alone provides. My concern with CN is that it obscures this hope and draws God’s people into focusing on the things of this world. As Dr. Alan Strange, OPC minister and current president of Mid-America Reformed Seminary, writes, “The last thing the world needs from us is more hopelessness of this sort.”

For His Glory,
Bob


*** Here is a list of names that have critiqued this movement and its foundational beliefs in various places: Dr. Richard Gaffin Jr., Dr. Cornelius Venema (former president of Mid-America Reformed Seminary), Rev. Dr. Kevin DeYoung (PCA pastor, NC), Dr. R. Scott Clark (professor Westminster Seminary California), Dr. Alan Strange, Dr. D.G. Hart (OPC elder and professor at Hillsdale College, MI). The PCA’s statements thus far can be found here (https://pcaga.org/christiannationalismreport/).

***Some of the material out there is quite dense (including the PCA’s report), which is why I provided this briefer lesson for you. I am available for questions, if you have them, and I am thankful to the Lord for all the good He is doing in and through our church. Christ will build His church, and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it. Lord bless you all