The one about Christian Nationalism
We've got to talk about this
Some of you know I preach most weeks at the United Methodist Church where I’m appointed. Once in a while, I share one of those messages with you all. This is one I’ve struggled to put into words for years. Christian Nationalism is hard to talk about for a variety of reasons. But it’s important and we can do brave and hard things. Whether you identify as a Christian or not, may you find something helpful, true, and beautiful in here about who we are as humans together.
Love always wins.
You can listen or watch the message here. Or read on below. Thanks, friends!
We’ve all had situations come into our lives that we don’t know how to deal with. Sometimes, we circle it, ask questions, learn how others handle it, and then we go for it. Other times, we slowly back away, hoping if we don’t look at it, it won’t exist anymore.
That’s how I’ve felt about Christian Nationalism.
I distanced myself so much that I started to lose my home within Christianity. We were using the same words and stories but it felt very different. I couldn’t find language to talk about it. Christian Nationalism felt intimidating. Another narrative of the Jesus life got louder and I wanted nothing to do with it. Which is an awkward spot for a pastor to be. I still felt deeply grounded in the Love holding all of life, but the way I heard some talk about Jesus didn’t align with the Jesus I saw in the Bible.
It almost felt like Christian Nationalism stole the language and stories I’d lived inside since I was a kid. As a writer and preacher, words are sacred. The images and emotions they evoke are powerful. So over the years, I started talking about Jesus in different ways. Anything to not identify anywhere close to Christian Nationalism. It’s been a real place of pain for me. I’ve found myself questioning my faith many times.
Can I still be a Jesus follower if I can hardly bring myself to say out loud key words and theologies of our faith tradition, all the in fear that someone might connect me with that?
Today, we’re going to explore the story of Ruth and Naomi, look at where Christian Nationalism began, what it really is, what Jesus might have to say about it, and a few invitations for us today.
A love story
Ruth & Naomi are one of the greatest love stories of all time, but not in a typical sense. Two tough women -- one is a little cranky and one is kind -- come together to show us a beautiful story of faithfulness. One that widens the lineage of Jesus.
Naomi was a displaced Israelite living in a strange land. A widow determined to return home to die. A mother who had lost both her sons. A woman with an intensely loyal daughter-in-law. The great-great-grandmother of King David.
Ruth was a loyal, loving daughter-in-law. A childless widow, but young enough to still give birth. A foreigner in Bethlehem. An unselfish, hard-working woman. Filled with sacred kindness. An ancestor of Jesus.
Once a woman married into a Jewish family, the custom was to join that family fully. Leaving her original family behind. People would have understood if Ruth stayed with her own people in Moab. But her marriage vows gave her a course of action she refused to deny.
In verse 16, Ruth says to Naomi: Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
Generations later, Jesus invites people to follow him on the way. A new way of living and loving in the world. Some wanted to go. Some didn’t. Some dropped everything immediately and followed. Some didn’t. That is still true today.
When we say yes to Jesus, we are saying yes to following him into places and spaces that aren’t easy. Loving people not like you is hard. Forgiving people is hard. Breaking down unjust systems is hard. Power rarely gives up without a fight. But wow, is it also beautiful to follow Jesus into work that matters.
When I hear of Ruth’s determination to follow Naomi and live life together, I think of Jesus. And I think of many of you.
And when I think of where Jesus invites me but I notice I feel resistance? One of those places is Christian nationalism.
Let’s reflect on Christian nationalism through the lens of Jesus’ gospel. This is not about an individual or even a couple members in your family, this is a big picture conversation about an ideology and movement.
Where did Christian nationalism begin?
It’s complex but there are key decisions in history that led to this troubling ideology. One of them is connected to a guy we likely learned about in school.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. What year was that? 1492.
To understand the roots of today’s Christian nationalism, we go back to the year after Columbus sailed to the Bahamas with 90 men and three ships. He returned to a hero’s welcome in Spain, bringing gold, brightly-colored parrots, and a dozen captive Indigenous people.
He was then sent back to the Americas with a much larger fleet of 17 ships, 1500 men and more than a dozen priests to speed the conversion of indigenous people.
The Doctrine of Discovery was birthed by a law from Pope Nicholas V on June 18, 1452, forty years earlier. It gave Portuguese king Alfonsfo V the following rights:
“To invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens [Muslims] and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”
This law was a deeply dangerous combination of three realities:
1. European imperialism
2. African slave trade
3. Christian missionary zeal
Do we see how this is not just a 2016 problem or a 2024 problem? This is a 1492 problem. And even farther back than that.
What is our understanding of Christian nationalism today?
Christian nationalism seeks to establish an exclusivist version of Christianity as the dominant moral and cultural order.
It’s not just an American movement. We see it play out in Brazil, Canada, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Russia, Scotland, and South Africa, among others.
In the US, it’s not just about wanting the Bible to inform laws or have religious leaders in government positions. It views the country’s founding documents as divinely inspired and supernaturally revealed to Christian men.
Studies have associated Christian nationalism with xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, political tolerance of racists, and restricting the civil rights of those who fail to conform to traditional ideas of whiteness, citizenship, and being Protestant.
This belief system cultivates patriarchy, white supremacy, a conquest narrative, an apocalyptic worldview, and a rhetoric of blood sacrifice to an angry God.
It’s based on a worldview that America is superior to other countries. It believes that only Christians are “true Americans.”
It believes the US is meant to be a Christian nation and adherents want to “take back” the US for God. It overlaps with the American militia movement too.
Christian nationalists feel their values and religion are threatened and marginalized. They fear their freedom to preach their moral values will no longer be dominant at best or outlawed at worst.
Studies have shown Christian nationalists to exhibit higher levels of anger, depression, and anxiety. They fear they are not living up to God’s expectations and fear the wrath and punishment of not creating the country desired by God.
One could make the argument that Christian nationalism at its best means that Christianity has influenced and should continue to influence the nation. But that’s not usually what people mean. It’s more like a fusion of Christianity with American civil life by use of force and dominion.
What might Jesus think about Christian nationalism?
One person made the distinction this way:
Christian Nationalism: Our country is blessed. It’s manifest destiny. Our ways are superior. Our constitution is divine. Our people first. God chose US.
Christ (to all nationalities): Love your neighbor. Serve others. Welcome the stranger. Care for the sick. Feed the hungry. Be a peacemaker. For God so loved the world.
A Baptist preacher named James Talarico is about as direct as one can get: “There is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism. It’s the worship of power. Social, economic, political power in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus includes. Christian Nationalism excludes.
Jesus liberates. Christian Nationalism controls.
Jesus saves. Christian Nationalism kills.
Jesus started a universal movement based on mutual love. Christian Nationalism is a sectarian movement based on mutual hate.
Jesus came to transform the world. Christian Nationalism is here to maintain the status quo.
They’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist. It’s incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it.
Friends, where might God be inviting us today?
We’re going to talk more in our September series about how to be in relationship with people with whom you disagree, but for now -- I leave you with one question, one beautiful piece of good news, and a sacred reminder.
What does it look like to reclaim confidence and rootedness in the gospel of Jesus absent of Christian nationalism?
This will take time to unravel the way Jesus’ gospel has been co-opted. But it’s worth the work.
I met with a few of our retired pastors earlier this week. Conversation turned to today’s sermon and I found myself reflecting out loud about how far I backed away from traditional Jesus language because I couldn’t stand it being mis-represented. I shared at the beginning that I found other ways to talk about faith, life, God, and love. I’ve usually felt ashamed by this. But in an ironic Holy Spirit move, the ways I found to talk about love about deeply resonated with many wonderful humans. Especially people who’ve stepped away from the church.
Am I thankful for Christian Nationalism? No. But it’s a reminder that the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is far stronger than any terrible human movements and adaptations and perversions of it. Which is good news for everyone. Because let’s be honest, there are likely ways that we have misunderstood the gospel and twisted it to serve our own preferences and agendas. There are parts of following Jesus that we ignore and parts that we prioritize.
So I don’t think that Jesus needs us to save Jesus. But I do think that Jesus invites us to wrestle and journey and question and embody what it means to live and love like Christ in 2024.
And for some of us, that might look like wading into a world and an ideology that has been intimidating and harmful so we can do our part to dismantle it and learn to stand confident once again in the strong love of Jesus.
Maybe it’s an invitation to reclaim a faith that is still yours, regardless of how others tell the story. Of a love that feeds and clothes people. A love that puts others first. A love that dismantles racist systems. A love that cares for children, the elderly, and anyone who's been pushed to a margin. A love that interrupts all kinds of power, control, hierarchy, and evil. That story still gets to be yours.
A reminder my dear friends -- We are humans sharing a planet with billions of people. We can plant our roots deep down in the soil under our feet, in our country of origin. But our belovedness is not dependent on the country we live in, just like Ruth and Naomi.
And a lovely reminder of this truth is our Olympic Games. One of the goals of the Olympics is to use sports to help people develop harmoniously, promote a peaceful society, and preserve human dignity. All things that we see in the gospels of Jesus. Let’s celebrate a few moments in the Olympics that sure sound like love.
Hayden from New Zealand and Alex from Great Britain are great rivals in the triathlon. Their race was a big battle in the streets of Paris. Hayden fought back from a deficit in the swim to lead in the run. Then Alex fought back in the cycling and won. Hayden must have been devastated but instead he sat down and congratulated his competitor.
A sprinter from Laos came to the aid of fellow competitor from South Sudan after she fell to the ground during their 100m heat, holding her shoes and telling her to go ahead and cry if she wanted to.
Katie Ledecky, an American swimmer, broke so many records on her way to her fourth straight gold medal in the women’s 800m freestyle. In a moment that could have been all about her brilliance, she gestured for her American teammate who won bronze to join her on the gold podium, as Paige Madden won her first Olympic medal of her life.
The world assumed Simone Biles would win another gold on floor routine, but she ended up with silver. In a beautiful moment, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to Rebecca Andrade from Brazil with a sign of deep respect and celebration. Plus, we got to celebrate the first all-black podium in Olympic gymnastics.
And we’ve got to throw in Snoop and all the joy he brought people during the Olympics.
Friends -- this may or may not be your story, but if part of you feels like Christian Nationalism has stolen your faith story and you want it back, I want to bless you today with this truth:
No one can take Love from you. God’s Love has been yours the entire time. No one can take it away.
Yes, people manipulated and coerced and twisted a beautiful story of humility, vulnerability, and grace into an unrecognizable reality. And we get to unravel it.
May you dig your feet into the strong ground of faith and joy that is yours.
May you rest in your belovedness as a child of God.
May you bear witness to love in this world.
May you tell the truest stories of Jesus you can tell.
Because living and loving like Jesus is still a transformational way to journey this life.
May it be so. Amen.
Books
From the Thread Archives
Naming the hurt: I can’t let go of what I refuse to name out loud
Selling the house: A poem on being too much + getting smaller
Thank you Pastor Jenny, for speaking from your heart on this important issue! 🩷
I listened to your sermon. Spot on, Pastor Jenny!