John MacArthur denounces Christian nationalism as ‘defective’

Pastor John MacArthur denounced Christian nationalism as it is defined as an attempt to usher in God’s Kingdom on Earth through political means, but urged Christians to care about what is happening in their nation.

“There is no such thing as Christian nationalism,” MacArthur said during a question and answer period last month at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. “The Kingdom of God is not of this world. Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight.’ His Kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of this world is a separate world. They are not related to each other.

MacArthur explained his belief that a nation’s dominant religion or ideology is irrelevant to whether God’s Kingdom advances according to its sovereignty.

“Nothing that happens in a nation, whether it’s a communist nation, a Muslim nation, a quasi-Christian nation, quote unquote, or an atheist nation, nothing in that nation – politically, socially – has nothing to do with the advancement of the Kingdom of God,” he said. “Because the Kingdom of God is separate from this system. God, in his sovereignty, is building his Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, Jesus declared.”

“So the idea that you have to connect a political effort, a political process, a social process, a gain of power or influence in a culture as part of the advancement of Christianity is foreign to Christianity,” he said. he declared.

“You have never seen our Lord approach such a thing, nor the apostles, and especially the apostle Paul; he did not seek to gain any favor with the Roman Empire, nor elsewhere with any other leader he met during his life.”

MacArthur then clarified that he was not saying that Christians should be “indifferent to what is happening in the nation,” emphasizing that they should vote for just leaders when they have the opportunity, which he said him, becomes more and more difficult.

“We must be people who defend justice. When we vote, we want to vote for what is the fairest option. Obviously, we cannot vote for justice, but we must vote in a way that reflects our commitment to God’s justice,” he said, adding that Christians should not elect leaders who support justice. abortion, LGBT behavior or any other form of immorality.

“It gets harder, doesn’t it, these days? Because even sometimes when politicians are more conservative and anti-abortion, they can be sinful and mean in other categories. And it’s very difficult about who is truly honest and who is just dishonest and seeking power,” he said.

“But ultimately we do what we can (politically) knowing that the responsibility of the Church is not to advance the kingdom of this world. That is a flawed view.”

MacArthur, a premillennialistsuggests that Christians who believe they can help God establish his kingdom by taking the reins of political power are misguided and are often motivated by a flawed postmillennial eschatology that believes Jesus will return after a long period of Christian political and cultural domination.

“And it is the view that the Church – in one way or another by influencing culture – can bring about the Kingdom of Christ. In other words, it is not the idea that Christ returns and establishes his Kingdom, but that the Church establishes his Kingdom and then hands it over to him. That’s not what Scripture teaches,” he said.

“What Scripture teaches is what we learn from the book of Revelation: things will get worse, and the end of human history is not the end of the Church triumphant, ruling the world and taking charge of the structures of humanity. That’s not what happens. At the end of human history, believers are persecuted and murdered. And this is the complete opposite of what Christian nationalism would anticipate. »

“So we believe that the Bible teaches that things get worse and worse, toward the wrath of God, which we see in Revelation. And then our Lord Himself returns to establish His kingdom,” he said. -he adds.

Rob Reiner’s recent anti-Christian nationalist documentary “God and country” suggested that MacArthur is a Christian nationalist by featuring a brief clip of him saying, “No Christian with half a brain would say, ‘We support religious liberty.’ We support the truth.”

The full context of its January 2021 Sermon which appears in the film shows that MacArthur was saying that Christians should oppose “religious liberty” as it implies that all religions are equal.

In his remarks, delivered days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, MacArthur predicted that American Christians would face increased persecution from the administration in the name of religious freedom. He also rejected the idea that Christians were on track to experience a golden age before the second coming of Christ.

“We’re not winning here, we’re losing,” he said. “Are you ready for this? Oh, you were a post-millennialist, you thought we were going to waltz into the Kingdom if you took over the world? No, we’re losing here, you know? That killed Jesus. That killed killed all the apostles. … We will all be persecuted.

“‘If anyone comes after Me, let him’ – what? – ‘deny himself.’ Prosperity gospel trash. No, we are not winning here. Are you ready for this? Just to clarify, I like this clarity. We are not winning. We are losing on this battlefield, but we gain over the great, the eternal.”

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