Rob Reiner, known for his role as “Meathead” in the 1970s sitcom All in the family and to produce cinema classics like The princess to marryrecently announced a new documentary he helped produce on the dangers of Christian nationalism. According to Reiner, opposition to abortion and the LGBTQ agenda are central tenets of Christian nationalism. Several current and former evangelicals are featured in the documentary.
It’s always strange when a non-Christian explains to Christians what true Christianity is and what is not. What’s even stranger is that so-called Christians who have abandoned Christian moral teaching on creation, sex and marriage are asked – as are some of the experts interviewed – to define Christian fidelity. All of this means that believers need to better understand this controversial idea, which has received so much attention in recent years.
A good starting point is to understand the place of nations in the Christian worldview.The first use of the Hebrew word for “nation” appears in Genesis 10 in a list of the nations descended from the sons of Noah. It is notable that this first reference predates the Tower of Babel, when God created more nations by confusing languages and dispersing people across the Earth. It seems that the nations were part of God’s plan for humanity even before the rebellion at Babel. And, in this story, the division into tongues and the dispersal of people is described more as an act of mercy than as judgment, to prevent humans from doing all that was possible as one people.
In Genesis 12, God told Abram that his descendants would become a great nation and that, through them, all the nations of the world would be blessed. The Old Testament frequently refers to the Jewish people as a nation and uses the same word to describe the kingdoms and empires around them.
In the New Testament, ethnicthe Greek word for “nation”, appears most famously in Jesus’ instructions to making disciples “of all nations,” which is a fulfillment of God’s original promise to Abraham. It is also interesting to note that in the New Testament, the language regarding nations seems to exclude the term “empire.” However ethnic can be translated as “group of people” or “nation”, the two are linked. Historically, the word “nation” referred to a relatively homogeneous group ethnically, culturally and linguistically. Each kingdom in the ancient world was primarily made up of people belonging to a single nation. So, ethnic can refer to a group of people within an empire, but not to the empires themselves which contain multiple nations.
Nations are also present in biblical descriptions of the coming Kingdom. So it seems that some of the nations will survive for eternity. For example, Micah 4:2 said:
Many nations will come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
so that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.
For out of Zion will come the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Also, Revelation 21:24 says that “it is in the light (of God and the Lamb) that the nations will walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory there (the New Jerusalem). »
Of course, because human beings are fallen, everything they build is susceptible to sin, including nations. Just as sins characterize our lives as individuals, some sins dominate nations and corrupt their cultures. And, just as humans must be cleansed of their sins to enter the Kingdom, so too must nations be cleansed of their sins to have a place in the New Heavens and the New Earth.
The high views that JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis held about the ancient culture of Northern Europe appear in their tales of Narnia and Middle-earth. They believed that virtue could be found, but they also recognized the evils of Norse paganism. Thus, they pleaded for the recovery of a “North” rid of its paganism and Christianized by the Gospel.
Just what the cleansing of nations entails is unclear, but the result is beautifully described in Revelation 7Or “a great multitude that no one could number, from all nations, from all tribes, from all peoples and from all languages. » unite to worship the Lamb. This confirms that, at least to some extent, our nationality will accompany us into eternity. Rather than homogenizing us, the Kingdom of God will be a glorious mosaic of people of different races, ethnicities and nations. This makes sense given that God delights in the diversity of his creation.
Of course, all good loves, including love of a spouse, child, family, community, or culture, can be messy and even idolatrous. Nationalism becomes idolatry whenever love of the nation turns into excessive or uncritical devotion, is confused with the Kingdom of God, justifies evil, or engages in partiality that treats citizens of other nations as less worthy of love, justice or charity. However, the idea that nations should be defined, self-governing, morally upright, and the immediate object of Christian governance is not idolatry.
Christians are called to govern the nations in which they live. After all, our nations are the most obvious aspect of the time and place in which God has placed us. What all nations have in common is that Jesus reigns over them. alland no one in heaven or on earth will usurp his authority.
This Breakpoint was co-authored by Drs. Glenn Sunshine and Timothy D. Padgett. For more resources for living like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit breakpoint.org.
Revised from a Breakpoint published on March 9, 2022
