What is Pastor David Guzik’s Hot Take on Christian Nationalism?
What is the connection between Christian nationalism and their concept of the Kingdom of God / Heaven?
We hear a lot these days from popular media on Christian nationalism, and it’s almost always in a negative sense. What is the connection between Christian nationalists and their idea of the kingdom of Heaven?
From what I have seen of those in the Christian nationalist environment, I don’t see much focus on the kingdom of Heaven. What they really want to focus on is the transformation of society, right here and right now. To that, I would say Amen; I’d love to see our society transformed. I’d love to see a more Christian nation. Absolutely.
What I don’t agree with is the position that there should be some kind of marriage between the church and the state, as has been seen oftentimes in Christian history. I don’t think that is beneficial for Christianity. On some occasions, for some period of time, it has worked, but it’s like saying that the milk in your fridge is good. Milk in the fridge is good for a time, but it will eventually become sour and spoil. That has been the inevitable progress of church-state unions: they spoil over time.
One of the great blessings I believe about Christianity in the United States is that we’ve never really been burdened by a State Church the way that European Christians have. I think that’s one reason for the relative vibrancy and health of Christianity in America, compared to many of our European neighbors. We’ve never really had the State Church system as they have had in Europe.
Do we want a more Christian nation? Absolutely. But let me say one more thing about the idea of Christian nationalism. If there are believers who really feel that we should have a Christian nation governed on Christian principles, and believe that it would be good for everybody, not just good for people who share our theological perspectives, then I would say, “Okay, great. Show me. Show me a Christian city and how awesome it is. Show me that it’s not oppressive, and that freedom and the economy and society is flourishing in this Christian city. Next, show me a Christian County, or a Christian State. I’d love to see that. What a blessing that would be. I’ll be the first one to applaud a Christian nation. If we’re talking about the United States, and all of those things have been demonstrated to be both possible and awesome, then nobody would argue against having a Christian nation.
However, I’m a little bit skeptical to turning over the keys of the whole country to someone without having proven that it can work, even on a small scale. It seems that, for a number of people who are advocating for this philosophy, the extent of their Christian nationalism is the office in which they write their books, or the camera on which they speak their views.