Yesterday I preached about Christian Nationalism. For the third straight week I’ve preached on a semi-controversial topic. A week ago Sunday I preached about being supportive of people who are LGBTQ; the week before I shared the case for women being ordained. No one can ever say we’re unwilling to talk about hard issues at Chain of Lakes Church.
Yesterday's sermon is part of the video of worship at Chain of Lakes. The link is at colpres.org. The sermon starts at the 26.30 mark.
The celebration of the 4th of July prompted me to share the sermon. For me there is something almost mystical about the 4th of July. Thinking that people in almost town in the United States are waving flags and watching fireworks and celebrating freedom is beautiful. My wife, Amy, and I went to a band concert on the 4th at the Como Park Pavilion. Even though the median age of the audience was close to seventy, I loved hearing songs that celebrated America and loved singing “God Bless America.”
My love for the 4th of July has nothing to do with Christian Nationalism. In my sermon I shared how Christian Nationalism is the fusion of love of country and love of God. A Christian Nationalist would argue that to love God a person must love the United States; and to love the United States a person must love God. I certainly love God and love the United States, but my love for each is not dependent on a fusion of the two.
I love God, but I don’t need the 10 Commandments to be displayed
in a school room; I love Jesus, but I don’t want a cross to be displayed at
City Hall; I’ll sing God Bless America with all the vigor that I have, but I
don’t think this request of a blessing makes the United States better than any other
country. I would have no problem asking God to bless Canada and Mexico and Cameroon and even Iran.
I do believe that America is exceptional--one reason is because of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution. But my belief in exceptionalism is not a
missionary quest to impose freedom onto the world. Imposing freedom is a contradiction in terms. The best way to encourage others
to be free is to live responsibly with the freedoms that are inherent in
America’s founding documents.
In my sermon I looked at the conversation between Jesus and Pilate in John 18. Jesus clearly told Pilate that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. If his kingdom was of this world he would have encouraged his followers to keep him from being handed over to the authorities.
When Peter cut off the ear of another person after Jesus
was arrested, Jesus was horrified. He angrily said that if he wanted he could
have summoned twelve legions of angels to defend him. Jesus was not going to
use the tools that the state would use to defend itself. The Kingdom of Jesus
was not of this world.
Instead one of the tasks of Jesus—not the only task, but one of his tasks--was to bring a set of values into the world. His Kingdom originated in heaven, and Jesus wanted the values of heaven to come into the world. He wanted his followers to live by the rule of love—to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind and to love their neighbor as they loved themselves. He wanted his followers to live by the Fruit of the Spirit (though to be fair Jesus never mentioned the Fruit of the Spirit, Paul mentioned it, but I believe Jesus would have affirmed the Fruit of the Spirit) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Jesus wanted his followers to go out of his way—just as Jesus had—to love the outsider—Samaritans, women, the poor, the lepers. Jesus would want his followers to place these values first—above everything else. Jesus would want his followers to place him first. This was his Kingdom.
This philosophy would not fit a Christian Nationalist.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the positive respond I got to the sermon. Many people were genuinely happy that I had preached on this topic and were happy with what I had said. Many more people than normal told me that this sermon was meaningful.
This response says something to me. I think many people are afraid of Christian Nationalism and are not sure what to do. I would encourage all churches to have a day where they speak to the problems of Christian Nationalism. And why not have a day where churches across the United States sing “God Bless America” while lifting up the kingdom of Jesus and also denouncing Christian Nationalism.
There is a lot at stake in speaking up and speaking out!
