Patriotism, Nationalism, and Christianity 

Too often, American Christians come off as nationalistic. What is nationalism, and why is it problematic? 

I love America. I served in the Army National Guard for 9 years and now serve in the Air National Guard as a chaplain. I have sworn to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. I do not take this lightly. I deem the ideals in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, and the freedoms and flourishing flowing from them, as worthy of protection, even calling forth the sacrifice of my life and limbs. So, I would say I am a patriot but not a nationalist. 

With anything, definitions matter. The way we define patriotism and nationalism will helpfully contrast them for our purposes. There is a healthy kind of love for country and an unhealthy, biased, and blind kind. There is also a Christian kind of love for one’s country. As well as a sub-Christian love for one’s country in which the country plays a bigger role and occupies greater space in one’s affections, allegiance, hopes, and fears than it should. 

Patriotism

Stephen Nathanson defines patriotism as involving:

• Special affection for one’s own country
• A sense of personal identification with the country
• Special concern for the well-being of the country
• Willingness to sacrifice to promote the country’s good[1]

It is shown through civic virtues, national loyalty, and contributions to the country’s well-being. It involves participating in democracy, respecting national symbols, and supporting fellow citizens. Serving in the military or government, voting, paying taxes, obeying the law, and learning about and respecting the country’s history and founding principles are all patriotic. All of these things are good and honorable. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian and being patriotic. 

Patriotism does not confuse the city of man with the City of God. Patriotism leaves room for serious criticism of one’s country. Patriotism is not naive.

Patriotism does not mean promoting one’s country’s interests under any circumstances and by any means. The patriot can and should recognize a higher moral principle above that of one’s own nation. A patriot does not need to and must not lose his prophetic voice. A patriot may fight for his country, but also demand that the war is just. 

Nationalism

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines nationalism as an ideology that elevates one nation or nationality above all others and places primary emphasis on promoting its culture and interests rather than those of other nations or nationalities. I would further add, from a Christian perspective, that we consider this definition in relation to God’s Kingdom. Patriotism has its rightful place and perspective within our earthly nation. But with nationalism, the nation occupies a bigger place in hearts, minds, and allegiance than is warranted. “Patriotism that loses perspective and offers our highest loyalty to a specific state is an evil and destructive thing. In essence, nationalism is the imbalanced and distorted form of something that is good—patriotism.”[2]

Powerful Push Towards Nationalism

Any powerful nation will push towards nationalism. Of course, no nation says, “We are a variable and artificial entity that sometimes fails in our moral duties, but we want your allegiance in order to increase our power and security.” Instead, God is often co-opted to bolster the country’s standing in the eyes of the people. That is why people who are nationalistic tend to be religious. A link has been made between one’s nation and one’s God.

We see the messianic undertones all over the place, from “Obamacare” to “TrumpRX.” We can trust the Führer to provide what we need. The president is my shepherd, I shall not want. The president leads me to prosperity. The President is here; I will fear no enemy. 

The immense power, rich history, and traditions of the United States can inadvertently foster nationalistic tendencies. While the story of the United States, on balance, is predominantly positive, this goodness can be perilous. Nationalism becomes alluring when nations possess sufficient strength or goodness to garner deep loyalties.[4] This can facilitate false beliefs and narratives, and promote placing hope where it should not be placed.

Our nation’s “superpower status and the longevity of our political system provide a potent seedbed for nationalist ideas. When this is combined with a rather widespread belief that the United States is (or in some cases, was) a Christian nation, nationalism becomes a seductive worldview for Christians.”[5]

One of my major critiques of nationalism is that it takes something that may very well be good, or even very good, and transforms it into an absolute good.[6] Of course, every culture and nation has some redeemable qualities. And “It is indisputable that different nations reflect varying degrees of Christian influence in their histories.”[7] 

But no nation is God’s ideal. No nation will ever bring heaven to earth. That is a utopian concept. The New Jersusalem will come down from and by God from heaven (Revelation 21:2).

The reality is, however, there will always be temptation to place our hope in govermental powers on earth. Christians must remember that Revelation warns us against the sin of nationalism. We must not put our hope in Babylon. Babylon will fall (Revelation 17-18). 

Christianity

The only nationalism the Christian should be about is trans-nationalism: Jesus and His eternal Kingdom made up of people from every tribe, language, nation, and tongue. Christianity is transcultural and transnational.[8] Christianity is not America, and it’s not American. Jesus was a Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter who was crucified. “Jesus people” have historically transformed culture sacrificially and lovingly from the margins. 

Christianity is not about my church or your church, this country or that country; it’s about the whole universe being subservient to Jesus. Jesus is the Boss before whom every being in the entire universe will be made to bow. Jesus is bigger than politics. “The Christians primary solidarity is not with those who pledge alliagnce to a particular flag but those who confess Jesus as Lord regardless of their nationality.”[9]

Christianity is political, but it is first and foremost about Jesus reigning in individual hearts and lives; and Jesus’ command is summed up in this: love the LORD (YHWH) with every fiber of your being—material and immaterial—and others as yourself. Jesus will soon reign on this very earth. Christians are about that political reign not by getting overly caught up in earthly politics, but by ensuring they themselves are following Jesus the King and helping others to see who He is and bow before Him. 

People will not bow their head, heart, and hands (and morality) before Him until they know and love Him. Christians are not about outward conformity but conformity from the heart. And that happens through love by the Spirit.

One of the death knells of nationalism is the historical perspective that remembers the transitory nature of nations. Nationalism is short-sighted and wrong in its diagnosis and offer of a cure. It’s demonic because it distracts from the real hope of Jesus.  Nationalism is also deeply off base because, as Brenda Salter-McNeil has said, ”Cultural difference and diversity was always a part of God’s original plan for human beings. No one culture, people, or language can adequately reflect the splendor of God.” Nationalism and Christianity don’t go together.

Some people might respond…

Some people might respond: “Your unrealistic or unfaithful talking about all the high-fluent Jesus’ Kingdom stuff… You are unrealistic and should care about America. Don’t you care about our kids‽ Don’t you see the moral collapse of the nation‽”

First, I do care about America, and I do things for the betterment of America. As stated above, I am in the Air Force. I also vote and carryout other civic duties, volunteer, serve my local community as a pastor and hospice chaplian. 

Second, Colossians 3 says “Set your mind on things which are above, not on things which are on the earth.” This and other Scriptures demonstrate that our first focus as Christians should be Jesus’ eternal Kingdom and our heavenly citenzenship (Philippians 3:20). This positions us to be more profitable people in whatever earthly kingdom we find ourselves.

Third, the hope of America is a person. And that person is Jesus. It’s not any other person or policy. It’s not morality. The hope of America is not America. Jesus, that’s who we all need: His person and policy. 

Yes, I know we can’t actually vote for Jesus. Yes, I know the President is not the “pastor and chief.” But yes, the diagnosis and what we think is the cure for this country radically matters. A lot of people seem to be “practical nationalists” even if they say they aren’t. 

Fourth, we can’t piecemeal take God’s word. God’s word that says, “thou shalt not commit adultery,” thus condemning homosexuality and pornography, also says, “love your enemies” and “pray for those who spitefully use you.” Sometimes political opponents don’t take into account the whole counsel of God or the weightier matters of the law. 

How can we hold to the sacredness of the family with one breath but with the next belittle and objectify women or put down people of different nationalities—people made in the image of God for whom Jesus died? Don’t we get the value of the family and the value of all humans from the same place?

If God’s word, the truth, is our mother, then the indoctrination of the internet should not be our father. We should keep suckling from the same source, that of love and truth, not one mixed with poisonous lies. We should keep in mind that this world’s wisdom is mixed with the serpent’s bite of devilish deceit. 

The God of moral order is also the God of sacrificial love. We can’t have actual moral order and the flourishing it promises without the accompanying love. It’s a fool’s errand to think we can have the heads of the quarter without taking the tales’ side too. 

Conclusion 

So, as a Christian, I do not believe there should be any connection between Christianity and nationalism. I do, however, think there is a clear place for appropriate patriotism. 

Patriotism has warrant in Scripture. Patriotism realizes that the freedoms, blessings, and prosperity we have as a nation are a stewardship from God, which is meant to be wisely managed. Patriotism realizes the freedoms we enjoy are not free and they are not just to be enjoyed but leveraged for higher purposes. Patriotism realizes that freedoms are meant to be protected along the lines laid out in the just war literature.[10]

Patriotism realizes that the government is not infallible but is under the higher government of someone higher. Patriotism praises God for the country in which God has placed us, but has no illusions of perfection or the possibility of perfection.[11]

Psalm 23 is not just a funeral poem. It’s political. YHWH is my shepherd. He leads and I follow Him. He is the great shepherd who shows His love by laying His life down for His sheep. It is He—King Jesus—who brings eternal goodness, prosperity, and flourishing; not any earthly ruler. 

“Trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge. Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air… Power, O God, belongs to You; unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours. Surely You repay all people according to what they have done.” (Ps. 62:8-9, 11b-12)

Notes

[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/patriotism/

[2] Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives, 62.

[3] “The supposed antidote for the nation’s ills is sought by a recovery of some golden age within our national history when those things did not exist. Usually, this blessed and right time is not specifically identified, but it often looks a lot like the world the Cleaver family inhabited” (Hidden Worldviews, 70). “Several problems emerge immediately from this idea. First, when “golden eras” are defined by a narrowly construed set of issues, they quickly take on a mythical character in which all the blemishes of that gilded age are ignored or glossed over. Thus, it is common to hear a desire to return to the Christianity of our founding fathers without recognizing that many of them were deists who talked a lot about God but were hostile toward Christianity. A second problem is that we run the risk of turning God into a vending machine with the idea that he will provide us with the national protection, status and well-being if we behave in proper ways. Finally, our return to God’s favor is generally thought to be orchestrated by political actions that will get us back on the right cultural and moral track. In each case, Christians are tempted to rely on political methods and goals to define our mission” (Hidden Worldviews, 70).

[4] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives, 65.

[5] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 62.

[6] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 73.

[7] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 75. It should also be noted that “Much of what we believe to be true, good or just proper manners is not filtered through conscious decision-making processes, but is a matter of absorption… Greater awareness of differences between cultures can remind us of the relativity of one’s own national traditions, ideas and assumptions” (Hidden Worldviews, 73).

[8] “Nationalism ignores the transnational nature of Christianity. Perhaps one of the most overlooked lessons in Scripture’s account of Pentecost (Acts 2) is that Christianity is not the sole possession of any particular nation. Instead, God’s new work now transcends old boundaries and encompasses all the nations” (Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 75).

[9] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews.

[10] See Eric Patterson’s book A Basic Guide to the Just War Traditionfor a good book on the subject. 

[11] There is thankfulness and humility so there can be, when appropiate, partnerships with other nations.

*Photo by Janay Peters