Poisonous. Pietist. Coward. Weak. Loser. Ineffective.
Such invectives have been thrown the way of faithful Christians who reject an association with “Christian Nationalism” and any overly hopeful Post-Mil eschatology (“#datpostmil”)--an eschatology that promotes the idea that a heavily Christianized world is both possible and inevitable before Christ’s return.
Slander is a thing people. It exists, and those who promote this form of Christian Nationalism (let's call it the “Joel Webbon/Andrew Torba/Joe Boot/William Wolfe” type of C.N.) actively engage in such divisive language. And worse, the hangers-on and associates of such fellows fail to call them out on this blatant slander, even if they may not agree with their idea of “Christian Nationalism” in every point.
This sin is promoted and encouraged because of a fundamental and purposeful twisting of our Lord’s Great Commission in Matthew 28, which is itself another sin that goes unchallenged in these men’s circles. For them, when Christ refers to “baptizing all nations”, nations are not simply the “ethne” or people-groups of the text.
Instead, “nations” are much more than that. They are the actual political and socio-economic entities with physical borders that make up “Nation-States”--as in the United States of America, Canada and France, for example. Or, as the Christian Nationalists will put it in their published statement, “civil authorities” are included in these nations. Furthermore, salvation is not the main goal of the Christian Nationalists. In the introduction to the very same statement, they say, "Christian Nationalism is primarily concerned with the righteous rule of civil authorities, not spiritual matters pertaining to salvation."
For the Christian Nationalist, if a believer is to faithfully promote the Great Commission, they must not only promote the preaching of the gospel but also firmly support and work to Christianize and “rule” the nations (political entities) as a whole. Nations, and their associated cultures, as these men would claim, must become more Christian over time as a demonstrative fruit of the Gospel. The Great Commission is not primarily a Gospel mandate, but a cultural one.
This is why Andrew Torba, in his seminal work on Christian Nationalism, can say such nonsense like, “The Great Commission means that if you are a Christian you are axiomatically a Christian Nationalist. If you say you are a Christian and you reject ‘Christian Nationalism’ you are just a disobedient Christian.”
Really Andrew, is that the case? If that statement is true, then the Great Commission must be teaching what these men claim. But is the Great Commission really telling us to not only preach to save individuals but also to work for cultural and political transformation?
NO. NO. AND MORE NO!! It is not. This is a novel and dangerous idea that deliberately butchers the text of Scripture.
For one, it makes zero sense in the immediate context. For example, if Christ was referring to political identities, why use the ancient Greek term “ethne”, which normally refers to “the peoples” or “tribes” (in other words, any people-group that is “gentile”)?
Also, it makes no sense when following all of Christ’s commands in the text. With reference to the ethne, Christ tells us to “baptize them”. How does one baptize whole nations or political entities?? That is clearly not possible; it is categorically illogical. Our LORD is clearly referring to individuals from various nations or peoples.
Additionally, Scripture itself further dismisses this twisting of the Great Commission when we look at the rest of the New Testament and the examples of the Apostles and their Divinely inspired writings. You find absolutely no focus on political matters with regard to a church mandate, particularly when the Gospel is mentioned.
Paul, a Roman citizen, does not appear before the Roman rulers of his day and insist that political and cultural change occur and that they obey God’s Law. Paul instead wishes that they would be “like him” except for his chains. He wants them to hear and believe the Good News and become Christians. That is his focus. Nothing more and nothing less.
Furthermore, when Paul discusses his focus for the Church and his mission from God, he says this, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” I guess Paul forgot about the cultural mandate.
In many other places throughout his writings, Paul gives many commands to the New Testament believers. And he gives admonishments about what our focus should be. And it’s ALWAYS directly related to the Gospel–the simple teaching that we are sinners, that Christ lived a perfect life, died and then rose again to redeem us from all of our sins.
Besides being told to respect (and pray for) the civil authorities put in place by God and to pay our taxes due, Paul does not give any additional civic-minded mandates. We are not told that we are responsible for changing the culture and political structures in order to bring about a sort of “Christendom”.
And this is not just Paul. Peter and James and the other New Testament writers are in unison in identifying us as "sojourners" in this world. And they put our focus on Christ and the future glory He has provided for us when we get to Heaven with Him one day. We may “lose” down here in a physical sense. But ultimately we win in Christ and through the might of His Spirit. As believers, we are told, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
So no, the Great Commission is clearly not about a cultural mandate or political charge to bring “nations” under a Christian identity. The text of Scripture proves this point. The men who promote such ideas are twisting the Bible and “going beyond” what He has written for us. They have “minds set on earthly things” and are in sin.
It explains why they can do a two hour discussion about Christian Nationalism and only mention the real Gospel briefly as an add on. It’s a tag. It’s something to help “prove” their Biblical credentials. It is not their focus. In essence, their emphasis is a distraction from the Gospel. They are so focused on political power and cultural change that the true Power of the Gospel gets left behind and barely acknowledged and the church’s sole mandate is ignored.
And that is our clear mandate. We are to make disciples of all peoples by exalting the name of Christ and by preaching the life-changing message of His Gospel. We are to focus on our utter spiritual barrenness before a Holy God and the saving grace found in our Savior. Nothing more and nothing less.
And yet, the Christian Nationalists ignore this one true mandate for the Church. They make it null and void by subtly adding to it cultural and political concerns not stated in Scripture. This is why the current fad of “Christian Nationalism” is wrong and why I do not choose to identify as a Christian Nationalist. It is not Scriptural, it is not good and it is not of God.
