Christian Nationalism is not a new thing – it began 1700 years ago when Emperor Constantine embraced a militaristic version of what he interpreted as real, and it continued yesterday in Washington D.C. America has never been a Christian nation, but we have always been a Christian Nationalist perversion of the faith. And the fact that so many people who say they follow Jesus cannot tell the difference is part of the problem. If you believe that pseudo-christianity should be in control of our government, you are part of the problem too, because there is a difference between controlling and contributing. For example, my church gives two $500 scholarships to students at the local high school who are either LGBTQ or an ally. There are no strings attached, and a committee at the school chooses the recipients. And for the first time, I was allowed to present it. I said that my congregation believes that we should be able to be who God created us to be, and we want to honor that in students who live that out.
We want to contribute, not control. We adopted an elementary school up the street from us, and we do a couple of things for the students and staff during the year. It isn’t much, but it is enough to let them know how much we appreciate them. We contribute to the well-being of the community, but we ask for nothing in return. Christian Nationalists work very hard at controlling unwilling victims; they legislate against those they hate. They demonize different religions. They ignore the two Constitutional agreements about religion. And their agenda is to remake America in their image. And because they know nothing about Jesus, they don’t seem to understand that their efforts are contributing to the demise of the church in America. The more they create darkness and inflict damage, the more people run away from their attempts to win them over. Most people don’t want or need to be controlled – they aren’t puppets.
The most Christian president in history – Jimmy Carter – never tried to use his faith to control people. The least religious president in history – until now – Richard Nixon – brought a lot of religion into the White House. It seems to me that there is an inverse relationship here; the more someone tries to force their religion on us, the less likely they are to be a person of faith. I don’t want religion in government! I am fine with a person of faith being in office, and I am fine with the opposite as well. Fake Christians use their pseudo-religion to manipulate and win votes – real Christians use the foundation of their faith to serve everyone. Fake Christians are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and Jesus warned us about these false prophets. And He was right. They were ravenous then and they are ravenous now. We should run from them because they are a danger to our freedom.
Prayer – Holy God, help us to stay safe from those who would misuse Your name for their own benefit. Amen.
Today’s art is “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” by Cheri Howes.