Tag Archives: Nationalism

Devotional

KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTIAN, part 1: Don’t Conflate Christ with Country

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Read John 18:33-38

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“This world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14 NLT)

We’ve all seen the bumper magnets and bulletin signs urging us to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” While well-intentioned, this phrase often misses the mark. It focuses on preserving a commercialized image of “baby Jesus” rather than embracing the full, transformative power of Christ in our lives. The real challenge we face isn’t just keeping Christ in a holiday—it’s keeping Christ in Christian.

Image: AI-generated by Rev. Todd R. Lattig using Adobe Firefly.

Part 1: Don’t Conflate Christ With Country. In recent years, Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas has made statements that seem to prioritize national identity over the universal love Jesus preached. For instance, he has repeatedly referred to America as a “Christian nation,” suggesting that Christianity should hold a privileged position in American society.

This perspective appears to misrepresent Jesus’ teachings in significant ways. While Jesus spoke of a kingdom, He made it clear that His kingdom was “not of this world” (John 18:36 NLT). He taught a message of love that transcended national boundaries, emphasizing care for the stranger and love for one’s enemies. By conflating Christianity with national identity, Jeffress’s message risks distorting the universal, boundary-breaking nature of Jesus’ love and the global scope of God’s kingdom.

Søren Kierkegaard, the 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian, offers a powerful counterpoint to Jeffress’s nationalistic Christianity. Kierkegaard was deeply critical of what he called “Christendom,” a term he used to describe the nominal Christianity of his day where being a Christian was conflated with being a citizen of a “Christian nation”.

For Kierkegaard, true Christianity was about an individual’s passionate commitment to following Christ, not about national identity or cultural Christianity. He argued that “Christianity is related to the individual,” while Christendom is related to “lower notions of religion,” specifically to “national religion and national God”. This critique directly challenges the idea of America as a “Christian nation” that Jeffress promotes.

Kierkegaard believed that merging Christianity with national identity leads to a watering down of faith, turning it into a comfortable cultural identity rather than a challenging call to discipleship. He wrote, “Where all are Christians, the situation is this: to call oneself a Christian is the means whereby one secures oneself against all sorts of inconveniences and discomforts”. This echoes Jesus’ teachings about the narrow path and the cost of discipleship, which are often overlooked in nationalistic forms of Christianity.

Moreover, Kierkegaard emphasized that Christianity was not about establishing earthly kingdoms or political power, but about transforming individuals through a personal relationship with God. This aligns more closely with Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God being within us (Luke 17:21 NLT) than with attempts to create a “Christian nation” through political means.

In light of Kierkegaard’s critique, we are challenged to examine our own faith. Are we following Christ as individuals, regardless of our national identity? Or have we allowed our Christianity to become a comfortable cultural identity that doesn’t challenge us to love our enemies, care for the stranger, and put God’s kingdom above all earthly allegiances?

As followers of Christ, we are called to be salt and light in our communities and nations. But we must always remember that our primary citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20 NLT), and our ultimate allegiance is to God’s kingdom, not any earthly nation.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.” – Søren Kierkegaard

PRAYER
Lord, help us to follow You as individuals, not relying on cultural Christianity or national identity. May we seek Your kingdom first, loving all people as You have loved us. Give us the courage to live out our faith authentically, even when it challenges societal norms. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of Perplexity AI.

Devotional

God’s People, part 115: Haman

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Read Esther 3

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, ‘Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.’ ‘Then impale Haman on it!’ the king ordered. So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.” (Esther‬ ‭7:9-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

  Part 115: Haman. By now, I am sure, you are aware that Haman is the bad guy of the story in Esther. He was the one who plotted to have all the Jews killed and to have a special gallows built to hang Mordecai on. We also know, ultimately, that Haman’s plot backfired in the worst possible way, thanks to the faithfulness of Queen Esther to her people. She braved the possibility of being executed in order to do what was just and righteous.

With that said, let us take a look at Haman anyway. It is easy to demonize someone as the “bad guy”, because it makes them something different than “us”. It allows us to place all of the blame on the evil “straw man”, as it were, and to avoid reflecting on ourselves and how we too fall prey to such tendencies.

Haman, according to the Bible, was a descendent of Agag, who was king of the Amalekites. If you remember, the Amalekites were the people that King Saul and King David wiped out in certain areas. So, even in his family history, there is bad blood there. The Jews were the enemies of Haman’s ancestors.

What’s more, it is also important to note that being an Agagite (a descendant of Agag) meant that Haman was NOT a Persian. He was yet a person who belonged to a land that had been conquered by Babylon and were now being ruled by Persia. Thus, Haman is a foreigner too. He, like Mordecai, had been promoted up the ranks to become an official in Persia. Not only was he an official, but he was the kings top official. He was the King’s right-hand man.

So, given the history between the Jewish and the Amalekites, it is no wonder that Haman has a resentment against Mordecai and the other Jews. What’s more, when you add in the fact that Haman and Mordecai were both foreigners competing against each other for political positions, we get to understand the conflict.

Piecing it together that way, makes sense of why Mordecai refused to bow and why Haman took such offense to it. Pride and tribalism seem to be at the heart of this conflict. There are other possible extra-biblical reasons as to why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman; however, given what we have to go on in Scripture, the obstinance that Mordecai showed Haman and the hatred that Haman had for Mordecai and his people, really begin to make sense.

In our country today, we see such tribalism taking route in the form of hyper-nationalism. Dare I say this, the kind of nationalistic rhetoric I have heard thrown out there as of late sets America up as almost an idol to be worshiped. Beyond the national level, I have seen tribalism grow among the peoples within this nations. Republicans vs. Democrats, whites vs. blacks, citizens vs. undocumented immigrants, heterosexuals vs. LGTBQ, etc.

Let us reflecton that. These divisions, these dichotomies are false in the eyes of God and they all lead us down the road toward destruction. Haman is a great and stark example of the destructive path that pride and tribalism lead us down. Let us begin to repent of the ways in which we have been falsely proud and tribalistic. Let us turn from our sins and run back into the arms of the One who created us all in the divine image.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“They will know we are Christian by our love, by our love. They will know we are Christian by our love.” — Fr. Peter Scholtes

PRAYER

Lord, help me to steer clear of immoral and unholy tribalism and pride. Amen.