God and Country

Over the last year very intense debate about the role of the church in relation to government has stirred our interest. There has been an attempt to merge principles of patriotism and Christianity under the banner of God and country.   

We’ve seen entities create Donald Trump Bibles that have copies of the Constitution or Declaration of Independence included, serving as a buffer between the Old Testament and New Testament. Christian symbols have experienced a revival as the Louisiana governor passed legislation to place the Ten Commandments back in public schools. The aspirations of Project 2025 firmly support the principles of Christian nationalism.  

And as an ardent believer, you would assume that this would be the cause of great celebration. You would think that true believers would see this as a move of God. And yet these things cause my prophetic “Spidey-sense” to tingle. These things are actually a cause for great concern. 

Reason 1

Politics and religion make very strange bedfellows. They are unequally yoked. The tenets of Jesus Christ do not align with any culture or system of governing. In order to merge the two, you would have to dilute the principles of Christianity or manipulate them to fit whatever the political agenda may be. 

Politics and Christianity don’t mix. Every time the two are merged, it is the result of a political entity using religion as a pretext to gather influence with the masses to push an agenda. That is oftentimes unrighteous, i.e. the way the Bible was used to promote the tenets of transatlantic slavery. 

Jesus describes the influence of the Christian church in the world this way. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:13-14, NIV).

The religion of Christ was never designed to dictate or control government or culture. Through the providential placement of godly men and women Christianity is to influence the culture with the subtlety that salt has on bland food, or with the silent pressure that light places on darkness. 

The Christian church was never designed to be a political force multiplier. The Christian church was to maintain its distinctiveness by operating with political autonomy so that its purity could never be diluted by partisan agendas. 

This is not to say that Christians withdraw from the process. This is not to suggest that Christians should not vote.  Christians are to be socially conscious, politically aware, civic-minded, yet maintaining a distinct loyalty to Jesus Christ that supersedes governmental loyalties. 

Reason 2

Whenever government establishes or prioritizes a single religion, it happens at the expense of someone else’s conscience. When the biblical story is recounted of King Nebuchadnezzar making a law requiring that no one worships any God except the God of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys, people sometimes celebrate, mistakenly so. 

Nebuchadnezzar’s decree seemed like a great thing. However, this is not a cause for rejoicing. It is that ideology and line of thought that put Daniel in danger in Chapter 6 as he was cast into the lion’s den because he elected to pray to God three times a day. 

State-sponsored religion is only a good thing when the state endorses the beliefs that you hold dear. Inevitably, however, there will come a time when someone in power promotes a belief that differs from yours, and that may conflict with your convictions.

What happens then?

The gospel is to be preached through spirit-filled preachers and Christlike lay persons. It is to be received voluntarily and acted upon by faith. It is the result of choice, not pressure. The one limitation that God has assigned to Himself, is that He does not trespass the boundary of choice.  

Governmental force will never be able to be the catalyst for true Bible conversion which requires a conscience that is not fettered or coerced by any entity outside of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The only time I will embrace the idea of a religious kingdom is when — as the prophecy of Daniel Chapter 2 depicts — the “rock cut out of the mountain without hands” destroys every earthly kingdom, and the kingdom of Christ is established with no end. 

Until then let us be diligent in our work, authentic in our character, and intentional in our witness that we might operate as salt and light in a fallen world. 

 

This article is part of our 2024 November/December Issue
Subscribe –>