I’ve written significantly about Christian Nationalism over the past year and part of that has been because I’ve bene concerned about the negative impact that Christian Nationalism has on the church. In that sense I have been arguing due to personal conviction and concern. However, it also fits in with the primary aims of Faithroots. Remember that a big aim of this site is to provide training and resources for those who want to access theological training and be equipped for Gospel ministry, especially in urban contexts. So, one reason for engaging with Christian Nationalism is that it is relevant to an aspect of theology that it is helpful for Gospel workers to be alert to, namely public theology.
One of the arguments made in support of Christian Nationalism is that Christians should be engaged in the public square, seeking the good and welfare of the society around us. The alternative, it is argued is for Christians to accept a secular state which is anything but neutral and adopt a form of quietism where religious faith is privatised. Now, I think that these sorts of claims misunderstand the historic quietist position -but that’s for another day. The question is whether or not that it the only option. Here, I want to argue that there is another way.
So, here are some quick thoughts on how Evangelicals can engage in public theology without having to resort to Christian Nationalism.
Eschatology and foretastes
I’ve argued previously that Christian Nationalism represents a wrong turning that distracts us from our true destination. It arises out of a misinterpretation of Matthew 28:19ff so that nations are discipled as institutional entities and this is then combined with post-millennial expectations of God’s kingdom reign fully established on earth before Christ returns.
There are two alternatives to post-millennialism. Pre-millennialism holds that things will get steadily worse until Jesus returns, he will then reign on earth for a literal 1000 years. However, the other alternative is a-n. This recognises that it is possible to see both Christ’s reign advancing as people turn to Christ and at the same time increasing apostasy and evil in the world. The light gets lighter and the darkness darker at the same time.
A-Millennialists therefore do not expect the triumph of Christendom with political Christian rule around the world before Jesus comes back. We do however expect many people to put their trust in Christ now. We also can look forward to the day when Jesus will return and make all things new, this will mean an end to rebellion against God, an end to demonisation, an end to corruption and injustice an end to sickness and death. We expect all of those things to be fulfilled when Jesus returns but we can also expect foretastes of those things to be happening now.
Common Grace
A crucial aspect of Reformed theology is the idea of common grace. Special grace is all about God’s free gift of salvation (special and specific to the elect), common grace is about God’s providence and goodness to his creatures.
We want those who live around us, our neighbours, friends, colleagues, family to enjoy good life here on earth now. We also can see that it is for our benefit if we live in a peaceful world where the Gospel can be shared freely.
So, one of our expectations is for this common grace to overflow. We experience it because there is real blessing in living life in God’s presence under his rule and reign. It overflows from us so that those who come into contact with God’s people get to experience something of God’s goodness.
Exiles on an Exodus journey
As I’ve argued frequently, the paradigm for God’s people in the New Testament is that of the exiles, both in Egypt and in Babylon. Part of the story is that we are being called on a journey to our true home as citizens of God’s kingdom. However, there is also the sense that we live in a world that right now is not home. What are we meant to do in exile. Well, that’s where the words “seek the good of the city” come in but those words were about exiles blessing the place where they were exiled to not about exercising dominion.
What we see in the lives of Joseph, Daniel, Esther and others is that even as exiles, God used them to have an influence in the courts of kings both for the benefit of their own people and of the nation where they found themselves. Christians can and should, if the opportunity is there for them, take the opportunity to have a positive influence in the workplace, in education, in art and in politics.
An alternative community
Another theme we find through Scripture is that God’s people act as an alternative community, a model for what life is meant to be life if we live in God’s presence under his rule. Christians can do this by modelling what it looks like to live as strangers/sojourners in a place that isn’t home. We also do it by modelling how we are meant to treat the stranger/sojourner/vulnerable in our own midst.
What will we be concerned about?
If we are concerned for the common grace goodness living under God’s rule, then we will be concerned for all aspects of it. This means that we will not just be interested in things like abortion, euthanasia, sexuality and marriage, though we will want to show concern for those things. We will also be concerned about poverty, education, health-care, justice, the plight of asylum seekers etc. This means that whilst there will be a political edge to our concerns it will not a tribal or party political. At times we will be accused of being right wing but at other times we will be accused of being left-wing, liberal, woke. If people struggle to fit us into the world of modern secular politics then that is no bad thing.
Conclusion
What we are really talking about here is discipleship. What does it mean for us to live together as God’s people, in his presence here in the world, now?
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