I’m sympathetic with podcaster, Doug Wilson, Christian Nationalist, in that he seems to love both the U.S. and the Christian God. He wants the U.S. to formally submit to Biblical law. He does seem to have some trouble navigating the difference between the theocratic law of the Old Testament and the law of the Spirit emphasized in the New Testament. I don’t blame him for that, overly, given that it is a thorny subject within Christendom. Thorny or not, problems arise whenever O.T. theocratic legislation is not interpreted through the N.T. lens. Still, even a clumsy effort to apply biblical principles of justice would probably produce a legal system with results of a happier and healthier U.S.
That said, I do not believe that Christian nationalism is what God has prescribed for any nation on the earth. God’s use of the theocracy of Israel was a kind of incubation—a preparation for the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus established the New Israel, the new nation of God, on the basis of the Spirit. It has no national boundaries. It has no state boundaries. It has no familial boundaries. God’s kingdom can only be found in the individuals in whom God has placed his Spirit. He commands those individuals to collect in what we call churches. However poorly, these churches are the best expression we will have of God’s kingdom on this earth.
To impose Christian regulations on a geopolitical nation of individuals, many of whom are indifferent to Christianity and many of whom despise it, is to establish a state of superficial conformity, something contradictory to the essence of Christianity. The Pharisees established a system of legalistic conformity. Christ called them white-washed tombs: well kempt on the outside but reeking of rotting flesh on the inside. Any earthly nation ruled by Christian law would suffer the same affliction.
Christians must live as law-abiding, society-blessing citizens in whatever nations God has placed them. There they should be bold in proclaiming God’s wisdom, and they should be well-schooled in explaining why God’s wisdom is superior to the wisdoms of the world. Christians should speak out for justice. (I must make the point here that justice is often complex and rarely represented well by either the political Left or Right. Biblical knowledge must be supplemented with other studies, such as politics and economics. Being filled with God’s Spirit does not automatically make Christians, individually or corporately, experts on social and political justice.)
God, while absolutely sovereign, also assigns agency to humans. This fundamental idea paves the way for the principle of pluralism. While God desires conformity to his will, he is really only interested in conformity that stems from genuine love and honor. He is not interested in lip service. He permits dissent. He even permits a degree of foolishness.
Societies must have good laws in order for citizens to thrive in peace and freedom. This calls for laws that grant freedom of conscience and, to the extent possible, freedom of action. The Christian part in this is to help others see the light of day. The Christian must not take the name of God in vain in this enterprise. When we say, “Thus saith the Lord,” it had better be so. (At the same time, remaining silent while claiming to be a Christian is also a way to take the Lord’s name in vain.)
Christians are the salt of the earth but while on the earth they will always be foreigners in foreign lands. “Christian nation,” if referring to a place on this earth, is an oxymoron. Nations can expect to better reflect God’s Kingdom as they appropriate God’s wisdom in their legal systems, but they can never actually be Christian nations. Doug Wilson should know this. He should recall how the people of Israel, even his disciples, wanted to make Jesus king. Even Satan offered him rulership over the whole earth. Jesus turned his back on these temptations. So should we.
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