Christian Nationalism is the fusion of American and Christian identities designed to advance a particular ideological agenda. As it garners more attention in our public life, preachers should spend time reflecting on their own words and liturgical leadership to avoid perpetuating this problem. Indeed, mainline Protestants have a pretty poor track record in this area.

Here are three things preachers can do to avoid adding to the harm:

• Be careful how you talk about the nation: Modern countries and governments are human constructions, not divine instruments. They are fallible entities that often fail to live up to their own ideals. Christian Nationalism makes the mistake of turning them into idols, leaving them beyond critique and sacralizing the actions they take. It’s more than okay to talk about the blessings of living in a particular place, but avoid language that talks about the U.S. (or other countries) as being a “Christian nation” or serving “divine purposes.”
• Pay attention to the songs you sing: I remember worshiping in a congregation on a Sunday near a patriotic holiday and the bulletin was filled with songs like “America the Beautiful” and “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.” At the same time, U.S. leaders were considering launching a significant military assault against another nation that many citizens found morally questionable. The pastor thought they were picking hymns appropriate for the occasion on the calendar, but they made worship – at least for me – very uncomfortable that day. It felt like we were blessing a war rather than praising our God.
• Remind people what worship is really about: I used to live in Washington, DC, which is full of foreign embassies flying the flags of their respective countries. Even though these buildings were on American soil, they were set apart from the authority and rule of the U.S. government. Sanctuaries are like that. They are embassies of heaven where we worship the God of all the nations. When we think about that truth, it doesn’t make sense to have symbols (like flags) in the sanctuary or nationalistic hymns in the liturgy. Such things reduce our worship to less than it really is; they make God a partisan, rather than the One who reigns over all the earth (and heavens).

Whether it happens in sermons or other forums, pastors should also be educating their congregations about what Christian Nationalism is (and isn’t). As the concept grows in notoriety, the risk of inaccurate usage also increases. It’s a sociological concept that describes a specific worldview that props up a retrograde social order. There are great resources out there explaining in more detail what it is and the danger it presents to both democracy and the gospel.

The unfortunate reality is that Christian Nationalism denies that each person is created in the Image of God. Its idolatry makes it a threat to both the unity of Christ’s Church and the prophetic witness of Christians acting as voices of conscience in the public square. By saddling Christianity with even more negative cultural baggage, it makes the work of preaching good news and creating disciples even more difficult.

For further study:

• What Christian Nationalism Is and What to Do About It, by Cynthia G. Lindner in the Christian Century magazine.
• Are you Accidentally a Christian Nationalist? by Mitchell Atencio at Sojo.net.
• Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism, Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood
• The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry
• American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, Andrew L. Whitehead
• GA-2341: General Assembly Resolution Calling the Church to Oppose Christian Nationalism, adopted by the 2023 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Published in the June 2024 issue of For the Messengers

Rev. Beau Underwood is the senior minister at Allisonville Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Alongside Brian Kaylor, he is the coauthor of Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism, recently published by Chalice Press.