2 Chronicles 19:7
Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
Among the ways in which 'Christian' Nationalism damages the Church is by compromising its moral authority. When the Church (or segments of it) ally themselves with worldly (political) power, it creates an incentive to criticize 'them' for moral failings and a disincentive to criticize 'our team' for those same moral failings. In our own setting, we have seen this play out time and time again since the rise of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority. In addition to giving 'our' politicians and pundits a free pass while lambasting those of the opposition, 'Christian' Nationalism also encourages the defending of organizations and institutions (See: Clergy Sex Scandal, Catholic, Protestant, etc.) because they are part of that same team effort and if their moral failings were made known, if a reckoning and justice were to be pursued, it would be seen as a win for the other side. When the nation or world is divided in this way into two camps competing for worldly power (as opposed to Paul's theology of worldly vs. spiritual), moral authority diminishes to a tactic, a cudgel, for the bashing of one's enemies, justice is denied, and the Church becomes complicit, at the least, in it.
How do we know God doesn't operate in this fashion? The case of King David is illustrative. Despite being the man hand-picked by God to rule Israel, and having been given the title, "a man after God's own heart", God didn't hesitate to send the Prophet Nathan to excoriate David and pronounce a hard judgment against him (2 Samuel 11-12). God didn't look the other way, and he didn't engage in the repugnant 'what about' moral equivalency that seems to be the go-to response anytime a member/institution on 'our team' commits moral evil (hint: we'd call it a sin if they did it). That King David was on his own side didn't pervert God's justice, let alone stop it.
How does this use of morality, as a tool for our own power rather than a standard to live by, affect our Gospel presentation? How does perverting Justice advance the Kingdom of God? These are questions that 'Christian' Nationalism has no answer for, and as God's Word makes clear, that's a problem.
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