Thursday, August 11, 2022

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #3: Psalm 33:16-19


Psalm 33:16-19
New International Version
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

Another failure of the worldview behind 'Christian' Nationalism is that it assumes that human power structures (from elections and lawmaking, on up to political violence and armies) are the key to advancing the Will of God.  Scripture proclaims the opposite: No human power, no matter how sizeable, can stand against God, AND God is not dependent upon any human source of power to fulfill his will.  In other words, when 'Christian' Nationalists proclaim that their team must win the next election in order to 'save the Church' or 'protect Christianity' (more on why those are red herrings in later texts) they are making a false assumption about God's power that shockingly limits the ability of God to work out his will in our world when 'our team' isn't in control.  

Likewise, when 'Christian' Nationalists begin to talk about the need to utilize violence, perhaps even civil war, to accomplish these supposedly necessary ends, they are not only attempting to overcome evil with evil, or turn two wrongs in to a right, but also proclaiming that God's Church, people, or nation (we aren't a Christian nation, but that argument for another text) will lose if we don't shed blood to protect it!!  God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is supposedly incapable of advancing his Kingdom if this nation or this culture are not what 'Christian' Nationalists proclaim that they must be.  Is God so weak?  Is his will so fragile?  Not at all.

What are Christians called to do?  

Titus 2:12-13  New International Version
12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

I must have missed the part where God commands us to conquer in his name.

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