Matthew 16:21-23 New International Version
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Why the picture of Shaq throwing down a dunk? What's this got to do with 'Christian' Nationalism? The average Joe off the street, probably at least a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter, has a better chance of blocking Shaq's dunk attempt, let's say a 0.0001% chance, than 'Christian' Nationalists do of having either their goals and especially their tactics, in alignment with God's Will.
Afterall, it is not God that must conform to our will, but we that must conform to his. That being said, Jesus repeatedly declared what his purpose for his followers was: to constitute a Church (the Body of Christ), what its goal would be, to make disciples in every nation, and how they must conduct themselves to do this, through sacrifice and a servant's heart while utilizing the Fruit of the Spirit.
What Jesus did not declare is that his followers would hold dominion over others, would subjugate the unwilling at the point of the sword, would gain and hold power by any means necessary, and would turn a blind eye to evil among them in the name of pragmatism in the process. Not one of these goals or methods is acceptable to the will of God, and yet, throughout Church History we have seen them embraced, first on a grand scale with the Crusades {adding the blasphemous cry of, "God wills it!" to the folly of it}, then on a national one with the Spanish Inquisition, and sprinkled throughout were torture, imprisonment, and burnings at the stake. All in the name of God, all supposedly to help God 'win' here on earth. Tragic, foolish, unnecessary, and ultimately evil.
The current movement of 'Christian' Nationalism may be, thus far, less violent than the defenders of Christendom in the past. And even though the trend is toward encouraging and accepting more coercion, less democracy, and violence, with some supposed 'prophets' even calling for a new American Civil War, 'Christian' Nationalism does not need its own Timothy McVeigh to prove that this path is fraught with peril. One need only look to the Word of God to see if this is what God called his Church to do or how he commanded them to do it.
It is popular to declare the need to, "Take back America for God", but making the claim does not answer the questions: Is this God's will? How do you know this is what God wants? Even if this is God's will, would he sanction going about it like this?
