Christian Nationalism: Divided Loyalties?

How does a Set Apart believer balance celebrating Independence Day while staying truly loyal to the Kingdom of God? Living outside of Israel, this creates a real tug-of-war in our hearts. It forces us to look at our place in our home country and weigh it against our true citizenship in heaven. In this balance, the order of devotion is clear: Yahweh comes first, Israel second, and your own nation third, meaning the physical descendants God made His promises to, not just a secular government. While this hierarchy makes sense, it is obviously a conclusion we draw, not a direct command written in Scripture.

Being a patriot in the United States means seeing both the good and the bad. The nation often tries to play "world police," and while it helps many, a lot of those moves are just for its own gain. The government gets involved in things that aren't right, and our freedom of speech is fading. Even with those big problems, a person can honestly say they would rather live here than almost anywhere else, besides maybe the land of Israel. You can be thankful for the freedom you have even while you watch it shrink. You can respect those who serve in uniform without needing to pretend that every mission overseas was about something other than this nation’s own interests.

Loving your country is just a natural step of Jesus telling His followers to love their neighbors. When your neighborhood, city, or nation does well, everyone there enjoys the stability. The command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem in Psalm 122 is often applied to the whole world, but in its day, Jerusalem was the capital for the Israelites and stood for their specific nation. This gives us a pattern for loving and praying for the well-being of the place where we live. By voting for good leaders and policies, we act like salt and light, looking for justice in our own backyard. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high places, that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and reverence."

Looking out for the community you are in is a recurring theme in the Bible, and believers are meant to be good neighbors. Jeremiah 29:7 gives us a clear look at this: "Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you shall have peace."

Think back to the old Babylonian empire; Daniel and his three friends were the best examples of serving well in a foreign land. They did a great job for the government and reached high positions, working for the good of the place they lived. In the New Testament, Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar and stop an illegal beating. Plus, Peter told his readers to honor the king, using a word for respect that ranks lower than the worship we owe to God alone. Peter told believers scattered across the empire to "honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king," putting honor for a ruler in the same bucket as honor for anyone else, far below the fear we reserve for God. Romans 13:1-7 says, "Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God." In Matthew 22:21, Jesus said, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

It is good and right for a believer to be thankful for the stability and freedom we have in the United States. God is the One who raises up nations and brings them down, a truth we see in Acts 17:26, and America has a history of being a champion for freedom. It has the oldest written constitution in the world, starting an experiment in democracy at a time when most nations were run by kings or dictators. The idea in its founding documents, that government exists only by the consent of the people, and that our rights come from God, not from whoever is in charge, was something new on that scale. The belief that people have rights given by God that the government cannot take away, which is built into the Bill of Rights, changed the world and is worth being thankful for.

We also have to take a closer look at the idea that America was founded as a perfect Christian nation. Nine of the thirteen colonies had religious tests for people running for office, usually asking them to claim they were Christian or Protestant. In 1813, John Adams wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson saying the principles that the fathers used to gain independence were the general principles of Christianity. Whether those principles were truly biblical or just using the name is a fair question, and the history isn't always simple. It sounds like a Christian nation until you see how many of the men who wrote those rules were involved in lodges and rituals that had very little to do with the God those rules named. If you look at the founding fathers, you find a lot of deep involvement with secret societies and Freemasonry; Washington, Franklin, and others were lodge members.

Even the way Washington DC is laid out shows the influence of things that aren't of God. The capital is full of symbols from pagan history, from the obelisk of the Washington monument to the way the streets are laid out in five-pointed stars. The Statue of Liberty itself is modeled after Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. Exodus 20:3-4 warns, "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol..."

Today, if you talk about having this balanced love for your country, people are quick to label you. The term "Christian nationalism" is used almost like a weapon by people on the left to shame believers who speak up for their values in the public square. It gets used in two different ways, and most people aren't being careful about which one they mean. Sometimes it describes someone who thinks their country was founded as an extension of the church and that the law should force that identity on everyone. But usually, it is just thrown at any believer who flies a flag, votes their conscience, or says something kind about where they live. That kind of double standard is just a way to try to silence believers and keep them from taking part in the democratic process.

Patriotism turns into an idol the second your love for your country begins to fight with, or win over, your love for God. Jesus made the danger clear when He said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon." Mammon isn't just money. It is anything you let take first place over God, and a country can fill that spot just as easily as wealth can. When we treat a government like it is sacred, we give a political system the kind of loyalty that belongs only to the Kingdom of God. We cannot give that spot to our country, and we cannot give it to anything else that belongs to Yahweh or Israel.

Because every government run by humans is going to be flawed and messy, a Set Apart believer should never give blind loyalty. You can love your country, but you have to be ready to call it out and say "no" when its laws go against God's Word.

Acts 5:29

"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'"

The writer of Hebrews pointed out that people of faith in the Old Testament were looking for "the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." None of those men were telling their readers to check out of the world they lived in. They were just telling them not to think that this world was their final home. The apostle Peter called his readers foreigners and exiles in 1 Peter 2:11, reminding us not to lean on a nation for our real security. And Colossians 3:1-2 says, "seek the things that are above... set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth."

One of the biggest mistakes in American patriotism is the idea that the church or a modern nation has somehow replaced Israel in God’s plan. Some people even try to act like the United States is some kind of "new Israel" with a special covenant. But the Bible never mentions the United States in prophecy, and trying to take the promises God made to Abraham’s physical children and slapping them onto an American political project ignores Israel’s place in God’s future. A country can be a force for good in the world without being the good the world is waiting for. Isaiah put nations in their place when he said, "all the nations are as nothing before him, they are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity." That isn't saying a nation can't do anything; it's saying how small every nation looks next to the One whose promises never run out. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession." That is for the redeemed community, not a country on a map.

God’s promises to the Jewish people still stand. Yahweh named that people when He told Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great," and He never made that promise to anyone else. Genesis 12:3 says, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you all the families of the earth will be blessed." People often misuse this to justify blind support for modern political states, but the scripture is talking about the patriarch and his kids. Scripture doesn't tell us to put Israel down to make the United States look better. Paul warned Gentile believers in Rome not to brag against the branches, reminding them that the root supports them. In Romans 11:1-2 Paul wrote, "I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew."

No other nation holds the place that Israel has. Deuteronomy shows how Israel is a special treasure, and that unique covenant hasn't been cancelled. Paul wraps up the whole matter in Romans 11:28-29, saying, "Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

Every culture around the world has its own unique values and its own sins, and the Bible is the standard that judges them all. While people talk like all cultures are equal, the reality is that the culture of the Kingdom is above every national identity. Living in a secular nation means knowing that our real hope is Jesus Christ coming back to set up His kingdom on earth. It is right to love your country, pray for its peace, and be thankful for the freedom you have. Work for its good, pray for its peace, and wish it well. Just don't confuse the city you are passing through for the one you are actually headed to. As a Set Apart believer, you are a citizen of heaven first, making sure that your heart's obedience to God’s Word stays far above any earthly national identity.