Christian Nationalism. Influencing, Not Dominating.
The History of 20th Century Christian Influence on Society.
In this post we are discussing the very public debate over so-called “Christian Nationalism.” While we often use stories from the Old or New Testaments as examples of human behavior and present universal truths found in the Bible as arguments in our discussions, in this post we will be actually exegeting what the Bible says about Christian involvement in society, and discussing the people and movements encouraging Christians to be involved in society.
The term “Christian Nationalism” has had some limited use in years past but has come to the forefront recently, being weaponized by the Left as an attack on any Christian involvement in society and politics. The label of “Christian Nationalism” has been embraced by some on the Right but because it is being defined by the Leftstream media, where it is primarily used pejoratively, we are not adopting it.
Revival and Reformation
One of the last commands that Jesus gave his disciples was “The Great Commission,” which was recorded in two of the Gospels.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16, ESV
There is a different emphasis in Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts. The two accounts agree, they just use different terminology. Jesus was continually speaking to crowds, presenting the same messages time and again to different crowds. We can safely assume that both Matthew and Mark are accurately reporting Jesus words. They are just reporting different presentations of the same sermon by Jesus.
But there is one significant difference between these two reports. Look at the difference:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew)
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark)
Matthew’s account emphasizes the authority Jesus gives His followers to disciple all nations while Mark’s account emphasizes preaching the gospel unto salvation. Discipling nations and evangelizing individuals are both part of the Great Commission. Some churches focus more on the discipleship mission and other churches on the evangelism mission. These missions are mutually compatible.
Dutch Sheets, a poplar leader in the prayer and intercession movement in the US and around the world, recently addressed this difference in his daily “Give Him 15” devotionals.1 Dutch describes the difference as revival (Mark’s account) vs reformation (Matthew's account). Revival is about salvation, bringing people into the Church while reformation is utilizing the the people in the church to influence the surrounding culture. Dutch describes the “Jesus People Movement” in the 1960s-70s as merely a revival (without reformation) that took place in the Church while at the same time the Left was focusing on the reformation of culture.
It can be pointed out that recruiting new members (evangelism) and doing the work to change society (discipleship) are done by any/every organization, religious or secular, that has a goal of influencing or transforming society.
Salt and Light
Other scriptures commonly used to encourage Christians to be involved in society and its functions are Jesus’ exhortations to be salt and light.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
The Pilgrims saw themselves as being a “shining city on the hill” and in more modern times Ronald Reagan referenced Pilgrim John Winthrop’s use of “shining city on a hill” in his farewell address.2 Jesus said we must keep our saltiness as well as “letting our light shine” before others. Salt is a preservative so being salty is having a positive impact on the society around us. The impact on society of letting our light shine before others is likewise positive on the society around us.
Christians Influencing Culture and Civil Government
Here have been a number of movements in the past half-century by Christians leaders to encourage Christians to be good citizens, to be involved in the body politic. As we examine these movements, we will see that their focus has been on influencing and not on dominating. This is a key point, since the Left continually tars these groups as seeking to take over the government in order to impose a Theocracy. As we examine these movements we will point out their emphasis on influencing society.
These people/movements represent efforts at Reformation, although the Marxist/Left was much more successful in the mid-late 20th Century (hence Dutch Sheet’s comments).
Francis Schaeffer was a popular Reformed theologian and speaker who popularized the concept of Christian involvement in society to the Jesus People, with whom reading and discussing Schaeffer was a rite of passage (I speak from experience). From The God Who is There (1968) to How Should We Then Live (1976), which was a popular video series as well as a book, to A Christian Manifesto (1981) and The Great Evangelical Disaster (1984), Schaeffer’s 22 books on the Church and Culture were revolutionary in bringing the 20th Century Church into more active participation in society.
Christian Reconstruction was one of the early movements to influence society in this same time period (1960s-80s). This movement included Rousas J Rushdoony, who published dozens of books, including a major treatise entitled The Institutes of Biblical Law. Gary North, an economist, another major figure in the movement, also published dozens of books, including Tools of Dominion, a twelve-hundred page economic commentary on the book of Exodus. Greg Bahnsen, David Chilton, Gary DeMar and Richard Gentry were also leaders of the movement and prolific authors. Gentry’s book explaining the Biblical basis of Reconstruction was aptly titled, The Greatness of the Great Commission.
The main tenet of Christian Reconstruction was theonomy,3 the idea that all civil laws should be based on Biblical law (rather than on other secular or religious systems). The Great Commission in Matthew’s Gospel and the Dominion Mandate to Adam and Eve (for mankind to have dominion over the rest of creation in Genesis 1: 26) were primary underpinnings of their arguments. Christian Reconstruction used the term “dominion” in the context of man over the rest of creation and never in the sense of certain men over other men. And the pursuit of theonomy was by persuasion, not by domination.
Joel Belz launched a Christian news magazine for children in 1986, World Magazine, to compete with the secular Weekly Reader. Belz’s World News Group expanded into other news publications, always presenting politics, the arts, science and other topics from a Biblically-based perspective. Belz himself consistently encouraged Christians to pursue careers in journalism, the arts and other “secular” fields that had been mostly abandoned by the church. As with the others, for Belz the call was for involvement and influence. (How different would journalism be if more had heeded that call?)
Jerry Falwell, Sr. started a movement called The Moral Majority in 1979 to advance Christian social values. The moral majority encouraged Christians to be involved in voter registration, lobbying, fundraising and running for political office and was a major force in The Religious Right movement in the 1980s that saw Christians become more politically involved.
The Seven Mountain Mandate movement was begun in the mid-1970’s by Loren Cunningham (YWAM), Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ) and Francis Schaeffer. The movement gained modern popularity with the publication of Lance Wallnau’s and Bill Johnson’s book, Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, in 2013. Currently Wallnau and Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow are the leading proponents of this movement, particularly the Enlows with their “Reformers Influencing Society Everyday (RISE)” program.
The Seven Mountain Mandate is based on a model of society being composed of seven areas of influence, or mountains, which include education, religion, family, business, civil government, arts/entertainment and media. This Mandate proclaims that every believer is called to influence one or more of these mountains by servant leadership. This movement dispels the notion that the only opportunity for leadership for the Christian is in religion. Like Reconstruction and other teachings, the emphasis is on influence and servant leadership, not on dominion.
There are some who still teach that Christians should not be involved in ”politics.” I make this statement not because I intend to debate this point in this post but merely to point out that not only do not all Christian leaders and churches teach civic involvement, but some actively oppose it. The current debate over this is epitomized by Eric Metaxis’s book, Letter to the Christian Church, that encourages civic involvement and Any Stanley’s book, Not In It To Win It, that shuns it, both of which will be reviewed in a future post in this series.
Dutch Sheets taught in his daily Give Him 15 broadcasts on Feb 5-6. 2024: https://www.givehim15.com/prayer-1/page/6
https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ronald-reagan/reagan-quotes-speeches/farewell-address-to-the-nation-2/
Theonomy is very different from Theocracy. Theonomy seeks to influence culture to adopt Biblical values and then legislate in accordance with those values. A theocracy is the establishment of rule from the top by a god and the group that worships that god. We see theocracies in Iran and other countries that establish Muslim (sharia) law as the law of the land. It should be obvious but all civil law is based on some set or values, religious or humanist, so promoting theonomy is no more religious or oppressive than promoting humanism as the basis for law.
Good info Jeff. I agree the left tries to weaponize us with the Christian Nationalism phrase. Even though I don’t embrace it per se, it’s water off a duck’s back to me if they want to use it. Thanks for your insights!