Christianity and Nationalism – Let’s Keep The Two Separate

Valerie Cullers 15 Comments

pexels-photo-933846.jpeg                When I was younger, I travelled in several countries and visited lots of cathedrals and churches. Never, to my recollection, did I ever see the flag of the country I was in displayed inside the church or cathedral I was visiting. When I returned to the US, I never gave the subject any more thought.

Several years later, I became a Christian and again visited several churches in America. In a few, I noticed that a flag was set up on the dais where the preacher would give the sermon. I spoke to my husband about it and said it bothered me to see a national flag set up in a church. He had seen it before and it didn’t bother him one way or the other.

I have thought about it since and have come to the conclusion that we should keep our Christianity separate from our national affiliation. There is nothing wrong with national pride and patriotism, but our first allegiance must always be to Jesus Christ. We serve a King who is over all earthly kingdoms and reigns from his heavenly kingdom.

If for some reason or another, the country we are living in outlaws Christianity and forbids us to gather together, pray and read our Bibles, we will have a decision to make. Will we obey our heavenly King or follow the laws of the land concerning our beliefs? We only have to think of the millions of Christians living under Communist rule to realize the dilemma that is created by a government passing laws against the Church universal.

Christianity does command that we be good citizens of the country we are living in. We are to follow the laws, pay our taxes, pray for our leaders and seek the welfare of the city where we live. If called into the military, we must follow our beliefs and serve wherever our beliefs allow us to.

Christians need to remember their history and recall that some countries have sought to incorporate their political beliefs into their churches. As an example, there are still churches in Germany working to get rid of the Nazi symbols placed in them without destroying the architecture of the church itself. These churches should serve as an example of what Christo-Nationalism looks like and why we would want to avoid it.

We should never seek to impose our nationalistic beliefs onto our Christianity. Instead, we should serve the country we are living in because of our beliefs and seek to be the best citizens we can be under the existing laws of the land.

15 thoughts on “Christianity and Nationalism – Let’s Keep The Two Separate”

  2. I hear what you’re saying and need to give this prayer and thought. I do see the two entities as parallels… When the Lord asks us to pray for our leaders, I see the flag in our churches-obedience to Him in this. When I see Christians who are martyred for the beliefs, I see the flag in our churches. It’s not the government legislating our Christianity, it’s we Christians upholding our country.

    I also see that if the government decides, i.e. Nazi Germany, that any other religion is the law of the land, yeah – you can take the flag out of my church. Let me worship the Lord my God. The flag is in my heart!!!

    A thought-provoking post, Valerie. Thank you!! ❤

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