Should Christians Be Christian Nationalists?

Last week I taught this Bible study in a tent half a world from home. The men and women in that room wear the uniform of the United States. Some of them have been deployed three, four, five times. They've buried friends. They've come home and tried to make sense of who they are when the uniform comes off.

The night before we met, an American president stood at a podium and read from the Bible publicly.

Some called it faith. Others called it politics.

Inside our tent the question got more honest. Should Christians be "Christian nationalists"? Or is the Kingdom of Jesus actually something different?

I'm a pastor and an Army chaplain. I love my country. I've raised my hand and sworn an oath to the Constitution more times than I can count. And I follow Jesus as King - a King whose Kingdom doesn't run on the same fuel as any earthly nation.

That tension is what this study is about. Whether you live in Miami, Mosul, or somewhere in between, you live with the same pull: how do I love the place where God put me without confusing it for the place where God reigns?

Here's what Scripture actually says - and what I told the soldiers in the tent.

"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God…"

Acts 17:26-27 (ESV)

Paul said this to a room full of Athenians who didn't share his faith. He didn't tell them to abandon their city. He told them their city was on a map God drew - and that the whole reason God put them there was so they would find Him.

Why Christians Are Asking About Christian Nationalism Right Now

Christians are asking about Christian nationalism because the line between faith and politics has gotten harder to see - and because the term "Christian nationalism" means very different things to different people.

Walk into a coffee shop and say the words. You'll get a dozen different reactions. To one person, it means a Christian who votes their conscience and prays for their country. To another, it means a movement that fuses American identity with Christian identity until the two are inseparable. The same two words. Two very different worlds.

That confusion is the point of this article. We're not going to pretend the question is simple. But we are going to take it to Scripture, because the Bible is not silent on what it looks like to be a citizen of a country and a citizen of God's Kingdom at the same time.

Here's the tension every Christian lives in:

• You love your country.
• You follow Jesus as King.

The question is not whether you engage the place where you live. The question is how. And the way you answer it will shape how you vote, how you pray, what you post, and what you teach your kids.

So let's get to the Bible.

Is It Okay for a Christian to Love Their Country?

Yes. Loving your country is not only allowed in Scripture - it's expected. God established nations. He placed you in yours on purpose. And He calls you to seek the welfare of the place where He's put you, even when that place is broken.

Three passages drive this home.

God established nations on purpose

Paul, standing in Athens, tells a crowd of skeptics that God "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God" (Acts 17:26-27).

Read that slowly. Your country is not an accident. Your zip code is not random. God is the One who drew the borders of the place where you live, and He did it so that the people there would seek Him. That includes you.

You are where you are so people might find God through your life.

Even in exile, seek the welfare of the city

When God's people were dragged off into Babylon - a foreign empire that didn't share their faith and had just destroyed their homeland - God sent them a letter through Jeremiah. The instruction was startling.

"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you… and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7).

Not "tolerate." Not "endure." Seek the welfare of. Care about it. Pray for it. Work for its good. That's the posture God asks for from His people in a country that isn't their final home.

If God's people in Babylon were called to bless the city they didn't choose, you can bless the city you live in too.

Pray for kings and all who are in high positions

Paul tells Timothy: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life…" (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Notice what's missing from that command. It doesn't say "pray for the leader you voted for." It doesn't say "pray for the leader who agrees with you on every issue." It says pray for kings and all who are in high positions - including the ones you didn't choose, didn't want, and don't agree with.

Loving your country, biblically, includes praying for the people who run it. All of them.

Where's the Tension Between Loving America and Following Jesus?

The tension is that you can love your country deeply and still belong to a different Kingdom ultimately. Scripture doesn't ask you to pick one. It asks you to know the order.

Paul says it directly: "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20).

Jesus says it directly: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

Here's how to hold both at the same time.

You can love your country deeply. You can be grateful you were born here. You can serve in its military, vote in its elections, raise your kids to respect its history, and pay taxes without resentment. None of that is in conflict with following Jesus.

But if your country and your King ever ask for opposite things, the King wins. Every time. Not because you don't love your country. Because you love your King more.

That's the thing the soldiers I taught understood instantly. They wear a uniform. They've sworn an oath. And they know - all the way down - that there is an authority over the uniform. There has to be. Otherwise the uniform becomes the highest thing, and that's how nations slide into evil.

You don't have to be in uniform to feel this tension. Every Christian in every age has had to learn the order:

• Love your country.
• Follow Jesus as King above your country.
• Know which one comes first when they pull in different directions.

Does God Use Imperfect Political Leaders?

Yes. The Bible is full of imperfect leaders God used to do significant things - but being used by God is not the same as being right with God. The pattern that ties them together is humility under God's Word.

Walk through five of them with me.

Josiah - the king who took God's Word seriously

Josiah became king as a boy. His grandfather had been one of the worst kings Judah ever had. But when workers found a copy of the Book of the Law in the temple - a Bible everyone had forgotten was even there - Josiah tore his clothes, humbled himself, and led his nation into a season of repentance and reform (2 Kings 22:8-11; 2 Kings 23:1-3).

The pattern: God responds to leaders who humble themselves under His Word.

Nebuchadnezzar - the proud king God brought low

Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan emperor who ruled the world's superpower of his day. He was arrogant. He built giant statues of himself and demanded worship. And God humbled him so thoroughly that he ate grass like an animal until he came to his senses and finally honored the King above all kings (Daniel 4:30-37).

The pattern: God can humble the proud and turn even powerful rulers toward Him.

Manasseh - the worst king who repented

Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Judah's history. He led God's people into idolatry, shed innocent blood, and undid almost everything his father Hezekiah had built. But when he was captured, brought low, and finally repented, God restored him (2 Chronicles 33:10-13).

The pattern: no one is beyond God's mercy when they truly repent.

Cyrus - the pagan called God's "anointed"

Cyrus was a Persian king who never confessed Yahweh as his God. And yet, hundreds of years before Cyrus was born, the prophet Isaiah called him God's "anointed" and said God would use him to bring His people home from exile (Isaiah 45:1-7; Ezra 1:1-4).

The pattern: God can use even those who don't fully know Him to accomplish His purposes.

David - the great king who fell hard

David was the gold standard for godly leadership in the Old Testament. He was also an adulterer and a murderer. When the prophet Nathan confronted him, David didn't make excuses. He wrote Psalm 51 - one of the most honest prayers of repentance in human history (2 Samuel 12:7-13).

The pattern: God honors genuine repentance, not perfection.

What all five have in common

No leader in Scripture is perfect. Not one. Not Josiah. Not David. Certainly not Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus. But when leaders humble themselves under God's authority, God moves.

That cuts two ways for us.

First, it means God can use a leader you didn't vote for, didn't like, and don't trust. He's done it before.

Second - and this is the hard one - God using a leader doesn't mean God is endorsing that leader's sin. Being used by God is not the same as being right with God. Don't confuse the two. Cyrus accomplished God's purposes and never followed God personally. David served God faithfully and still ended up in Psalm 51. Pray for your leaders. Don't worship them.

What's the Difference Between Healthy Faith in Public and Christian Nationalism?

Healthy public faith means a Christian lives out their convictions in the open and prays for their country. Christian nationalism - in its harmful form - equates a nation with God's Kingdom and bends Jesus to serve a political agenda. The line is real, and it's worth knowing where it sits.

Let's name both sides plainly.

Healthy public faith looks like

• Loving your country and being honest about its sins at the same time.
• Living your faith publicly - in your work, your speech, your votes.
• Praying for your leaders, including the ones you didn't choose.
• Influencing your culture for good through truth, courage, and grace.
• Treating people on the other side of a political fight like image-bearers, not enemies.

Christian nationalism drift looks like

• Equating your nation with God's Kingdom - confusing patriotism with worship.
• Using Jesus to serve political power instead of submitting power to Jesus.
• Ignoring sin because it's "your side" doing it.
• Treating fellow Christians who vote differently like spiritual enemies.
• Believing your political party can save what only Jesus can save.

Notice something. The first list is recognizable. Most faithful Christians are already there. The second list is what people fear when they hear "Christian nationalism" - and it's also where any of us can drift if we're not paying attention.

This isn't an outside-only problem. It's a human-heart problem. The same heart that worships God on Sunday can quietly start worshiping a flag, a candidate, or a political tribe by Wednesday - and not even notice the swap.

The discernment question isn't "Are those people Christian nationalists?" It's "Where is my own heart drifting?"

What Did Jesus Say About Christians and Politics?

Jesus said there are two authorities - and God always comes first. He didn't tell His followers to abandon government. He told them not to confuse government with God.

The most famous moment is in Matthew 22. The religious leaders try to trap Jesus with a political question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? If He says yes, He looks like He's siding with Roman occupation. If He says no, He looks like He's calling for revolt.

Jesus asks for a coin. Whose face is on it? Caesar's. So He says: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

Two authorities. Both real. But God is always the higher one.

That's the framework. Pay your taxes. Serve your country. Honor your government. And never give to Caesar what only belongs to God - your conscience, your worship, your ultimate hope. Caesar didn't make you. Caesar can't save you. Caesar isn't coming back to make all things new. The only One who fits that job is the One whose Kingdom is not of this world.

That doesn't make politics unimportant. It makes politics smaller than the Kingdom. And smaller is the right size for politics. When politics gets bigger than the Kingdom in your heart, something is broken.

How to Love Your Country Without Worshiping It (5 Steps)

Loving your country well, as a Christian, takes practice. Here are five biblical habits - drawn from the passages above - that keep love of country from sliding into idolatry.

1. Pray for your leaders by name - including the ones you didn't vote for

Start where Paul tells Timothy to start. Pray for kings and all who are in high positions (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Pick a leader by name today. Pray for their soul, their family, their wisdom, their integrity. Do it whether or not you voted for them. Praying for someone is one of the hardest things to do while hating them - which is exactly the point.

2. Seek the welfare of the place where you live

Don't wait for the political weather to feel right. Jeremiah 29:7 says to seek the welfare of the city - even one you didn't choose. Volunteer. Coach. Mentor. Show up at the school board meeting. Visit the lonely neighbor. Christians who actually love their country are easy to spot - because they're the ones doing the small unglamorous work of blessing it.

3. Examine where love of country has crossed into idolatry

Ask honest questions. Do I get more upset about a flag than a sin? Am I more loyal to a political party than to a brother or sister in Christ? Would I follow Jesus into a position my "side" doesn't agree with? Idolatry isn't always loud. Sometimes it shows up as a small heart adjustment that re-orders your loves without you noticing.

4. Refuse to bend Jesus to serve your political side

Jesus is not a mascot. He doesn't endorse parties. He doesn't bless sin because the sin happens to be politically useful. Matthew 22:21 draws the line - render to God what is God's. The minute we use Jesus to win a political fight, we've stopped following Him and started using Him. Stop using Him. Follow Him.

5. Repent first - before asking God to heal the nation

Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 slowly: "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Notice the order. If my people… Healing the land doesn't start with a vote. It doesn't start with the other side getting it together. It starts with God's people humbling themselves. That's not a political program. That's a Sunday-morning posture. And it's where revival has always begun.

Where This Leaves You: Revival Starts With Us

If you want God to heal the country, the Bible says start with you. Not the other party. Not the other tribe. Not the people whose faults are easier to see than your own. You.

I told the soldiers in the tent the same thing I'm telling you. You wear a uniform of a country you love. So do I. But our ultimate allegiance is to Christ. And that means the real question is the one we ask in the mirror, not on social media:

Am I serving my country as a Christian - or am I using Christianity to serve my agenda?

One of those is faithfulness. The other is idolatry wearing a cross.

Christchurch family - and anyone reading this from somewhere else - let's be the people who pray for our country, love our neighbors, refuse to bend Jesus to serve a side, and humble ourselves before we ever ask God to humble anyone else.

If you've never set foot in a church and this article found you because you searched "Christian nationalism" trying to make sense of it, here's an invitation. Come find a faith family. We meet Sundays at 11 AM at 8485 SW 112th St in Miami. We don't have all the answers, but we know the One who does. Plan your visit at christchurchmiami.org, or watch a recent message on our YouTube channel while you decide.

And if you're already in the family - pray with me this week. Not for the nation to humble itself. For us to.

Frequently Asked Questions About Christian Nationalism

About the Author

Pastor James Drake is the lead pastor of Christchurch Miami, a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation in Kendall, Florida. He is also a U.S. Army chaplain currently deployed overseas, where he continues to teach, preach, and shepherd soldiers far from home. James has more than twenty years of ministry experience, including a background with Cru, and has spent his career helping people take their next step with Jesus - whether they're sitting in a Miami sanctuary or in a tent in the Middle East. He preaches Sundays at 11 AM at Christchurch Miami when he's home, and his sermons are available on the Christchurch Miami YouTube channel. This article is adapted from a Bible study he taught to soldiers while deployed.