Christian Nationalism -- The Leaven of Herod

 Of all the issues affecting the church in America, I believe one of the greatest is the rise of Christian nationalism, the linking of national identity with Christianity. In other words, the idea that you cannot be a Christian unless you are a proud American, and vice versa.

The concern with this is that Christian nationalism raises a political and national identity to the level of idolatry, and is in direct opposition to Christ's own assertion that the Kingdom of God had come and that all true believers were to enter His Kingdom.

In an op-ed published in the Christian Post, Joseph Mattera wrote about the "7 signs the leaven of Herod has taken over your life." (Jesus spoke about the leaven of Herod in Mark 8:15). Here is an excerpt from Mattera's op-ed:

𝟏. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Too many Christians have acted as though the destiny of both the nation and the body of Christ depends upon who gets elected as president or other high levels of government. While voting for godly capable leaders is an important matter of biblical stewardship, to equate a political leader with the fate of a nation is borderline idolatry. This violates the teaching of Scripture, which portrays Jesus as the only one who has the government on His shoulders and is the anointed one who inherits the nations (Isaiah 9:6-7; Psalm 2:8-9). If you act as though anyone other than Jesus is the savior of your nation or Church, then the leaven of Herod has taken root in you.

𝟐. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝

Many Christians on both the Left and the Right act as if their particular political party represents God’s Kingdom. However, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

𝟑. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Many Christians seem to be more passionate about changing laws and promoting public policy than pouring over the Word and seeking the face of God. God has called us to bring systemic societal change commensurate to the extent we seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). When your passion for political change eclipses your pure devotion to Christ, then the leaven of Herod has infected you (2 Corinthians 11:1-3).

𝟒. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Although the Bible calls for the Church to be the light of the world, the focus is never primarily on external but on internal change. Jesus said that unless a person is born from above, he will not see the kingdom. Paul said the Gospel is the power of God for those who believe (John 3:3-8, Romans 10:16). When your focus is on creating a utopia through external change instead of first starting with internal personal transformation, then the leaven of Herod has infected you. Truly, only transformed people can transform culture.

𝟓. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

𝟔. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡

𝟕. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧