We are on a mission from God? Why America Needs the Church, Not Christian Nationalism – Baptist News Global

In the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, Elwood and Jake wanted to save the Catholic orphanage where they grew up. As the brothers try to get their band back together to pay the orphanage’s $5,000 in back taxes, Elwood and Jake claim they are embarking “on a mission from God.”

Once getting the band back together becomes a sacred task, every action the brothers take is justified. After all, as Jake notes, “the Lord works in mysterious ways.”

James Spencer

In one scene, Elwood and Jake are told that they won’t be able to convince some band members to come back. Jake brushes off the concern by saying, “Well, me and the Lord, we’ve come to an agreement.” Elwood agrees, saying, “We are on a mission from God.”

The brothers’ conviction being on a mission from God makes for good comedy, but the characters brought to life by Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi do more than just entertain. Like Jessamyn West, author of To see the dreamnotes, “Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.”

The fictional ‘mission of God’ depicted in The Blues brothers reveals our all-too-common tendency to construct a god that supports our own agendas. At the state level, this god (or gods) forms the basis for civil religion.

Civil religion may seem like a contradiction in terms, because we generally draw a hard line between religious and secular. The problem is that there really is no hard line. It’s actually quite vague.

Although ‘the shift towards secularity’ as Charles Taylor argues, is characterized by a ‘society… in which (belief in God) is seen as one option among others, and often not the easiest to embrace’, the shift towards secularity does not rule out civil religion. As I note Snakes and pigeonscivil religion constructs or derives partial theological claims as ‘an instrument of the state to be used for the purposes of the state’. Citizens’ religious obligations are acceptable as long as they support the authority of the state. They cannot undermine the granting of legitimacy to the state. Civil religion is difficult because the state has no interest in encouraging citizens to cultivate a stronger allegiance to their religious beliefs than one has for the state.

“We continue to see the fruits of civil religion in videos like ‘God Made Trump.’”

We continue to see the fruits of civil religion in videos like “God Made Trump” released earlier this year. The video makes it clear that God is against Marxism, the Deep State, fake news and the World Economic Forum. Donald Trump’s efforts and, by extension, a particular political vision are read back to God. That view (and the video) reinforces ideas that are contrary to Christian theology.

For example, Eric Trump claims his father saved Christianity as if Christianity were in danger. Using a number of Biblical images, the “God Made Trump” video speaks of Trump “going to church on Sundays,” serving as a “shepherd of humanity” who refuses to “abandon them,” and remaining steadfast in ‘faith’. All these phrases refer to Christianity, yet Christ is never mentioned.

In reality, “God made Trump” corresponds to American civil religion, not to any version of Christianity. While Christians should be concerned that the video portrays Trump as a quasi-messianic figure, we should not be surprised. After all, doesn’t it make sense that a “Christian nation” that wants to be “a people whose God is the Lord” alongside Christ needs a new Messiah?

The video is a particularly striking example of American civil religion, but it is not an anomaly. For a nation that believes it is “on a mission from God,” it only makes sense that our leaders are understood as shepherds (if not messiahs).

Civil religion will not disappear. The ‘secular’ continually makes sacred claims. The stories the world tells express implicit (if not explicit) theologies that do not align with orthodox Christian beliefs.

So what can Christians do?

“God made a distinction between church and state.”

First, we should avoid strong versions of Christian nationalism. By “strong versions” I mean those who seek to blur, if not merge, the boundaries between Christianity and the state. Such a merger is problematic for a number of reasons. Chief among these is that God made a distinction between the church and the state. Merging the church and the state makes the church smaller, without making the state more sustainable.

While some may argue that Christian political participation in any form constitutes “Christian nationalism,” such arguments would exclude anyone with a unique perspective on the world from participating in politics. We all have competing theological beliefs, even if some citizens would not consider such beliefs “religious.” However, from the perspective of civil religion, those who are interested in preventing Christians from participating in politics or in preventing Christians from thinking biblically about politics express their loyalty to the religion of the state.

Second, American civil religion is not the answer. The world needs the church. The church must be a true alternative to the state. It is a community of strangers and exiles awaiting the return of Christ.

The world needs the church because the church points to a different way of life in the world. No matter how many mistakes the church and its members have made, the church is still God’s chosen vehicle to demonstrate God’s manifold wisdom.

In other words, we are the only people who know “we are on a mission from God” and know what that mission is. As such, the church seeks to encourage others to shift their allegiance from the world to Christ through faith. We also participate in the process of discipleship so that we become increasingly able to live under the authority of Christ.

We build the church for the sake of the world. The world needs the church because the world is only confronted with the power of the gospel through the church.

James Spencer is president of the DL Moody Center, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people about the life and faith of Dwight Moody. He also has several courses and other resources available on Useful to God. His latest book is Snakes and Doves: Christian, Politics, and the Art of Witnessing.