Dangers for the Church in 2021: Of nationalism, liberalism, justice, defeatism, and more.

While it may be tempting to think differently, there are not really any new dangers to the Church as the years roll by. Dangers we face today are the same temptations that our forefathers faced, they just come dressed in shinier, digital garb. The enemies of the church aren’t new, they are just rebranded. Leaders of the world aren’t just now setting their faces against God and His people, they just are given some new tools to do it. If you are tempted to think that anything the Church is facing in 2021 is novel, I’d invite you to read Psalm 2 and the book of Revelation. We are in the cycles of birth pains of a world slowly having the Kingdom of Christ worked through it that have been there since the beginning. The enemies of God have always exalted themselves against God, whether it be a politician or a people-group or a popular opinion. 

And before we go further, I should say that if you are hoping this is an article wherein I bemoan twitter censoring people, mope about how culturally backwards things are getting, or worry about worldly ideology being shoved in anyone’s face through laws, executive orders, or some other policy, this is not that article. Yes, those types of dangers exist, see the opening paragraph. I want to speak more about the dangers in our response to where we are, not so much threats themselves. So long as the Lord laughs at His enemies, I will be more concerned with us than with them.

Christian nationalism 

Christian Nationalism has become a buzz word recently. Like most buzz words, it began buzzing around a long time ago, and has worked its way into the mainstream Christian parlance with outlets like TGC and Christianity Today. Yes, there is a danger of Christian Nationalism in the church today, which I would define as too closely identifying what it means to be Christian with your country—especially in such a way that country usurps Christian, or subordinates Christ to country.

We should be proud of our country in all ways that it reflects godliness. We should be proud of it in none of the ways that reflect ungodliness. In America, we can be happy with the fact that we are given, in many ways, the freest country that has ever been on this planet. We can also be real and honest for the imperfect and ungodly parts of our story—past or present. We should then work to be a part of a godly future for our country. 

Like most buzz words, this one flattens several discrete groups into one and seems to lump some good with some bad. So, let me distinguish between the good of wanting a Christian Nation vs. the danger of Christian Nationalism. 

See, the problem is not in believing that your nation ought to become full of Christians. We don’t realize how modern we’ve become when we actually chafe at the idea of a Christian nation. We scoff at it, even though we are Christians, as if we really believe the word of the World that says such a nation would be akin to a middle-eastern or fascist despotism.

But stop and think about it: How could that (a nation really guided by Christianity) be a bad thing? A nation full of people who are trying to follow Christ? Christ—the epitome of love, justice, peace, righteousness, kindness, compassion, and mercy. We may never be all those things perfectly, but even if we were just all trying to follow Christ and doing an OK job of it, I think things would be pretty good. I think we could live with that. 

So the problem can’t be simply wanting a nation to be full of Christians—if we have a problem with that then we might have a problem with the great commission. The problem is when we believe our nation is already Christian, or when we believe that things are Christian just because our nation does them. This second attitude is the pitfall of Christian Nationalism. It is when, to steal from Joe Thorn, baptize the actions of our nation as Christian even though they might be far from it. It’s also a problem when we simply care far more about the Nation than the Christian. To be succinct, many of us have idols in this area that need to be dropped.

Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing them and teaching the nations to follow Him. The danger is when we seek to baptize people into our nation instead.

Liberalism in justice talks

Understandably, we have people that are motivated to have answers to the questions of justice and social justice that float in our culture today—and well we should. God is a god who cares about justice. He cares about dishonesty, oppression, mistreatment, and…well, sin. It is an affront to His holiness when His creation forsakes holiness. It’s one of the few things called abominable in his sight—the twisting of justice.

False scales are an abomination to the Lord, but an honest weight, his delight.

Proverbs 11:1

So what do we do with our motivations? This is where the danger lies—not in caring about topics of justice and cultural questions, but in allowing our zeal for something to lead us meandering in the world’s way instead of marching in God’s path.

Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

Proverbs 19:2

Having all the desire in the world fails to sanctify even the smallest action—including political action. No matter how sincere the world is, or we are, the question of the fact of something’s justice remains. 

As a matter of fact, the stronger we feel on a subject the more circumspect we ought to be. The more zeal we have the more likely we are to have our feet hurry and miss the way—lead us down a path that promises good but isn’t.

Through God’s Word the Church has the truth. It has the book on Justice. It has the definitions of right and wrong. More so, we have the definition of what a human is, why all humans ought to matter, what the duty of the home is or isn’t, what the duty of the government is or isn’t, and more. If we have the very standards of the Holy God, then laying those down for the sake of any other measuring stick means we have necessarily settled for less. 

We need to lead and also leave the tools that the world leads with behind. We can refuse things like intersectionality, critical theory, theological liberalism, and more—and not as a tactic to ignore a need for justice wholesale. Instead, we refuse them because they promise justice but can’t provide it. They promise freedom but put people in chains. They say they can correct our vision but are yet one more mirror dimly lit. 

Do we really believe that God alone has wisdom? Do we believe that the ones who seek the Lord can know justice, and without seeking Him we have no hope of justice? We ought to, because God seems to believe so. 

Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all.

Proverbs 28:5

Defeatism

There is a certain defeatism that takes hold in the American church. It’s probably a mixture of too many readings of the Left Behind books and too few readings of scripture. Too many of us look at this world as though we are simply shuffling around deck chairs on the post-iceberg Titanic. We seem to forget that Jesus Christ came into this world and won. He won. He crushed the head of the serpent, He bound the strong man, He put the powers of this world to open shame. That happened in this world. That means it has ramifications for this world. You don’t have to believe in some kind of Christian utopia pre-Christ’s return to recognize that we have no Biblical reason to be defeatists. We aren’t trying to carve out a few square inches of this world before it burns to ashes and we barely escape. We are the conquering priesthood of the conquering King. His gospel has and is triumphing over this world. He does laugh at His enemies and hold them in derision (Psalm 2). He does subject all things by His power (1 Corinthians 15:28). All Christ’s enemies are really being made a footstool right now.

Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection, which means the harvest has been ripening for 2,000 years. God is not defeated. Jesus is advancing now, and He will one day come to judge the living and the dead. He owns every square inch right now. Though you and I may see tremendous success of the gospel, or we may see some tremendous trouble, I fully believe that God’s power removes the option of defeatism from our list of choices.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Be bold against all dangers, not just the popular ones

It’s always tempting to yell about the sins that the world also yells about, but whisper about the ones it hardly wants to mention. In our day and age, we need to be standing for truth—not just standing when we feel that the pop-culture zeitgeist gives us permission. 

If something is right then it’s right. If something is wrong, then it’s wrong. Let’s stick with that rule. We are trying to please God, not man. Yes, plenty of us have idols here that need to be dropped.

If your testimony fits in well with your unbelieving friends and neighbors, if the only things you ever speak against are the things that they speak against (except with a tiny bit of Jesus sprinkled on top), then maybe you aren’t being prophetic and you actually want to be popular. 

I am obviously not advocating for us all to seek to be infuriating to our neighbors. I am advocating, though, for us to take an honest look in the mirror and judge whether we are ok with standing on an island for Jesus. A good witness in a courtroom doesn’t simply say the things that a certain side wants them to say. A good witness, a just witness, will say all the things that are true, not just the things that are popular. 

Believing the worst about others in the pew

Perhaps this should have been higher on the list, but we need to watch out for bitterness, suspicion, and pessimism towards the people next to us in the pew. The enemy wants division. The world all around divides and chooses sides and teaches us to suspect the worst about everyone around us (as if everyone is a secret racist, secret anarchist, secret communist, secret terrorist, etc., etc.). 

Don’t let CNN tell you who the person next to you in the pew is. You know that person, CNN doesn’t. Believe the best about one another, even when it’s hard to do so. Work things ought when you disagree. Even as I write this article I trust (and hope) that a member of my church would call me if they think I am wrong somewhere in here. I sincerely hope that they would. We ought much prefer hashing it out together over letting bitterness, pride, and division well up in our hearts. 

Christ says that they will know us by our love for one another (John 13:35): how are you doing at fighting your flesh and choosing to love your pew-neighbors instead? Would the people around you know you by your love for the brethren? The way you fight for them instead of with them? The way you believe the best about them, show patience to them, forgive them, and serve them?

The scriptures tell us to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Are you? Are we? Are we eager to maintain that unity even when a church member posts something slightly iffy on Facebook? Are we eager when they post something flat out incendiary and wrong? 

If we are honest, most of our eagerness stops there—to our shame and the Church’s hurt.

Focusing on home

When the world around us seems to be sideways, it is easy to get sucked into the grand scale of things: the nation, world, president, congress, etc. And, we ought to care about those things. But so, we ought to care most about our own backyard. We have some level of ability and responsibility to a nation, but we have the highest level of ability and responsibility to our family and friends. (Not our Facebook friends, our actual friends—that we actually know.) 

So build the kingdom, and build it at home. Build it around your dinner table with your family. Build the kingdom by building a resilient home full of people that know the good news to their very core. Build the kingdom by building businesses that can be run ethically and can be forces of good to those around them. Build the kingdom with things in your neighborhood that serve neighbors and demonstrate God’s goodness. Build the kingdom with generosity towards your neighbor who needs it. Build the kingdom by reading that Bible with your wife (or husband) and kids. Build the kingdom by telling people about the freedom and kingdom of Jesus. Build the kingdom by investing your gifts into the local church. Build the kingdom by praying.

Maybe, just maybe, you need to build the kingdom where your God has already planted your feet. Maybe that’s good enough. Maybe, just maybe, He has the rest in His hands.

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