This is the second in a series of articles to reflect on Christian Nationalism. For more on this topic, you can read my book, Go and Do Likewise: Following Jesus into Our Common Humanity.
If you’re Christian: Take some time to think about your own faith tradition. How does it invite you to respect, build relationships, and partner with people from other wisdom traditions and cultures?
If you’re part of another wisdom tradition: Consider the complex and intense conversation happening within Christianity right now.
Exclusive In-Grouping and the Christian Temptation
Over the past ten years, I’ve spoken with hundreds of Christian congregations about how to relate to people of other traditions and cultures. In most of these conversations, I heard some version—sometimes subtle, sometimes not— of: Christianity is better than other traditions. Often, folks didn’t even realize what they were saying.
Some of this is just human nature. We need groups. We trust them. We belong to them so deeply that we’re often willing to risk ourselves for the sake of our group. And we need traditions. They carry the wisdom of our ancestors—wisdom that helps us navigate the fast-moving train of history and find meaning in life.
But it’s easy to slip from the healthy idea that “my group is best for me” into the more dangerous belief that “my group is the best,” or worse, “people outside my group are less than fully human.”
As I tried to address this in Christian congregations, I found that terms like Christian supremacy and Christian nationalism often shut people down. So I spent time reflecting—on walks through the forest, in conversation with diverse leaders, and in quiet moments. I realized that this tendency wasn’t unique to Christians. Every group, including atheists and agnostics, faces this same temptation.
Eventually, the phrase exclusive in-grouping came to me. It names the heart of the problem: the belief that only our group is right, worthy, or fully human. That’s the temptation we all face—regardless of our background or beliefs.
What Is Christian Nationalism?
Christian nationalism is a specific movement within Christianity that has fallen to this temptation and believes it is faithful to Jesus’ teachings. It claims:
- Conservative Christians are superior to other traditions and cultures (even to other Christians)
- Christians should set the terms for U.S. culture and laws
- Other groups should be treated as second-class citizens
If it were just the belief of some Christians it might not be all that important. Nearly every tradition has a range of expressions – from affirming other traditions to denying them validity.
But Christian nationalists want to use the full force of the state and federal government to impose their cultural beliefs on others.
Christian nationalism is a totality of national action, consisting of civil laws and social customs, conducted by a Christian nation as a Christian nation, in order to procure for itself both earthly and heavenly good in Christ.
― Stephen Wolfe
This means that Christian nationalism is a concern to all Americans’ freedom of speech, association, and freedom to pray or not pray as we decide – including Christians who may not agree.
Christianity and Exclusive In-Grouping
I don’t think Jesus would agree with the idea that only Christians are human and that only Christianity is a valid form of wisdom. He engaged with people of many traditions and cultures. He learned from a Syrophoenician woman that all people are worthy of God’s care. He received hospitality from Samaritans. Further, his tradition taught him love of neighbor. And everyone is our neighbor. He clarified this to include those who we currently consider enemies. (Matthew 5)
Peter, a key leader in the early Church, went on his own journey of learning how to respect and appreciate others.
I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every tribe/clan/culture, anyone who is in awe of God and practices righteousness is acceptable to God.
— Acts 10:34–35
Here, Peter realizes that Jesus’ message isn’t about one group being better than another. God doesn’t play favorites. Instead, anyone who respects the Creator and loves their neighbor is acceptable to God—no matter their background.
And I don’t think Abraham would agree either. In Genesis 12, Abraham is called to create a tradition, yes—but in doing so, the Creator promises to bless all the tribes, clans, and cultures of the world. Abraham wasn’t told to conquer or convert everyone else. There isn’t “one in-group to rule them all.”
A Better Path Forward
We need in-groups. And we need the wisdom of our ancestors. But the Abrahamic traditions, including Christianity, weren’t originally about exclusivity. Christianity was meant to welcome people from every tradition and respect the wisdom of other cultures. Additionally, it was intended to respect people who practice other forms of wisdom, as the quote from Peter suggests.
Still, the human temptation toward exclusive in-grouping crept into early Christianity—as it does in all traditions. It works on all of us, all the time.
At Paths to Understanding, we see that temptation clearly. But we also believe there’s a powerful antidote—one rooted in the very wisdom traditions that are often misused. When people of diverse cultures and traditions gather in mutual respect, we begin to see our common humanity and our common temptation loses some of its power.
That’s why we created Let’s Go Together and the Potluck Project. These efforts help us move past in-group bias and toward real trust between people from different backgrounds.
Next week, we’ll take a closer look at the history behind Christian Nationalism. The week after that, we’ll talk about the “nationalism” part: What did the founders of this country actually hope for with regard to religious liberty?
Thank you for walking this path with us!