I've struggled with understanding what Christian Nationalism is for quite some time. But I finally found the answer in one of my readings for school—in a book written by a missionary to the Masai people of Africa in 1982. 

But before we go there, I'd like to take a longer route to understanding, because I think it's important to spend some time figuring out what Christian Nationalism is not.


What It's Not

"Christian Nationalism" is a confusing title. Examining the words in its name, we might think it's a branch of Christianity. After all, that's the first word in its name, isn't it?

No. It may have "Christian" in the name, but it does not follow the principles of Christianity, including:

  • love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:31)
  • elevate the interests of others above your own (Philippians 2:3-4)
  • live in peace with other people (Romans 12:18)
  • stand up for the oppressed (Proverbs 31:8-9, Psalm 82:3-4, Matthew 25:35-40, Romans 12:21, James 1:27)
  • treat foreigners well (Leviticus 19:34, Deuteronomy 27:19, Hebrews 13:2)

These are just a few of many principles "Christian" Nationalism violates.


The Attraction of "Christian" Nationalism

So why is it called "Christian"? As far as I can tell, it does this because of culture. It knows things labelled "Christian" sell. Christian music and publishing are multi-billion dollar industries [1], let alone the charitable donations that flow to churches and other organizations branded as Christian. And it's true that quite a number of people who identify as Christians support the "Christian" Nationalist movement. But there are also many (like me) who oppose it.

Here's one definition that might be helpful:

As defined by multiple sociologists and academic researchers, Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that claims America was founded to be a "Christian nation" where Christians should receive special legal treatment not available to non-Christians. [2]

"Christian" Nationalism is not limited to the US. It has a significant presence in many Western countries, including the UK and Canada. The idea is that since one's country was originally Christian, and it has now been "taken over" by people who aren't Christian, it's time to "take back" one's country for Christ.

The problem with this is that no country is Christian, or ever has been. People are Christians. Countries are not. Societies are not.

That idealized 1950's picture of the North American "Christian" society? How many of those husbands beat their children? How many of those wives were over-medicated on psychiatric drugs just to survive being raped and otherwise abused regularly by their husbands? How many pastors turned a blind eye to this, or endorsed the idea of men keeping their families "in line" with abusive tactics? How many Black people and other minorities were subjugated to oppression and lynchings by the religious elite? How many Indigenous children were murdered in residential schools under the supervision of governments and churches? "Christian nation"? I don't think so.

So why do Christians cling to this fantasy?

Childhood nostalgia may be a factor for those who grew up in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, but I think an equally plausible factor is  that Western Christians now attach a certain glamour to being "persecuted". It feeds our hero complex. We get to be the stars of our own reality show. What could be better than fighting an "oppression" that is so minuscule we don't actually have to suffer much? We reap all the benefits and pay none of the costs. 

The psychological side-effect is that if we are "oppressed", the bad guys are "out there", and any outsider who judges us can be rebranded as an "oppressor". We are clearly righteous in our struggle against oppression, so we also don't have to examine ourselves too closely. We don't have the energy, anyway. Fighting against our "oppressors" requires all of our mental resources. 

Okay, we've established why it's so attractive to be a Christian Nationalist. Let's continue to examine what it actually is, because we've barely scratched the surface.


What It Is

Faithful America, whose motto is "Love Thy Neighbor. No Exceptions", states that Christian Nationalism is a political ideology. However, after having listened to the Nationalist rhetoric for awhile, I eventually came to think of it as idolatry masquerading as Christianity. Essentially, Nationalism elevates one's nation as a god, and privileges the group tacked onto the front of its name as superior. So:

  • white Nationalism privileges white people
  • Christian Nationalism privileges those who identify as Christian

The "Nationalism" part is dominant. The other label is really only for marketing purposes. We can see this is true by examining what happens to people who identify with one moniker but not the other. "Christian" Nationalism stands up for people who identify as Christians—as long as they subscribe to the Nationalism part. If Christians dare to stand up against "Christian" Nationalism, they are demonized (along with everyone else). Thus, "Christian" Nationalism does not really stand up for all Christians. It stands up only for Nationalists who happen to identify as Christians. "Nationalism" is primary, and "Christian" is secondary.

Remember the Scriptures?

You shall have no other gods before Me. [3]

—God

This is the first of the Ten Commandments. By making "Christian" second place, Christian Nationalists put Nationalism before God. Christian Nationalists are engaging in idolatry. Hence my earlier conclusion that "Christian" Nationalism is idolatry masquerading as Christianity. 

But even this does not fully encapsulate what "Christian" Nationalism is. For that, we need to go back to the writings of Vincent Donovan, the American missionary I mentioned earlier.

In his book, he says:

Americans have some kind of certainty that "almighty God" will always bless their side in all their wars. Hitler never failed to call on the help of "Gott, der Allmächtige" in all his speeches, in all his adventures. A Nazi doctor once told me that they could always count on the Catholic school children to pray for Hitler every morning, to ask God's blessing on him. What god, the Teuton god?

I have been to many parishes in America where they prayed for victory in war. I recognized the god they were praying to—the tribal god. I will recognize him more easily now, after having lived among the Masai. And what about the God who loves good people, industrious people, clean people, rich people, and punishes bad people, lazy people, dirty people, thieving people, people without jobs and on welfare—"those dark, evil people out there?" Which god is that? [4]

Like Donovan, I realized that the god that people like to tie to their own nation, their own sports team, their own "side", to the exclusion of others, is not the God of the Bible. [5] He is a tribal god. One restricted from loving or caring about anyone outside of the tribe. One who prefers us above other people. One who doesn't care what we do to other people, as long as we are taken care of. Worshipping such a god gives us license to whatever we want to do to anyone outside of our tribe. 

Worshipping such a god allows us to become the creators. 

We create our god in our own image.

That's why Trump was able to create an AI Jesus in his image, and why some people did not balk at such a blasphemous deed. To them, it was not blasphemy at all. It was the natural extension of their tribal beliefs. 

This also appears to be what has happened to Franklin Graham. His focus seems to have shifted from following Jesus to making the tribal religion palatable to people who identify as Christians.

This is not the God we serve. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son." (John 3:16) Jew and Greek, slave and free, men and women and eunuchs are all equal in His kingdom. He loved the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman. Nicodemus, Jairus, and Paul were equal to Matthew and Zaccheus and the thief on the cross. Blind Bartimeus, the demon-possessed man in the Geresenes, Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Mary of Bethany. He loves all the world. All human beings. 

May we also emulate our heavenly Father, and love the people of the world, not just those in our own tribe. Only then will we be following the way of Christ. 


NOTES

[1] James Okoro. 2026. ‘Christian Music Industry Statistics’, Gitnux <https://gitnux.org/christian-music-industry-statistics> [accessed 4 May 2026] and Alice H. Murray. 2025. ’Bible And Christian Book Sales Are Soaring’, Feet to Faith <https://www.patheos.com/blogs/feettofaith/2025/03/christian-publishing-bible-sales-soaring/> [accessed 4 May 2026]

[2] Faithful America. n.d. 'What is Christian Nationalism?’, Faithful America <https://www.faithfulamerica.org/christian-nationalism> [accessed 4 May 2026]

[3] Exodus 20:3.

[4] Vincent Donovan. 1982. Christianity Rediscovered: An Epistle from the Masai (SCM Press): pp. 45-46

[5] The Israelites, too, came to think that God was a tribal god. With strands of parental favouritism running throughout their history (i.e., Isaac vs. Ishmael, Jacob vs. Esau, and Joseph vs. his brothers), the Jewish people projected this mentality onto God to explain why they were chosen above the other nations, and create social fortifications against anyone deemed an outsider to God’s "favour"—including people who were sick and disabled, women, poor, or Gentiles. However, in His lifetime Jesus knocked down these assumptions, one by one. (There are many individual examples; perhaps the best summaries may be found in Luke 4:14-21 and Matthew 25:31-45.) That's one of the reasons they killed Him. If we emulate the Israelites in this, because they are God's chosen people, we become guilty of their exact same sins.  Remember, the majority of the Old Testament consists of Israel sinning and disobeying God, not of their obeying Him. The people of Israel are not guaranteed to be righteous simply because they are chosen. God left it up to them whether their chosenness would result in their being blessed or being cursed. (Deuteronomy 11; 30:15-20)