Christian Nationalism Explained: What I Mean, What I Reject, and Why Christ Rules Nations

Christian Nationalism: What I Mean, What I Reject, and Why It Matters

Here is my thesis up front: by “Christian nationalism,” I mean Christians, as Christians, laboring so that civil law and public justice increasingly conform to Christ’s lordship and God’s moral order, until nations are discipled and become openly Christian over time. I do not mean baptizing a flag, confusing the church with the state, or treating politics as a savior.

So let’s be plain: either Christ is Lord of the nations, or neutrality is lord. And neutrality is a paper idol. It cannot speak, but it still demands sacrifice.

Start where Scripture starts: Christ already reigns

Jesus did not rise from the dead to be the chaplain of our private feelings. He rose as King.

“All authority in heaven and on earth” belongs to Him (Matthew 28:18).

Psalm 2 does not invite rulers to consider Jesus, it commands them to kiss the Son.

Civil rulers are not autonomous. Romans 13 calls them God’s servants, accountable to Him for justice.

The Great Commission is not “make converts only,” but disciple the nations, teaching them to obey all Christ commanded (Matthew 28:19–20).

That means public life is not a religious free zone. It is contested ground. Christ owns it.

What I mean by Christian nationalism

Let me put my definition in clean sentences.

Christian nationalism is Christians faithfully moving law and rule as Christians, so that Christian morals and ethics become the supreme standard for interpreting justice. In a postmillennial hope, this is not a fever dream or a coup, it is the long obedience of a church that actually believes Christ will have the nations.

That means:

Law is not neutral.

Every law answers “What is man?” “What is good?” “What is worth protecting?” Those are religious questions. Even when the word “God” is banned, a god is still ruling.

Civil justice should be consciously Christian.

Not “Christian” as a vibe, and not “Christian” as tribal nostalgia, but Christian as in submitted to the true God and His standards for right and wrong.

This is a discipleship project, not a branding project.

We are not painting crosses on secular power. We are aiming for a society shaped by generations of worship, repentance, doctrine, discipline, and neighbor love.

The end is not merely “less evil.”

Yes, restraining evil matters. But the goal is larger: the nations learning righteousness under Christ’s reign, slowly, steadily, over time.

If you want a simpler sentence: Christian nationalism is Christ’s crown working its way into the courthouse, because Christ’s gospel has already taken root in the church, the home, and the marketplace.

What I reject, clearly

Because the term gets abused, I want to name the errors I reject in the strongest terms.

1) I reject “nation as covenant people.”

A nation is not the church. Citizenship is not baptism. Bloodline is not the new birth. The church is gathered by Word and Spirit from every tribe and tongue.

2) I reject “state as savior.”

If your hope rises and falls on elections, you are not practicing postmillennialism, you are practicing mood swings. Christ is King whether your candidate wins or loses.

3) I reject forced conversion and state-run piety.

The magistrate can restrain outward evil and punish crime. He cannot regenerate sinners. A government can enforce justice. It cannot preach the gospel or administer the sacraments.

4) I reject confusing the pastor with the magistrate.

The church holds the keys of the kingdom. The state holds the sword of civil justice. When either tries to steal the other’s job, both become monsters.

5) I reject tribalism and ethnic pride dressed as Christianity.

“Christian” is not shorthand for “people like us.” The moment you start excusing partiality, cruelty, lying, or corruption because it serves “our side,” you have left Christian ethics behind.

Here is the dividing line that matters:

Either the church disciples the nation, or the state manufactures a Christian veneer.

One is Christianity. The other is propaganda.

The church-first engine of a Christian nation

If you want Christian law, you must want the Christian machinery God ordained.

The church is the engine room of national Christianization. Not because the church is political, but because the church is holy. Word preached. Bread broken. Water applied. Saints disciplined. Sinners restored. Elders shepherding. Families worshiping.

A “Christian nation” that despises the Lord’s Day is not Christian. It is cosplay.

And this is where it gets wonderfully ordinary.

A nation becomes Christian because dads lead prayers at the table.

Because moms teach children to confess sin and tell the truth.

Because young men learn to work hard and keep their word.

Because employers stop cheating.

Because magistrates fear God more than Twitter.

Because churches refuse to flatter the age, and preach the whole counsel of God.

This is why the postmillennial vision is not frantic. It is patient. Leaven works quietly. Seed grows while you sleep.

A brief defense of Reconstruction Theonomy

If you are going to argue that Christian morals and ethics should govern law’s interpretation, you are already standing near theonomy. So let’s make it plain and non-spooky.

Reconstruction Theonomy is the conviction that God’s revealed moral law is good, enduring, and authoritative, and that civil justice should be informed by it, applied with wisdom to our context.

What it is not:

It is not “make America Israel.”

It is not wooden literalism.

It is not church rule by the state.

It is not salvation by legislation.

What it is:

A refusal to pretend that man can define justice without God.

A commitment to objective standards for life, property, truth, marriage, and due process.

A belief that rulers are accountable to God, not merely to opinion polls.

A sane theonomic instinct says, “We need fixed weights and measures.” In other words, justice must mean something, and God tells us what it is. The magistrate is not free to invent morality. He is bound to punish true evil and protect true good.

And yes, application takes wisdom. Case law requires careful work. Procedures matter. Proportionality matters. Evidence matters. Mercy and firmness must both be real. That is not a weakness of the position. That is what faithful law always requires.

The practical question: what should we do now?

If you want the nations Christian, you start where God starts.

Worship like the kingdom is real. Keep the Lord’s Day, not as a hobby, but as allegiance.

Join yourself to a faithful church. Membership, shepherding, discipline, the Table. No lone-ranger “public Christianity.”

Build household liturgies. Scripture, prayer, singing, catechizing, confession, forgiveness.

Work with clean hands. In your trade, your office, your business, your school. A Christian public order is built by honest people.

Serve in the gate. Vote, run for office, serve on boards, show up locally, argue for justice without lying.

Refuse panic. Postmillennial hope is not triumphalism. It is confidence in Christ’s steady conquest through ordinary faithfulness.

Pastoral charge

If you mean by “Christian nationalism” what I mean here, then do not apologize for it. Just make it unmistakably Christian.

Keep Christ central. Keep the church primary. Keep the household faithful. Keep justice honest. Keep repentance near. And keep your hope fixed above the news cycle.

A Christian nation will not be built by shortcuts. It will be built the old way: by saints who worship on Sunday, repent on Monday, disciple their children at the table, and tell the truth in the gate, because they fear God and believe Jesus reigns.