Part one: Christian nationalism

I have news out of my home state of Oklahoma.

Back in June, the state superintendent announced a mandate that every classroom in the state should have a Bible in it. He recently released the qualifications for the Bible; here is my state’s newspaper, The Oklahoman:

Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material…

One Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement. 

I don’t think I’ve read something that better encapsulates Christian nationalism.

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The lectionary this past Sunday was the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus, and as I sat there listening to it, I couldn’t help but think about Oklahoma and the “Trump Bible.” About a state so desperate for political points that it would literally pay a presidential candidate while purchasing the Word of God.

In this Bible, the Second Amendment sits side-by-side with verses about turning swords into plowshares and Jesus healing the ear of his enemy and Jesus commanding his followers to turn the other cheek and walk the second mile and give someone their cloak. The Declaration of Independence sits next to sixty-six books that comprehensively refute the idea that America has been specially blessed by God. The pledge of allegiance next to Beatitudes which pledge God’s care for the least of these.

I’m not saying these are mutually exclusive things—the American founding documents and the Bible. Patriotism is not a bad thing. But the intentional merging, that’s dangerous, wrong, delusional. Heretical even. Blasphemous, too.

This needs to be said, full stop: Christian nationalism is not Christianity. Christian nationalism is a golden calf, created in the fire of power, elitism, and conquest.

—

And then the pastor read these verses from the Golden Calf story:

“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.”

We face a decision, each of us, about who we will serve. The people of Israel had a choice to make: God or an idol. Moses or the collective majority. Truth or the comforting (false) promise of security and a controllable deity.

American Christians are being asked the same.

—

Then there is what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:

“For what have I to do with judging those outside? Are you not judges of those who are inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Drive out the wicked person from among you.’”

Those who preach Christian nationalism are false teachers. They are each Aaron standing before the fire, pulling out a map of the United States, and proclaiming “Here is your God!”

And they must be driven out. There is no optionality here. The Sons of Levi, along with the Apostle Paul, provide no alternative. We cannot co-exist under the “broad tent of Christianity.” God did not allow the golden calf to sit side-by-side with the Tabernacle, and we cannot allow Christian nationalism to sit side-by-side with the communion table.

The worship of country cannot be mixed with the Body and Blood of Christ.

Part two: Competent Christianity

I got a new Bible on Saturday. I’ve used the English Standard Version journaling Bible for forever. But I recently learned that this translation is intentionally patriarchal, even when the text is not explicitly so. I texted some people I work with (perk of working at a seminary), and learned that a solid translation to use is the New Revised Standard Version. So I went to the local Christian bookstore and found a good one on the shelves.

I left the bookstore feeling good about my choice and ready to bring my new Bible to church.

—

The first use of my new Bible was reading the Exodus account of the golden calf in that church service. I thought about the Trump Bible and Oklahoma and Christian nationalism and was excited to write about its danger.

But another question came to mind: what is my golden calf?

I thought about Jesus’s commandment in Matthew seven about not judging your neighbor with a speck in their eye while you have a log in your own.

To be clear, I do not think Christian nationalism is a speck in the eye. No, I think it is an existential threat to Christianity in America. Prophetic voices—like those in the Old Testament—must be loud and clear.

But just because that isn’t the log in my eye doesn’t mean I don’t have one. Just because I’m not worshipping at that golden calf doesn’t mean I don’t have one of my own.

—

I walked into my favorite coffee shop with my new Bible in my backpack. I was wearing my favorite Madewell T-shirt and my pants were cuffed just the way I like them. The NPR Politics Podcast and the New York Times Daily Podcast were in my feed, and if I wanted to listen to music, I had a curated playlist of indie worship songs by thoughtfully progressive Christians on my phone.

I ordered my coffee, took a seat, opened my new Bible to 1 Corinthians, and read this:

“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

-1 Corinthians 1:26-30 (NRSV)

Then it hit me, I looked up from the Bible and saw my golden calf sipping a cappuccino at the table beside me. My golden calf is something I call “Competent Christianity.”

It is the curation of a competent identity. It is the clothes I wear, the pride I take in reading an egalitarian Bible, my desire to be accepted by progressive Americans, and the podcasts I listen to. It is the times I bend over backwards trying to prove I’m not one of those Christians or those white people or those men. It is trying so hard to prove my wokeness and signal my political views without explicitly saying them. It is my desire to not just call out Christian nationalism but to use that as a way to prove my bonafides.

It’s virtue signaling, ethical-clothes-wearing, and New York Times-subscribing enthusiasm.

Please, above anything, just do not mistake me for someone incompetent or someone conservative.

—

This golden calf is devious because it is not simple. Being egalitarian is not a bad thing. Calling out Christian nationalism is not a bad thing. Shopping ethically or having political opinions are not bad things.

But when they are performed and cultivated to gain acceptance by some imaginary Christian bourgeoisie, that’s an idol.

I spend so much time on here trying to prove that I’m progressive in all the right ways but also not progressive in the wrong ways. I perform my faith to gain and retain an audience. I want everyone to like me. I want to be seen—in my Madewell t-shirt—as competent.

—

Here is a portion of that 1st Corinthians section again:

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.”

I don’t want you to think I am foolish, weak, or low. I listen to NPR and write about Christian nationalism to prove that.

I am not trying to take away from the danger that is Christian nationalism; I am only trying to highlight that golden calves come in different forms: golden donkeys and golden elephants are mass produced every day. The second we think we are without an idol and are ready to be the sons of Levi, God’s words in Genesis come to mind: sin is crouching at our door.

—

I don’t have an ending for this piece. I’m sorry I made you read all this to not find some great conclusion. I know Christian nationalism is bad; I know I have a duty to speak against it; but I also know I am culpable of my own idols.

We all are.

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