Hello, my friends,

You have probably noticed how a lot of scriptures are used to justify Christian Nationalism. Interestingly, it seems to take a hyper focus on many Old Testament laws than it does anything else. Hence the preoccupation with the Ten Commandments being posted in public places, rather than say Jesus' sermon on the mount.

The one passage it does use from Jesus often is the Great Commission, where Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all "nations." The word "nations" here is often interpreted as the same kind of nation-states we have here in modern times.

Because I have gotten a lot of questions about this concept, I wanted to look at one of the places in the Bible that seems intentionally ignored by those in favor of Christian nationalism: 1 Samuel 8. I want to invite us to ponder how God responds to ancient Israel's demand for a king and to be like all the other "nations" and see how this might help us better understand Christ's call to "make disciples" of all nations.

But before we get into that, here are some things that have me thinking this week:

​-Top 5 Myths of Separation of Church and State," By J. Brent Walker, Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director. This is one of the best rebuttals to so many of the myths regarding the separation of church and state that are floating around out there. I highly recommend giving it a read and keeping it handy for future conversations.

​-James Talarico Delivers A Sermon Against Christian Nationalism. James is not only a Texas State Representative, but he is currently in seminary studying to be a pastor. I have had the pleasure of talking with James on a couple of occasions online. I have come to admire him and consider him a friend. He delivered a powerful sermon against Christian nationalism at his home church, which you may have seen because parts of it have gone viral. I have included his message here for you as I think it is absolutely worth a listen.

​-Where Truth Lies by Hidden Brain. A recent episode on one of my favorite podcasts, Hidden Brain, tackles the hard topic of misinformation, how to spot it, and what to do about it. I love hidden brain because it feels like such a calming and encouraging listen while you process difficult topics in such a life giving way. It is a wonderful podcast to listen to on the regular, but I think you will find this episode particularly helpful in days like these.

Alright, now onto today's content.

Why You Won't Hear 1 Samuel 8 Advocated By Christian Nationalism

You will notice how 1 Samuel 8 never gets brought up when it comes to Christian Nationalism.

This is because this passage of scripture directly contradicts many of Christian Nationalism’s basic beliefs.

Three of Christian Nationalism’s more prominent beliefs are:

1. Modern nation-states draw their origins from God’s original intentions for the nation of Israel.

2. All national leaders are appointed by God.

3. Christ told his followers to make disciples of all nations.

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Yet in 1 Samuel 8 we hear a different story. You can read the entire chapter here.

We see the people who have languished under the rule of the judges come to God’s prophet Samuel and specifically say, “appoint for us a king to lead us so that we can be just like all the other nations of the world.”

This broke both Samuel’s heart and God’s heart. Remember, all throughout the first five books of the Bible, God has called the people of Israel to be a set apart people, a holy people, a people who would be a light to the world because they lived such a radically different way according to God's desires for them. So, to hear them say "We just want to be like everyone else" is a refusal of God's desire for them.

God tells Samuel, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you that they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” 8:7

God then tells Samuel to listen to them but to “warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” 8:9

Yet even after Samuel goes into great detail, warning the people about heavy taxation, conscripting their sons for war and their daughters into hard labor, and even giving up their authority over their property like livestock and vineyards, the people still refused.

They said “No! We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.“ 8:19-20

This is a direct insinuation that neither God nor God‘s prophets were fighting their battles for them or organizing their society in the way that they desired. They wanted a human king to do that for them instead.

Kings vs Prophets

What is often missed about the progression of scripture and what we learn from how our Jewish brothers and sisters approach the Hebrew Bible is that First and Second Samuel begins Israel’s own struggle between the leading of the prophets and the rule of kings.

This is a great debate within the Hebrew Bible that we Christians often overlook. One of the great questions of the Old Testament is, "Should we be led by God’s prophets or earthly kings?" This is a continued tension for the rest of the Old Testament that never really gets resolved.

First and second Samuel sets up this major question as the first two books of the prophets.

As we read on we see that every single king embodies the prophetic warnings that are laid out here in 1 Samuel 8.

What we learn from this passage is that becoming a nation-state/monarchy was not God’s decision. It was ours.

Wanting an earthly human king was not God’s original decision, it was our original decision.

God graciously, with a broken heart, went along with these decisions. Willingly partnering with us in our demands out of love for us. Even to the point of appointing the first king, which God later regrets doing (1 Samuel 15:11).

As scripture continues to unfold, we see God faithfully send prophet after prophet who constantly speak truth to the power of Israel’s kings holding them accountable to the needs of the poor and the powerless who are exploited under their reign. The prophets often lose their own lives for doing so.

In Jesus, we see this tension between prophet and king finally come to a close, with God in the flesh arriving as both a prophet and a king, but not one who takes up a throne over the people, but who takes up a cross for the people instead.

What's A Nation?

What is probably one of the more important aspects of this conversation is how the ancient peoples of the Bible understood the word "nation."

The ancients would have never imagined massive nation-states, superpowers that governed millions of people, like the United States. Some scholars have estimated that the entire nation of Israel was probably around 250,000 people around the time they were liberated from Egypt. The state of Wyoming has the smallest population in our country, with roughly 600,000 people.

Israel grew to probably close to 3 million people by the time of King David and perhaps double that number lived under Roman rule by the time of Jesus. The United States has over 333 million people alone.

What the Bible refers to as nations was more about distinct people groups, such as different ethnicities. It didn't mean empire or kingdom, otherwise the Biblical authors would have used those words to describe a kingdom or an empire.

God called Israel to be a distinct people group, a nation rather than a "malkuth," which means empire or royal kingdom.

Equally important, Jesus didn't use the Greek word for kingdom or empire in his Great Commission either. He used the word, "ethnos" because he was referring to every tribe, race, ethnicity, and diverse people group.

Jesus wasn't telling his followers to force other people to be his disciples by taking over their massive nation-states and legislating his kingdom into being. Jesus was calling his disciples to call others to embody his gospel just as he had called (not forced) them to do so himself.

We should always be deeply suspect of any interpretation of the Bible that interprets Jesus' words to "make disciples" as if he intended for his followers today to rule modern-day superpowers. For it always has to do with the pursuit of power of the ones interpreting his words that way.

Christian Nationalism Misunderstands God's Heart

All this to say, 1 Samuel 8 at the very least provokes us to wrestle with the beliefs Christian Nationalism asserts to be God’s will without question.

Christian nationalism presents a really clean-cut narrative wherein God intentionally establishes nation-states and its leaders and if they both follow God’s will, that nation-state will prosper.

The reality is so much more messy and so much more beautiful than that. As 1 Samuel 8 shows us, our God is a humble God who has granted us free will. A God who will partner with us and even stake God’s own reputation on the decisions we make for ourselves. Even decisions God isn’t fully on board with. This God refuses to abandon us. This God would take a cross for us. This God doesn't force us to follow their own way let alone ask us to force others to follow God's will.

It is passages like 1 Samuel 8 that cause me to deeply believe in the the great experiment we call democracy. Where we all work together to create a more just and equitable society where everyone is without need. Where even people who believe differently from each other can live in harmony with one another. Where we who follow God can trust that even in the midst of our messy decisions together, we can trust that God isn’t going to abandon us. Where people who seek to follow Jesus' Great Commission can rejoice in the fact that we live in a country that has some of the greatest diversity of people groups on the planet.

We can trust that God is going to partner with us and continue to send prophetic voices in our midst to speak truth the kind of power we often turn into an idol for ourselves to worship.

We can trust that the same God who is revealed through Jesus Christ is still calling those of us who follow him, not to seek to take up thrones over others, but take up our crosses like he did, following his example of prophetic, life-giving love for others and our world. Especially in the positions of authority we might hold.

We can trust that Christian nationalism just misunderstands God’s heart. It misses the reality that God cares far more about the people within our nation-states today than God cares about controlling and dominating nation-states and their kings.

I believe we should too.

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