Christian Nationalism: the hidden threat to our faith, families, and freedom?

Launch of a groundbreaking new series

Now more than ever, our beliefs matter. And now more than ever, those beliefs are being shaped for us—far more than most of us realize.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has become an inflection point. Individually and collectively—on the political right and left—it has exposed new depths of simmering hatred. It’s already being weaponized by all kinds of groups for all kinds of manipulative purposes. And a mind-numbing number of conspiracy theories have sprung up around the circumstances of his death.

Yet God is using it for good. As many as 100 million people watched Charlie’s funeral service and heard the gospel. Church attendance is up significantly across the country. What was meant for evil, God has used to open hearts to Jesus Christ. I pray that many of those lives are being transformed in ways that lead them closer to Christ and His amazing will.

This series will examine another campaign that, at its roots, I believe is intended for evil. It’s a movement misdiagnosed by the left and misunderstood by much of the right. Few have accurately defined or condemned it.

The topic is Christian Nationalism. It is a mind virus just like the mind viruses we see clearly on the left, and it is no less destructive. It needs to be carefully unraveled and exposed.

I’ve been researching this topic for months, and now I’m ready to share it. Over at least ten installments, I’ll blend the investigative reporting you’ve come to expect from me with biblical exegesis, theology, history, and my conclusions.

Defining Christian Nationalism

The challenge in defining Christian Nationalism (CN) is it is defined differently by different groups of people.

I used to see myself as a Christian nationalist and saw no harm in it. After all, I’m a Christian. I love my country. I’m politically conservative. I support President Trump’s nationalist policies that put Americans ahead of globalist virtue-signaling. If I’m a Christian and a nationalist, doesn’t that make me a Christian nationalist?

No, it does not.

The left eagerly adopts that definition because it lets them lump us all together and assign the worst traits to every Christian conservative. In my experience talking with Democrats, reading left-leaning columns, and even sparring with AI, “Christian nationalist” is used as a smear for any Christian who speaks about politics from a conservative perspective. Any politician who talks about faith is accused of violating “separation of church and state” and being a “threat to democracy.” These accusations are so frequent and so rote most of us tune them out.

But Christian Nationalism is real. And the real problem is that it is neither Christian nor constitutional—and much more nuanced than the caricature you hear from mainstream voices.

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✦ What Christian Nationalism Is

• A movement that seeks to make the U.S. a Christian theocracy by merging church and state power.

• An ecumenical political alliance that unites Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, even Mormons, at the expense of the Gospel.

• A collectivist ideology that talks about “saving America” rather than preaching salvation to individuals.

• A theology that falsely claims America is uniquely chosen by God, often backed by unbiblical prophecies.

• Rooted in dominionism: the belief Christians are called to seize political and cultural control.

• Advocates for churches to function as political organizations, violating their New Testament mandate.

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✦ What Christian Nationalism Isn’t

• It’s not simply being a Christian who loves America.

• It’s not running for office or serving faithfully as a believer in public life.

• It’s not standing for biblical values in politics (e.g. pro-life, protecting children, religious liberty).

• It’s not praying for leaders or desiring righteousness in society.

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📌 Bottom Line: Christian nationalism is neither Christian nor constitutional. It distorts the mission of the church, undermines the Gospel, and weakens true Christian witness.

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The Defining Traits of Christian Nationalism

As a politically conservative Christian, I agree with much of what Christian nationalists say. But there are six crucial differences—the devil, very literally, is in the details:

1. Theocracy. CN intends to make this a theocratic Christian nation. History proves that can only be done by merging the coercive power of government with the church, which invariably develops its own lust for power and wealth. Jesus warned against this explicitly and established the concept of a secular state when He said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25).

2. Ecumenicalism at the expense of the Gospel. CN aims to “unify” Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants—even Mormons and non-Christians—for a common political purpose. However noble that sounds, it always comes at the expense of the Gospel. John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul warned of this in 2009 when they refused to sign the Manhattan Declaration, calling it a compromise of essential truth.

3. Collectivizing salvation. CN conflates the individual with the collective. Its speeches and writings call to “save America” and to fulfill the Great Commission by getting churches involved in culture and politics. Yet God saves individuals, not nations. Salvation is His work, not ours. In practice, CN is a collectivist pursuit aimed at forming a unified voting bloc that can be leveraged and manipulated for power.

4. Claiming special favor for America. CN posits that the U.S. is uniquely set apart for God’s special favor, often woven together with false prophecies that have no grounding in Scripture. The Bible nowhere mentions the United States, and those who insist otherwise are taking extraordinary liberties with God’s Word.

5. Dominionism. CN is deeply rooted in the notion that Christians are called to put culture and politics under their dominion. Aside from the shaky exegesis used to support it, dominionism elevates the power of man and diminishes the power of God, contradicting the Gospel and the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty. God is already sovereign over all. He warns that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24)—a clear commentary on the spiritual obstacle wealth (and political power) can pose to saving faith. Dominionism is not a spiritual calling but a hindrance to saving faith.

6. Turning churches into political organizations. Perhaps most disturbing, CN advocates for churches to become political hubs. In 2021 I heard Charlie Kirk say on multiple podcasts that “if your pastor is not teaching about what is happening in this country from the pulpit you should find another church.” Yet in the New Testament, the church is given only three primary mandates: 1) preach the Word of God; 2) evangelize the lost; and 3) encourage and build up the saved. Nowhere are churches commanded to engage in politics. In fact, “the gospel plus anything”—whether law, rituals, or politics—is no longer the gospel (Gal. 1:6–9; 3:1–3; Col. 2; 2 Cor. 11:3–4).

By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

CN leaders love to quote scripture to lull Christian audiences into trusting receptivity. They especially like the Armor of God passage in Ephesians 6 (but gloss over the verse that says our enemy is not flesh and blood). They love “If my people… I will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14) and “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 33:12).

I’ve spoken with countless people who have left Christian nationalist political cults, and a common description is that a “heavy, dark spirit” rests over their gatherings. In my own experience attending some of these meetings over the last five years, I generally agree. They tend to be marked by anger, blame, victimhood, and resentment—the fruit of the flesh—not the fruit of the Spirit. Yet they justify it as “righteous anger.”

I launched Bigger Truth Media by covering Kristina Karamo’s reign of destruction over the Michigan GOP. She repeatedly claimed that she and her followers were “the only Christians in the party” while engaging in slander, character assassination, and hateful rhetoric. In Arizona, under Patrick Byrne/Mike Flynn operative Shelby Busch, a Maricopa County GOP meeting opened with a female “pastor” praying an exorcism to reject the “demons” in the room—meaning the people who opposed their faction. In my observation across the country, the most vindictive, deceitful, and cruel actors in the party are the ones calling themselves Christian nationalists.

One verse I have never seen CN leaders quote: “The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

By their fruits you will know them.

How Christians Should Engage

Please note: I am not suggesting Christians should avoid politics. If I did, I’d be a hypocrite—I’m an elected county commissioner and political journalist. Christians should engage. But we must do so with care, self-examination, prayer, Bible intake, humility, and discernment about where so many—including brothers and sisters who may be deceived—go astray.

When we engage in politics, don’t say “God told me to run.” Instead, show it by exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22–23). Speaking from experience, it’s hard—impossible apart from Christ. Many days I’ve thought it’s not for me. And for many who have fallen for Christian Nationalism, the best thing may be to step away from politics and refocus on Christ.

This is made harder by the highly coordinated psychological operation being run against us—an operation that manipulates sincere believers into anger and activism under a false banner.

What to expect in this series

In the coming weeks I’ll present the historical underpinnings of CN, how it originated, and the specific operatives who took it from a fringe set of ideas to a mainstream political ideology starting in 2009 and scaling from 2015–2018. We’ll examine the candidates, influencers, money flows, billionaires, shadow organizations, nonprofits, narratives, and intelligence operatives behind this movement.

My conclusion, as I piece it together, is that this is a coordinated operation by the same shadow elites who have radicalized the Democratic Party, designed to divide, confuse, and restructure our culture toward a global authoritarian system. Whether you agree with that or not, we can all agree that watering down the Gospel for political gain is deadly to the church and dangerous to our republic.

After each installment, I’ll host a podcast to review and discuss before moving on to the next.