There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism. It’s a capitulation to the Way of Barabbas over the Way of Jesus. It’s waving palm branches for Judas “The Hammer” Maccabeus on his warhorse over Jesus on a donkey. We are faced with the same question as the crowd that first Holy Week: Who do we want to go free and to follow, and who do we want to send to the cross to be rid of? … More We Still Choose Barabbas
Scot McKnight reviews Drew Strait’s book advocating for a Christocentric hermeneutic to counter Christian nationalism in the U.S. Strait argues that many Christians misinterpret the Bible for ideological support, advocating instead for a Jesus-centered lens that emphasizes love and peace. This approach resists the spirals of violence pervasive in current narratives. … More Jesus is Our Counter Narrative
Somehow the church tends to pick up the idea that we’re supposed to win. That our place in the world is not one of suffering love, but victorious power. It’s so easy for the church to forget that Christ did not call us to rule but to serve. He called us, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, to come and die. … More A Long Defeat … into Victory
The problem wasn’t simply that the mob displayed Christian symbols, but that they saw no contradiction between those symbols and their actions. The cross is a symbol of surrender and self-sacrifice; it represents Jesus’ relinquishing of power and his refusal to retaliate against his enemies. At the Capitol, however, the cross was erected next to a gallows and carried by those calling for their political enemies to be executed. … More January 6: A ‘Christian’ Insurrection?
Jeremy L. Berg 