Render Unto Caesar — Christian Faith and National Identity
Is America a 'Christian nation'? The rise of Christian nationalism has forced believers to reckon with the relationship between faith and country. This plan examines what Scripture teaches about the dangers of fusing religion with political power — and the equal danger of privatizing faith into irrelevance.
The relationship between Christian faith and national identity is as old as Constantine and as current as this morning's news cycle. Some Christians believe the church should shape the state, baptize the nation's founding, and fight to restore a "Christian America." Others believe faith is a private matter that should stay out of public life entirely. Both positions are wrong — and both are dangerous.
This 7-day plan traces what Scripture teaches about the church's relationship to political power. It draws on Augustine's "two cities" framework, Bonhoeffer's witness against the Nazi state, Lewis's warnings about theocracy, and the biblical vision of a people who live as exiles — fully engaged in their society but never fully at home in it.
What to Expect
Each day examines a key biblical passage alongside insights from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Augustine, Tim Keller, and C.S. Lewis. The plan challenges Christian nationalism from the right and Christian withdrawal from the left, offering a third way: faithful presence in a plural society, rooted in the conviction that the church's primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God, not to any earthly nation.