Dr. Robert Jeffress, a prominent Southern Baptist pastor closely associated with conservative evangelical politics and a participant on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, was a featured speaker at Donald Trump’s Rededicate event in Washington, D.C. During the gathering, he openly promoted the ideology of Christian nationalism as part of the effort to “rededicate” America.
The problem with Christian nationalism is that it goes far beyond Christians simply influencing society through its God-given and constitutionally given rights. Christians have always had the right, if they so chose, to vote, speak publicly, engage in government, and advocate for justice and righteousness. The danger arises when Christianity seeks to merge itself with the power of the state and use civil authority to promote, favor, or enforce religious ideology.
That is where Christian nationalism departs from the teachings of Jesus Christ and becomes a distortion of the gospel. Jesus never taught His followers to seize political power in order to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Christ declared plainly, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The kingdom of Christ advances through preaching, evangelism, conversion, love, truth, persuasion, and the work of the Holy Spirit—not through legislation, coercion, nationalism, or government-enforced religion.
Jesus never petitioned the Roman Empire to pass laws enforcing worship. He never sought Caesar’s authority to compel obedience. In fact, when the people attempted to make Him a political ruler, He withdrew from them (John 6:15). Christian nationalism confuses the mission of the church with the authority of the state. It attempts to unite the cross of Christ with political power. History shows that this union repeatedly produces corruption, persecution, and oppression rather than genuine Christianity.
The New Testament church possessed no civil power whatsoever, and that was by God’s design. The apostles preached under a corrupt pagan Roman government, yet they never attempted to legislate Christianity through the Roman Senate. The gospel spread by conviction—not compulsion. One of the clearest warnings against merging church and state is found in Christ’s words: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
Jesus distinguished between civil authority and spiritual authority, but Christian nationalism blurs that distinction. It teaches that the nation itself possesses a divine religious identity that government must preserve, defend, or restore. Scripture, however, teaches that salvation is individual, not national. God does not save nations through political dominance; He calls individuals from every nation into His kingdom.
The danger becomes even greater when the Church begins using government power to enforce moral or religious practices “for the common good.” History demonstrates that once governments favor one form of Christianity, minorities inevitably suffer. Protestants once fled Europe precisely because state churches used civil authority to persecute dissenters. Baptists, Quakers, Seventh-day Adventists, and many others historically defended the separation of church and state because they understood that forced religion corrupts faith and destroys liberty of conscience.
Many Christians also view Christian nationalism as aligning with the prophetic warning of Revelation 13, where religious power and civil power unite to enforce worship. Revelation warns of a power that appears “lamb-like” but eventually “speaks as a dragon” by exercising coercive authority in matters of worship. For this reason, many believe Christian nationalism is not a revival of biblical Christianity but a counterfeit system that substitutes political dominance for Christlike humility.
Christian nationalists often appeal to ancient Israel to justify the concept of a “Christian nation,” but ancient Israel was a unique theocracy directly governed by God under a covenant system that no modern nation has been authorized to replicate. The New Testament never commands Christians to establish a theocratic state. Instead, believers are described as “strangers and pilgrims” whose ultimate citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
True Christianity changes hearts through invitation, persuasion, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Christian nationalism, by contrast, seeks to shape society through political force and government influence. The gospel calls people to freely choose Christ, while apostate religious systems seek outward conformity through state-sponsored religion, enforced morality, or government-backed worship.
That is why the union of church and state has repeatedly resulted in persecution throughout history and why liberty of conscience must remain protected for all people—not merely for the religious majority. That is the true American experience that must be embraced and defended, not the counterfeit and revised version of America that ultimately leads toward the mark of the beast crisis.
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