NATIONALISM vs PATRIOTISM: The question of our time?
- “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”: The now iconic campaign slogan of President Donald Trump, which has captured the hearts of many Americans.
- “MAKE THE NETHERLANDS GREAT AGAIN!”: The follow-up slogan of Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom and leading anti-Islamist campaigner in the Netherlands.
- “LET’S TAKE BACK CONTROL”: The pro-Brexit slogan that motivated millions to vote for an “Independent United Kingdom” and leave the European Union.
- “DEFEND OUR COLOURS”: The core message of Marie Le Pen, the founder of the French radical-right National Front party and anti-immigration movement
- “FOR HOME, FREEDOM AND GERMAN CULTURE”: The slogan used by German protesters at PEGIDA rallies, the country’s anti-immigration movement.
- “ISRAEL IS GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE”: The phrase used by pro-Israel Christian supporters in the West
Donald Trump, Brexit, Marie Le Pen, Geert Wilders, PEGIDA, and a host of patriotic campaigners in Europe all have one thing in common – a deep sense of patriotism towards their culture and a strong nationalistic devotion to their country. Sadly, all these slogans, even those aimed at Israel from the Christian community, come at a cost to other countries or groups.
So, how do we as Christians respond to this new phenomenon gripping the Western World? Is it OK to be patriotic? Can I be both a Christian and a patriot? Can I celebrate my national and cultural identity and still consider Kingdom principles? And how can faithful Christians hold in tension their love for country and their primary love and commitment to the kingdom of God?
If the more than 120 million displaced people in the world is “the story of our time” then this is undoubtedly “the question of our time.”
These are important questions because they bring up topics of electorate responsibilities, faith considerations, national preferences, civic accountability, cross-cultural hospitality and ultimately our Christian witnesses.
First and foremost it is important to make a distinction between PATRIOTISM and NATIONALISM. It’s a tension that is often blurred by zeal and a legitimate struggle that lies at the root of most of the modern-day “anti-immigrant movements”
PATRIOTISM VS. NATIONALISM
Ryan Hamm, in an article on Christianity Today International[1] provides the following insight:
PATRIOTISM can be defined simply as love of country—it’s a love that seems to include much of the world’s population. It’s the kind of love that makes you thankful you’re an American whenever you hear “The Star-Spangled Banner”, or that makes you thankful you’re British whenever you hear “God Save the King,” or that unified joy listening to Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrica as a South African before a rugby match. It is the feeling that makes you thankful you’re from whatever country whenever your country wins an Olympic medal. It’s that feeling of altruistic gratitude for freedom, or democracy, or culture, or any of the other values people around the world treasure in their nation.
NATIONALISM, on the other hand, takes that love of country and expands it to mean love of country at the expense of other nations. It’s when someone believes they are better because they come from a particular place, or that someone else is less valuable because of the country that issued their passport. Sometimes this term means a very good patriotism that is grateful for the gifts bestowed on it’s citizens, but too often this means treasuring national identity at the expense of others. It’s saying, “My country is better than yours, and you are less civilized/ enlightened/ good because of where you are from.”
Charles De Gaulle defined it as follows:
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first. Nationalism is when hate for people other than your country comes first
In Scripture, there’s a reason why Paul writes repeatedly about the need for the Jews to recognize the full participation of Gentiles in the kingdom of God. The Jews’ national and religious identity made it difficult for them to understand how a Greek, Ethiopian, or slave from Asia Minor could be just as much a part of God’s new work. But Paul’s famous assertion that there is “neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) demonstrates that nationalism must never be part of the new kingdom of God.
PROUD PATRIOTISM VS GRATEFUL PATRIOTISM
Christians define patriotism in different ways. Some are “proud patriots”, thinking that their nation is better than any other nation on earth, that their leaders are the saviours of the world, and that they are commissioned by God to be defenders of faith (ring a bell?).
Others are more inclined to be “grateful patriots”, with a general love of country, an appreciation for those who share the same values, and a love of neighbour and environment.
Derek Vreeland, in an article in Missioaliance[2], says: “It’s OK to be Patriotic, but…” and then elaborates on this principle:
To have a love and sense of pride in the place you live is a good God-given response to creation. There is a sacredness in the place where we live. As followers of Jesus, it is OK for us to be patriotic. It is natural for us to have pride of place and love of people, BUT patriotism left unchecked can lead to a misplaced affection and the idolatry of nationalism.
According to LifeWay Research[3], in a recent survey of 1,000 pastors in America, 53% of pastors (more than half!) agreed that their congregation sometimes seems to love America more than God. Any time the people of God love anything more than God, bad things happen.
This was a principle that Jesus addressed.
Jesus had grown in popularity. He had been preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing the sick. Crowds of people began following Jesus. On one occasion he stopped to address the crowd directly saying: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple….So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26,27,33 ESV)
Following Jesus requires a renunciation, a breaking away of all attachments. We can take this teaching and replace “father and mother” with “country and culture.” In this way, we can hear Jesus say to us: If anyone comes to me and does not hate the country in which you live, you cannot be my disciple.
But take note: Just as in the case of family, this hate is not literal. It means that our love for our nation becomes secondary to our love for Christ. It means that we subordinate our love for country well below our love for God, running the risk that it may indeed appear to be disloyal. Patriotism for a nation therefore involves Kingdom principles for the people that surround us opposed to the borders that define us.
It is important to remind ourselves that God loves all the nations of the earth. The idolatry of nationalism begins to take root and produce its bitter fruit, when we think our nation is somehow God’s favourite nation. We believe we are the answer to the world, that revival will start in our nation, that all Church activities should focus on our nation and that God has granted our people the “Most Favored of Nations” status. Under the sway of nationalism, we give into the ugly side of patriotism where we are filled with thoughts like: my country is far superior than those poor third world nations; God has blessed our nation so we can help the rest of the world figure out how to do things right. When we convince ourselves that our nation is at the center of God’s activity, we lose site that Jesus is Lord of the whole earth and the King of all nations,
CELEBRATING PATRIOTISM VS MOURNING PATRIOTISM
Ryan Hamm elaborates as follows;
So how, then, should Christians distinguish between patriotism and nationalism? Well, as in most things, it’s best to know what Jesus did.
In Luke 19, there’s a peculiar story about Jesus. In the midst of the pomp and glory of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus begins to weep. He weeps because the city-and, by extension, all Israel—failed to recognize his lordship, and because he knew the impending destruction of Jerusalem. The scene echoed a previous lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:31-35), where Jesus said, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (v. 34, ESV).
Jesus, it seems, loved his people, his city, his nation—so much so that he cried over it. He didn’t despise his country or wish ill upon it—instead, he wanted nothing but the best for it, and it grieved him to see how his people had rejected his teachings.
Jesus’ example of patriotism perfected can provide a guidepost to Christians. It’s an example that’s both pragmatic and romantic, shot through with justice, truth, and love. It’s not a nationalistic patriotism—it’s a love for nation that doesn’t pit it against other nations. Instead, it’s a recognition of love followed by a mournful recognition of shortcomings.
If we apply Christ’s words to today, it might mean that we celebrate the times our nation does something great—the times it gives a voice to the voiceless. It doesn’t mean we totally deny a love or appreciation for our country, or throw up our hands feeling we can’t make it better. Like it or not, we’re part of whatever community into which we’re born, and proper patriotism takes note of the in-born love many of us have along with a desire to make our home nations as good as they can be. Christ’s words mean we embrace a healthy love for country and don’t diminish the godly notion that it’s okay to love the place from which you come.
But Jesus’ lament also means we mourn the times when our nation does something wrong. It means tempering our love for our country with the knowledge that there are times our country will get it wrong. Because if you look just under the pomp of most nations, there are some pretty ugly wounds. It is therefore important that those Christians who feel a deep spiritual patriotism towards Israel should also enter a time of “mourning” for the suffering that it is causing in Gaza.
In other words, true, good patriotism lies in the ability to judge one’s nation in its successes and its shortcomings.
NATIONAL PATRIOTISM VS KINGDOM PATRIOTISM
Perhaps the most important distinction to be made by Christians is that our first love must ALWAYS be the Kingdom of God, over and above any love of country, no matter how pure and honourable that love might be. It’s easy for Christians to begin to worship their country as an idol. In The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis puts the matter quite concisely. He notes that love of country “becomes a demon when it becomes a god.”
In short, we can too easily allow our celebration of nation to intertwine with and pervert our love of God, and in many cases, usurp our love for God. We see how humanity has twisted almost every gift of God into an idol that can sinfully replace him. Money, sex, work, food, drink—each of these (among others) have become damaging idols for too many Christians. It wouldn’t take long for any of us to think of examples of when Christians have placed love of country above love of God—and what disastrous consequences this has had.
Therefore, the Christian’s primary allegiance is to God and to his church—which sometimes means the Christian patriot must disagree with her country and do things that might be counterintuitive to “civic duty.”
CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY ALWAYS TRUMPS PATRIOTISM, EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS UNCOMFORTABLE.
Jesus taught us that loving one’s country is a godly thing. But Jesus also died for people of all nations—putting his own nation’s interests below the needs of every person. To the people of Israel, this might have seemed lunacy—Jesus was betraying his own people by spreading his message to Gentiles. But the example stands tall to us. Jesus asks that we lay all of our loves—including our love of country—at his feet so that we may grant him the first fruits of our love.
When Christians put love of country below love of God and love of Christian brothers and sisters, we see a glimpse of the future God has promised his church. John’s vision in Revelation includes this stunning scene:
“Every nation, tribe, people and language.” It’s an image of Christians crying their allegiance to God and to one another over and above any allegiance to country. It’s a reminder that we can do the same, even now.
Here is a prayer you can pray for your nation. It is a prayer Derek Vreeland wrote using the “Prayer to the Crucified Christ” from The Book of Common Prayer:
Prayer for my nation
Lord Jesus ,you stretched out your arms of love upon the hard wood of the cross so that everyone in this country, and around the world, might come within the reach of your saving embrace.
You are the Savior of our friends and neighbors living here and throughout our nation. Remember the poor, the weak and the vulnerable among us. We pray for civic leaders, teachers, first responders, and those carrying the wounds of war. Come and save them, heal them, and lead them by your Spirit.
And so clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you, the God and King of all nations, for the honor of your name.
Amen.
[1] http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/churchhomeleadership/patriotism.html?start=1
[2] http://www.missioalliance.org/ok-patriotic-2/
[3] http://factsandtrends.net/2016/06/30/pastors-worry-about-patriotism-still-favor-july-4th-displays/#.V33-xfl97RY