If you are a young Christian in America, you have probably heard some confusing things about the relationship between Christianity and the American nation. Maybe when you were growing up you picked up a book by David Barton in your church bookstore and learned that Thomas Jefferson was a completely orthodox Christian. Maybe you've heard that it is your Christian duty to vote for a specific political party. Or maybe you've heard that the church's only mission is to save souls, which sounds right to you but seems to imply that the Kingdom of Heaven is totally separate from the civil kingdom, and that anything from total apathy to rabid ideology is fair game when it comes to politics.
So naturally you have questions. Is it possible for a Christian to love his or her country too much? Is America itself even deserving of a Christian's loyalty? If Christians have anything to offer the civil kingdom, how should they go about it? It's often the case that we think we can discover the right answer to these questions by distancing ourselves from the wrong answer. Thus, in reaction to someone like Jerry Falwell, some Christians are tempted to say that loving our country is wrong. In reaction to a generation of Christians who equated Christian political witness with preserving the post-war order, some Christians are tempted to say things like "Mayberry leads to hell." And in reaction to certain problematic politicians claiming America as a "nation of faith," some Christians are tempted to say that the church is solely concerned with the salvation of souls.
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