By Rick Scarborough
Opinion: Christian nationalism shows a lack of faith in the power of God
Robert Montgomery
OPINION COLUMNIST for the Ashville Citizen Times
August 16, 2022
I read the author’s article with great interest. I have been referred to often by critics as a Christian Nationalist. Mr. Montgomery’s column, like so many I’ve read start with premises and build straw men which he then spends considerable time to tear down. Perhaps spending some time face to face with those of us he thinks he’s saving Christianity from would benefit him and the church he seeks to protect. I will illustrate by starting with his initial words in the article.
When the United States was established, our founders broke with the ancient alliance between religion and the state. This is the real American exceptionalism! Many nations have made alliances between the rulers and the majority or traditional religion in their countries. Some governments are virtually fused with a traditional religion. It is vitally important for Americans to be aware of the distinctive stance of our nation in both restricting religion from having government power and at the same time giving everyone the freedom to choose or not choose a religion. Some people in America want special government favor for Christianity by having the nation declared “Christian.” They are going backward in history.
Our founders objected to the abuse of the church by governmental authorities in the Old World who controlled the church with their money and paid the priests and pastors to comply with their wishes, often leading to wars and conflicts with other European nations which embraced different branches of the Christian church, ie. Catholicism vs Anglicanism. In America a different approach was birthed by our wise founders who had tired of the endless wars of Europe. They allowed Christians to establish and fund their own churches and then protected the full amount of their contribution to their church from being taxed. This unique approach enabled each congregation to conduct their affairs, including setting the pastor’s salary and all policies without any governmental intrusion.
Meanwhile, these same Christians were allowed to express their views on government, including running for and securing positions in the government as they wished. What the author seems to misunderstand, as do most who write on this subject and assess motives to men like me who believe Christian involvement in the civil arena to be a good and healthy enterprise is this: We do not practice our religion. It is who we are. I cannot divorce my politics from my religion as it is who I am. What makes true Biblical Christianity distinct from all other religions is this: To be a Christian means that I have surrendered my life to Christ and have invited the Spirit of the living God to indwell in my heart as an act of my will. He then lives His life through me. Religionists like Mr. Montgomery seem to believe I can put my “religion” aside while I’m not in Church much like I hang up a coat in the vestibule on a cold day. He misses the central point of Christianity as taught by Jesus…Christianity is “Christ-in-u-ity, and Christ-in-me-ity.”
Christians who share my view desire that enough Christians engage in the public square to legally make a difference by passing legislation that reflects their views. I make no apology for believing and desiring that America’s laws reflect Biblical morality. For almost fifty years I was forced to live under a Supreme Court edict that I found to be repulsive and wrong: The Roe v Wade decision gave us abortion on demand, resulting in 70 million innocent unborn babies being mutilated and in many cases, having their body parts sold on the open market for profit. I didn’t scream at and follow judges with whom I disagreed to restaurants and terrorize their families outside their homes. I prayed and acted by supporting legislators and Presidential candidates who shared my view that all life is sacred and a gift of a sovereign God, until the day a majority on the Supreme Court agreed with liberal Jurist and activist, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote before her death that Roe v Wade was based on a poor interpretation of the law, and the slaughter was finally ended.
Those like Mr. Montgomery who accuse pastors like me of being Christian Nationalists, inadvertently compliment us. Before all else, I am a follower of Christ. I was saved at age 7. At age 20, while attending a major university on a football scholarship, I became the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and truly fell in love with Jesus. During my sophomore year, I was asked by the pastor of the First Baptist Church to become their part time youth pastor, through which I discovered a gift for and love of preaching the gospel. I have been in the ministry ever since.
Of all the nations in which I could have been born, I was born in America, the greatest and freest nation the world has ever known. I am very grateful to be an American, recognizing as all do that she is not a perfect nation. Twice America has been called on to save the world from tyrants, most recently in 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany was about to destroy England, the sole remaining European nation resisting Hitler and Nazism, forcing America to fight a two-front war.
America is again fighting a two-front war: A Satanic assault on the nation and a Satanic assault on God’s church, and unless the true church arises quickly, America and all she stands for will be lost. If America loses her freedoms, she will never get them back. Christians must recognize we are at war, and like the sons of Issachar mentioned in I Chronicles 12:32, we must understand the times and know what to do.
The Satanic attack on the nation is being waged by those who reject Biblical morality and embrace transgenderism, the LGBTQ- agenda and Wokeism, a term I use to include CRT, BLM, defunding the police, gender dysphoria, Climate Change religion and a growing list of new false philosophies coming from our elites in academia and government. They are united in silencing all opposing viewpoints and have allies in big tech, the media, and throughout governmental agencies.
The Satanic attach in the church is being waged by a new generation of preachers and mainline denominational leaders who have stretched grace to be inclusive of all the above and have declared war on anyone who preaches that a literal translation of the Scripture is narrow minded, a bigot and the enemy. Salvation no longer requires the blood of the lamb, the cross and an empty tomb, but rather the the pursuit of personal peace and happiness. Truth for them is relative and one man’s truth may not be another man’s truth.
I am a Christian who loves America with his whole heart, warts, and all, because America is an idea more than a geographical boundary filled with a single race of people. America is the idea that anyone from any place on the planet who comes to this country legally, has a legitimate shot at being successful if they agree with our national creed, expressed in our Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
But this idea is now under attack, and if we do not have the same spirit that drove the “Greatest Generation,” to leave their loved ones and shed their blood on foreign fields of war, we will not survive the attacks we are encountering daily.
I am looking for pastors who “get it!” Who are willing to stand up to the Woke crowd and to the transgenders and homosexuals and love them enough to tell them their lifestyle is self-destructive and will reap the judgement of Almighty God if they do not repent and seek His forgiveness on His terms. Unfortunately, most preachers fear saying those words because they have witnessed the attacks on others like Justices Kavanaugh, and Thomas, or preachers like John McArthur and my good friend Pastor Steve Smothermon, who have learned to live with death threats they receive or being doxed and de-platformed for preaching an uncompromising message.
Fear permeates preachers today, but I remind you that the Scripture says that… God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (I Tim. 1:7) and that…There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. If we truly love people as we say we do, then we will love them so much that fear of reprisal for telling them the truth is lost in love.
There must be a revival of courage and love in the clergy if America is to survive as a free nation. I believe that revival is coming to those who will count the cost and stand up for truth. After all, Jesus said, Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall mak you free. (John 8:32)
