The world could care less about how you define terms in your Christian circles. Just don’t take your views into the public square. If they choose to define Christian Nationalism as a nation influenced by Christians that promote Christian morality because they believe in the God of the Bible, then we will have to live with their definition, and we will have to live with any consequences that come from that definition.

One of the interesting dynamics in the debate over Christian Nationalism is that there has been no acceptable definition of what it would look like if it were implemented in our nation.  Various evangelical and reformed protagonists in this debate have framed various scenarios of Christian Nationalism from a time-capsule approach of merely returning to the Eisenhower era to the portrait approach of monarchial tyrants in high places of the civil government.  How about a Chrisitan Prince?

The worst-case fear is that religious persecution would rise again as it did in Europe just a few hundred years ago.  Some Baptists today are afraid they might be put in jail under a Presbyterian ruler; and the first amendment, the right to free speech, would cease to exist. Theonomists would be in charge, and some young children would be put to death by stoning. As a theonomist and a clergyman in the PCA who follows both sides of this debate, I am aghast at the ridiculous characterizations of proponents of Christian Nationalism, on both sides.

Listen up! It would appear now that we evangelicals do not need to define Christian Nationalism anymore.  There is no need for any more books or articles on the topic.  Our enemies in the world have done it for us.  In speaking of Christian Nationalists, Heidi Przybyla, a journalist with the popular Politico has said “that they [Christian Nationalists] believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority.”  She went on to say that Christian Nationalists believe that our “rights don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court, they come from God.”  Well, there you go—a definition of Christian Nationalism without all the minutia of what one would look like in detail. We Reformed guys are into the details too much anyway.

My first reaction to this new definition of Christian Nationalism is that maybe Ms. Przybyla forgot to read the Declaration of Independence where our forefathers declared that “all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Our rights do come from God and not from man.

The Creator God of America in 1776 was the Trinitarian God of the Bible. At one time America was a Christian nation.  Christian nationalism gave rise to both a robust freedom of religion and the freedom of the press—two fundamental bullworks of what has been called American exceptionalism.  American Christian Nationalism even protected the right of free speech of men who were atheists.

So, to put it simply, Christian Nationalists believe in a nation where the rights and responsibilities of the people are derived from God himself, and not simply from a Congress that has become irrelevant, or a Supreme Court gone rogue, or even a neutral Constitution that can be interpreted according to the fleeting ideas of autonomous men.

What am I trying to say to evangelical and reformed Christians?  We’re all Christian Nationalists now!  If you believe that the laws of our nation-state should reflect, at a minimum, the last six of the ten commandments of the Bible, then you are a Christian Nationalist. If you vote for any candidate for public office who shares your views, then you are a Christian Nationalist.

For example, if you believe that abortion is the unlawful taking of human life because the Bible says so, then you are a Christian Nationalist.  If you believe that homosexual marriage is sinful because the Bible says so, then you are a Christian Nationalist. If you believe that God created mankind as male and female, and the Bible forbids a multi-binary identity, then you are a Christian Nationalist.  If you believe it is your right to say publicly that “Christ is King,” then you are a Christian Nationalist.

Now, maybe you disagree with this definition.  Maybe you don’t like it.  Maybe you think it is too simple.  Well, it really does not matter what you believe, or what you like, or what you think.  We evangelicals don’t make the rules anymore nor do we have the authority to create definitions in the public square.  Write all the books you want and publish all the articles you want.  You will add nothing to the public debate.  In the mind of the world, you are no longer a contributor to the public dialogue. You are only a threat to them.

Just remember that the world controls the definitions and what is allowed to be spoken in the public conversation.  You are safe within the walls of your church sanctuary. They could care less about how you define terms in your Christian circles. Just don’t take your views into the public square. If they choose to define Christian Nationalism as a nation influenced by Christians that promote Christian morality because they believe in the God of the Bible, then we will have to live with their definition, and we will have to live with any consequences that come from that definition.

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tenn.