Now most of these are tired old retread arguments that have failed so many times before. This country was never intended to be a theocracy. Many of the settlers were escaping religious persecution, so the last thing they would want to establish here was more religious persecution. For the sake of time, I will only focus on a few of these so we can move on to the last section of this introduction to Josh Howerton.
"Christians shouldn't "grasp for power" - The vibe that pursuing positions of authority is wrong comes from Critical Theory (that sees the world through an oppressed / oppressor lens), not Christian Theology (that sees the world through a sin / righteousness lens). Power is like money in the Bible. HAVING it is not moral or immoral. It's what you DO with it that is moral or immoral. If GODLY people don't lead, GODLESS people fill the void. So, Christians should seek positions of authority, as the Bible states: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked rule, the people mourn." Proverbs 29:2" - Josh Howerton
Howerton tries to frame this against things he politically disagrees with such as critical theory, which just asks for circumspection. That is not the insidious point here, however. So, his premise here is we must vote so that godly people lead instead of godless people. He even cites the key verse today which clearly delineates between righteous and wicked rulers. Yet the man he is advocating that Christians must vote for, is on record as saying he can grab women by their genitalia because he is famous. He has been convicted of rape. He has 34 other convictions. He was sleeping with a porn star when his third wife was home with his newborn son. Why in the world is it a "Christian" imperative to vote for such a man? How will that set up a righteous ruler? It is only because Josh Howerton and the NAR have made a Faustian bargain. They have made their deal with the devil and now they want you to make it with them.
"That's Christian Nationalism!" - 99% of the time "Christian Nationalism" is a scare label whose subtext is, "You CAN'T advocate for your beliefs in the public square, but I CAN advocate for mine." As Jon Tyson has pointed out, voting and advocating for their beliefs is what everyone in a democracy does, but Christians are increasingly the only group in society who are shamed for doing so. If someone accuses you of being a "Christian Nationalist", usually respond, "Yep. I'm a Christian. And I love my nation." - Josh Howerton
Yeah, no. Nice try. What Howerton is doing is simply breaking the term into separate words and then using the different definitions of those words. Yes, we are Christian and yes, we may love our country. It is when you put those words together however, then you get a different term, with different meanings. Christian nationalism is buoyed white supremacy. It is the belief that celebrates my right to privilege over other minority groups. It also is not 99% of the time used as a scare tactic. That is intellectually bankrupt. In Charlottesville they were chanting "Jews will not replace us" and there were not "fine people on both sides." Christian nationalists and the NAR openly advocate for forcing their beliefs on the rest of society. On January 6th, the rioters pummeled police officers with American flags, maced them, terrorized the Capitol and defecated in the well of the Senate. Do you know what else they did in the well? They stopped to pray and give thanks to Jesus Christ for their success. THAT is Christian nationalism and Christians should want nothing to do with it.
"Jesus didn't focus on politics." There's no way to read about Daniel, Esther, Joseph, Moses, Nehemiah, and John the Baptist and think Christians should avoid politics. "But Jesus said 'my kingdom is not of this world!'" Yes, and he also prayed his kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. "But Jesus said to give to Caesar what's Caesar's and to God what's God's!" Yes, and Caesar bears the image of God; therefore, Caesar belongs to God. Finally, as Os Guinness has pointed out, our civic context is different than Jesus': "We are not under Roman rule. We are citizens of a Republic, and every citizen is responsible for the health and vitality of the Republic."- Josh Howerton
Jesus did not only NOT focus on politics - He did NOTHING politically. We already answered the absurdity of arguing that it is because Jospeh was sold into slavery, then falsely imprisoned, then forgotten by the Cupbearer, and then was placed over all Egypt that we must vote today for Donald Trump. God did not give us the story of Joseph so that the church in 2024 could demand that Christians vote Republican. The part of the Lord's prayer that says about His kingdom coming is speaking about the eternal reign of Christ, not this bastardized Bethel Church nonsense about bringing heaven to earth. The carnal responsibility to vote includes a decision to not vote. Acting like that is somehow deficient is a very poor understanding of how a Republic works. Either way, these are carnal matters, not Christian.
"We shouldn't be "CULTURE WAR CHRISTIANS" - As Nathan Finnochio has pointed out, Europe exists because early Christians "engaged in the culture wars." Europe resisted Islamic invasion because the Medieval Church "engaged in the culture wars." The American Revolution happened because Presbyterians "engaged in the culture wars." Chattel slavery was abolished and the Civil Rights movements happened because Christians like William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King Jr "engaged in the culture wars." We should be more interested in the future of the church, but we should also provide a cultural future for our children in which they aren't surrounded by perversion, indoctrination, godlessness, opposition, and lawlessness." - Josh Howerton
