If we are not a Christian nation, founded upon true worship of the one and only God who revealed Himself to us in the form of His son Jesus Christ, then we must ask what a Christian nation really looks like. The Religious Right, and others, use the identity of America as a Christian nation in order to motivate people to obey God’s law on a political level (and not necessarily a personal one). They therefore speak of the nation, as a whole, turning back to God so that He might bless us and restore our land (Need Isaiah quote). Or so it seems to me. This exhortation was given to Israel and some Christians claim it for America as well. But therein lies the fundamental problem: we are not Israel. There has ever been only one truly “Christian” nation and that has been Israel. If America were a Christian nation it would look a lot more like ancient Israel. How do they compare?
Firstly it is important to note that Israel was ruled by Judges who were charismatic leaders. When Israel, as a whole, decides it would prefer a king to the judges, Mauchline describes the differences between the two systems as Israel wanting a king who “seeks Yahweh’s blessing on their endeavors” and not a “charismatic leader directing, in Yahweh’s name, the armies of Israel.” The difference is an important one to note because we must remember that Yahweh was to be Israel’s only king and the people wanted to replace him with a human being who would not rule in Yahweh’s stead, under His direction and sovereignty, but who would rule in his own stead. A human king would direct Israel as he saw fit and then Yahweh to bless him rather than a judge who was appointed to direct Israel as Yahweh saw fit. Therefore the first point of difference between Israel and the USA is that Israel’s leaders were at least intended, at first, to serve God first rather than lead a nation. It was in serving God that the judges led their people and not the other way around.
Secondly we must take note of the fact that God’s intention for Israel was a special and unique one. It is difficult to find the middle ground here, as surely what held true in the Old Testament for Israel largely holds true for contemporary Christians as well. Part of the problem arises, however, when we assume (in a rather outdated fashion) that the USA is the heart of Christianity, or even that Christianity is a western religion. We need to remember that there was a nation chosen to be a nation in order to specifically testify to God’s glory and that is Israel: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God’s will on the matter is echoed in the book of Deuteronomy which says: “He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”
Thirdly, it is imperative we remember that although Israel alone was chosen to be a kingdom of priests for God that it didn’t enjoy special benefits all the time. Yahweh is not a God who casually overlooks the sins of anyone, even His closest followers, although He certainly forgives them. This is a reminder aptly demonstrated to Israel when Joshua and the Israelite army prepared to march on Jericho as their first conquest in Canaan. Although God has promised to give the land to His people Joshua, upon meeting the Angel of the Lord on the road, felt compelled to ask this divine figure whose side of the battle he was on. When the answer came that the Angel of the Lord was on neither side, but rather that he is “a commander in the armies of the LORD” Joshua and the Israelites are reminded that God does not stand wholly in support of any human side in any conflict because no culture perfectly serves God.
We can tell that Joshua expected this angel to be on one side of the conflict given his question – there were only two possible answers to Joshua and yet the angel chooses neither. As Harris, Brown and Moore note, the angel’s response is an emphatic negative response, similar to a “no!” or “indeed!” in our language. They go on to note that God remains independent and judges on how people obey or disobey God and that, in light of this, the angel does not commit to supporting one side over or against another even during this “herem” or “holy war.” “The Lord,” Harris, Brown and Moore write, “remains independent from any ritual or magical incantation, and divine support can never be assumed.”
Before we lose ourselves in the differences between our nation and Israel we must come back to their significance. What does all this mean for us? Firstly it means that Israel’s first leaders were judges who were expected to keep Israel loyal to Yahweh as their king and not rule as one. The office of judge was both religious and secular as there simply was no division of church-and-state in ancient Israel that even comes close to what we have in America. Our presidents, on the other hand, are first and foremost secular leaders who may or may not be influenced by their particular religious traditions and who are expected to lead the people for the people’s sake, not God’s. In our practice God does not enter the equation except, sadly, to be used to garner more votes by the misuse and abuse of His name.
Nor does our nation’s founding documents mention anything about the USA’s existence being fundamentally based upon glorifying God and serving Him. There is certainly an acknowledgement that He exists, along with a justification of the American rebellion rooted in the rights granted to mankind by God, but there is little else said of Him that does not serve to justify their actions. Whether rightly or wrongly I will not comment upon as it is beyond the scope of this project but what is important to note is that these documents are largely secular with some religious justification whereas in ancient Israel the entire nation existed for a strictly religious purpose: to bring glory to God.
Lastly we are reminded that our politics are not God’s politics. Many well-meaning Christians, and some manipulative ones, are quite adamant that we need to repent as a nation and turn back to the Godly founding principles of our country. Now certainly it would be a Godly thing to do to turn, as one nation with one voice, to God. However let us be clear on one point: we would not be turning “back” to God as the nation was never, I contest, fully His despite what many would claim. I suspect that many motivations behind bringing prayer back into public school and keeping the Ten Commandments on the lawns of courthouses is not so much a love of God inasmuch as a love of the “Old America” with its Boy Scouts, free market and blue-collar self-made men. An America where prayer was in schools and everything was right with the United States which dominated the world’s politics. Now, however, the world is again changing. There are other nations that grow in strength and political clout as America’s wanes, there are younger generations that question, threaten and abolish the status-quo of older citizens. I suspect, as cynical as it might seem, that if the United States of America were as God-centered as some claim it used to be just because prayer was in schools and “In God we trust” gladly written on money, then we would not be in the miasmic cultural confusion that now grips us.
There may be some comfort found in having the pledge of allegiance contain references to God but let me be quite blunt here: God Himself while a comforter, is also dangerous. He is dangerous because, as C.S. Lewis said of Aslan, “he is not a tame lion.” God is not a god of complacency but of radical and supernatural self-transformation and rejuvenation. Perhaps if we had taken God as seriously as we should then we would not be where we are. What we must understand however, just like Joshua and Israel learned, is that it is a dangerous thing to stand against God and His will – but it can also be dangerous to have God on your side as well.
