Let’s agree on something: I’m a nobody. All I have is my own experience with Christ. I claim no authority other than that of the Holy Spirit. If He moves you to read my stuff, then it’s your duty. Otherwise, I’m just another bit of wind whistling in the rocks of the desert. Either way, I cannot be silent.
Christian Nationalism is a package of half-truths. It comes to Scripture with a preconceived notion of an end product that needs some flavor to identify it. Because it makes false assumptions about Christ and His Father, it is riddled with perversions of what the Bible has to say about life here. The basic principles of moral truth get twisted into lies. The people who promote it don’t know Jesus very well.
I have no doubt that, should my chatter come to their attention, I would be counted among their enemies. It’s not a question of whether they are honorable, have integrity, or any other such noble imagery. It’s a question of whether they are on course. I say they are not. I have no interest in calling their names and shooting at them. It’s not about the people; I’ll endeavor to keep this all about the ideas.
Within our cultural context, the best way to help people see Jesus is to make this about Him, not about those who claim to serve Him. I don’t want to provoke a “circle the wagons” response that serves no purpose other than to distract from the key issue. I’m claiming that they don’t really know Jesus in the first place. Whether they are God’s Elect is not the issue; they aren’t getting hold their divine inheritance from the Covenant.
The reason for discussing them is the recent surging of their combined voice calling from a different kind of wilderness: The American Redoubt. This refers to inland states in the American northwest: Idaho in particular, but including Montana, Wyoming and western counties of Washington and Oregon. It’s politics, not a genuine faith movement.
There is an actual faith movement going on at the same time. The center of gravity seems to be Moscow, ID. It is not my kind of faith, but I cannot deny the Lord is at work there.
This article describes things from the obvious political angle. It paints a picture of right-wing refugees from western Blue states congregating among their own kind in a defensible stronghold. Yes, I am acquainted with saner folks who moved up there, so realize that the linked article is at least partly hype. Be aware that there is a very large movement here that is quite diverse across a wide range of opinion about what it means to do things right. What gets mainstream attention is the political threat to globalist orthodoxy, which is meant to distract from the real issues.
Thus, the mainstream talks about this political manifestation as the core nature of what’s going on there in the American Redoubt. I can tell you quickly that this is false. It’s just the outward manifestation of something with far greater substance. But because it has a political face, any effort to research the movement will yield mostly comments about the internal conflicts.
The existence of internal conflicts is entirely natural, but it distresses those involved. They want greater unity for the sake of effectiveness, and that’s the fatal flaw. They are trying to exercise control over something God will not put in their hands. Their very worldly orientation prevents them from seeing how God actually wants to work in this movement — and He most certainly does want to work there.
The people involved in the political side are going to miss the miracles God is doing with or without them. They aren’t going to see where the miracles manifest because they don’t understand His plans, and don’t know what to look for. God is sponsoring the exodus, but everyone is carping about their comforts and refusing to see the greater joy in the destination. They are going to provoke God and end up taking extra laps around Mount Sinai.
There’s more…
