Is America a Christian nation?

There is serious debate these days over whether the United States is a Christian nation. Of course not everyone agrees on this issue. Growing up in an Evangelical church I never once questioned the
assumption that God had blessed America like no other nation on earth, thus making her Christian. 

For me America was indisputably a Christian nation. For many she still is. I wonder.

We may have churches scattered all over the American landscape; we may have “In God We Trust” stamped on our money; there may be American Flags and Christian Flags bracketing the cross in houses of Christian worship; but does any of this make us a Christian nation?

Perhaps asking if America is a Christian nation is the wrong question to ask. 

Echoing the words of G.K. Chesterton, author John Shelby Spong offers a telling observation: 

“Perhaps we need to confront the possibility that Christianity hasn’t failed, as our critics constantly assert; the reality, I believe, is that Christianity has never been understood and thus has never rally been tried” (Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy).

In other words, it’s one thing to make the claim that one’s nation is in fact Christian, it’s quite another thing to make that claim stick with solid evidence. In fact, there is considerable evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps we would be on more solid ground were we to claim that America reflects some of the better Christian values rather than claiming she is unquestionably a Christian nation. I think perhaps we might be able to gather more telling evidence to support this less ambitious claim. Maybe.

But there is compelling evidence today that our nation continues to drift far from many of those endearing Christian values that some believe have made us a great nation. If the current presidential race hasn’t alarmed us that we as a nation are in serious trouble with our naive claim of being a Christian nation, then I suspect we are blinded by our own Laodicean heart—a heart characterized by its own lukewarmness. 

As Spong suggests, have we really misunderstood what Christianity is about? Have we mindlessly latched onto the Christian moniker without any serious thought as to what that might mean?

In 2007 a Christian pastor dared to question the notion that America was a Christian nation. He preached a series of sermons that later became a book entitled, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church.

To say the least Greg Boyd’s sermon series as well as his book were controversial. His conclusion was that America in fact is not a Christian nation, if one understands what being a Christian nation fully implies. Many of his church members bailed on him, angrily renouncing their church membership. 

Do I want my nation to be unapologetically Christian? Only if her leaders fully understand what it means to become a follower of Christ. Do I object that America is really nothing more than nominally Christian? Of course I do. 

America has not lost her way; she never quite found it in the first place. I know this is a hard pill for many Christians to swallow. Some will become angry with me for suggesting such a thing.

But history bears the truth given the opportunity to expose its true self. 

When thousands of American Christians jump on a political bandwagon that is built upon exclusion, fear, a disrespect for women and the poor, hatred for those who are different from us white folks, and promises to make America great again, I suspect there has been a horrible misunderstanding of what being a Christian really means, let alone being a Christian nation.

For many of these Christians the Gospels have been covered over by increasing layers of Nationalism and white supremacy. Fear has become the rallying point around which so many are placing their hopes on the aspirations of a white messiah whose messianic promises of greatness have garnered so much appeal to so many Christians. 

I fear for America’s soul. 

Not because she isn’t truly Christian, but rather because so many believe she is when there is no real evidence to support such a claim.

But more importantly I fear for our Nation's soul because so many are trusting the claims of a man whose promises are going to lead us to nothing but disillusionment and disappointment. False messiahs are a dime a dozen--history verifies this truth.

Time will tell if this is the case.