Christian Nationalism, and the need for new hearts

As explained previously, I am no fan of "Christian Nationalism" (inasmuch as it's still possible to be for or against a label which increasingly appears to mean something different to each person who uses it. That in turn is a sign of a project that's dominated more by in-house debate rather than useful service of people in need).

It's certainly infinitely superior, for everyone, to have laws that are based on truth than laws based upon lies, and it's a good thing when the One who is the Truth is explicitly named and honoured by those under him. This observation, though, has only the slightest overlap with the Christian Nationalist idea that Christ has called churches in the West to take political power over nations, and that we are now at a stage where we can put such a plan into action.

In fact, such an idea completely contradicts important and central things that the Bible does clearly tell us.

One of the key lessons throughout the Old Testament is the need for a new heart. Without regeneration, we cannot even see the kingdom of God. Man's heart, after the fall, is blind, ignorant and deceitful - to such an extent, that there is no hope for man at all, unless he has a new heart. If the entire earth is washed clean in a cataclysmic judgment, man does not long retain the lessons. If people are scattered and divided across the earth and their languages confused because of man's pride, he soon puts it aside in his thinking. If a ruler's nation suffers plague after plague, he will carry on in his hardness of heart until all his people and even his own household is destroyed, rather than consider the wisdom of truly turning to the LORD.

But, but, what if man was given a perfect law, given directly from the mouth and finger of Almighty God himself? What if the people to whom it was given had seen his great signs and wonders, and been redeemed as slaves and brought into a wonderful inheritance, led there personally by the divine presence? What if his tabernacle were amongst them? What if he gave them peace from their enemies, insofar as they kept his law, giving them perfect freedom to walk in his ways, and brought them trouble only when they turned away from it, so that they would turn back? What if they actually heard his voice speak from the holy mountain? Surely, surely, then, they would be a wise people and walk in his ways forever?

No, they would not; because of their hearts. Only a New Covenant, in which the law is written upon their hearts, inscribed upon their very souls by the Spirit of God directly, can do this. Only by becoming part of this New Covenant can people be changed. Otherwise, they will love evil, and pursue it relentlessly, because it is what they admire and desire.

What, then, do "Christian Nationalists" hope to achieve by calling for laws that are explicitly based upon the Nicene Creed, whose fundamental principle is "Jesus is Lord", etcetera? Is it something more than an Internet parlour game for those apparently without enough other things to do in serving Jesus, or whose main aim is to gain followers after themselves by staking out their positions rather than doing the things Jesus actually told us to be doing? The very best laws, so the biblical narrative intentionally and explicitly teaches us, will not succeed in stopping the people under them from continually turning to rank idolatry. On the contrary, they will spectacularly fail. Even if God himself dwells in your midst, you will become a nation given over to grinding the faces of the poor, the most depraved vices, and open advocacy of what is evil, no matter how good your laws are (though if they are Bible-based, there is also likely to be a good dose of hypocrisy, the kind that God finds even an even worse offence than the above, around too).

So again, what are they hoping to achieve?

From what I can discern, at this point in discussion, a list of either/or fallacies and truths that aren't the pertinent ones to our actual context are likely to be trotted out. "So, you want ungodly laws!" "If you don't want ungodly laws, you're already a Christian Nationalist!" "We're just campaigning for to get rid of ungodly laws, what's wrong with that?" "It's Christ or chaos!" "He is the king of kings!" "You are supporting the secular consensus that is ruining us!", etcetera.

• "So, you want ungodly laws": no, I want godly laws.
• "If you don't want ungodly laws, you're already a Christian Nationalist!": no, the idea of building a "Christian nation" through political campaigning for better laws is a significant error. The Christian nation is the kingdom of God, which you enter through being born again, repentance and faith in Christ. The church is the city on the hill which acts in society as salt and light, but is not called upon to rule over it.
• "We're just campaigning to get rid of laws, what's wrong with that?" That's a classic motte-and-bailey move; Christian Nationalists in their published literature are arguing for vastly more than this.
•  "It's Christ or chaos!" - quite so, but please do not identify Christ with your particular campaign for political power, as that dishonours him and puts a barrier between people and coming to him. For the truth of that, please consult actual real-world experience, not empty theories; I don't think either of us find it convincing if  a Communist says "ah, but it just hasn't been implemented quite correctly yet, and the results would have been entirely the opposite if it had".
•  "He is the king of kings!" - Amen, and please read the New Testament when he has told you is the time when you can reign with him, and stop asking if you can yet now sit at his right or left hand.
•  "You are supporting the secular consensus that is ruining us!" - this is an empty slur. It's as likely to convince me as "you're just a wannabe theocrat who isn't happy unless he's policing the details of everybody else's lives" is to you (unless of course, you actually are).

If someone actually wants to see a nation that more closely reflects God's truth, the thing to do is to work on plans for spreading the gospel, to pray earnestly for God's blessing on those plans, and to put them into action, repeatedly. When I see Christian Nationalists online, their main interest seems to be in staking out their personal positions, drawing the already-converted into their folds, and enlarging their personal reach into more and more existing churches. The very thought of such a thing, in light of the fact that Christ will soon judge us for what we have done with the minas that he left in our hands, ought to make us tremble. Brothers and sisters, let us give ourselves to serving Christ by reaching the needy, and like the plague let us avoid empty talk, especially including empty talk about the law.