Daniel's Citizenship was Not For Sale
Ours Should not be Either
On January 6 while I was finishing my Christmas series, most of the blogs I follow, my co-conspirators in the fight against Christian Nationalism were reflecting on the third anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. These blogs discussed how Christian Nationalism played a significant role in this attack, and argued, correctly, that Christian Nationalism is a threat to democracy and the liberty we cherish. I completely support the efforts of these bloggers because while all forms of earthly government fall short, I think the values outlined in our constitution, when we live up to them—especially our Founders’ commitment to religious liberty and the separation of church and state—are the best of all the imperfect systems of this world for ensuring the dignity of all people, including Christians. The fact that our government does not arrest or kill anyone because of their religious beliefs is a privilege we should not take for granted, but religious liberty should also include opposing legislation based on religious beliefs that are not shared by everyone. But I feel compelled to focus more on how Christian Nationalism is a threat to the credibility of Christianity itself. It troubles me that some of the most prominent voices speaking out against Christian Nationalism are atheist organizations like the Freedom from Religion Foundation, or people who identify themselves as former Christians. While they have good intentions, they speak as if the Christianity part of Christian Nationalism is the problem, when I believe it is the nationalism that is the problem. As I discussed when reflecting on Malcolm X, I think these people have tasted so much of the rotten fruit produced by Christian Nationalism that they are not aware, or have forgotten how sweet the true message of Christianity is.
I was excited to find out that my church was going to start this year with a sermon series on the book of Daniel, as I have studied this book before and it has so much content relevant for our world today. But while I understand the importance of the church staying out of politics, I found myself frustrated that the pastor didn’t more directly address the implications of this message for our political climate, implications that evangelicals who listen to around 40 hours of partisan media for every one hour in church each week may miss. So with all due respect to my pastor, who I humbly acknowledge has more education and life experience than I do, I feel compelled to write my own reflections based on his sermons for the next few weeks on this blog.
The summer after eighth grade, I had the privilege of traveling to Italy with a children’s choir I sang with. The highlight of this trip was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing a Saturday evening mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Before the trip, we were strongly encouraged to learn some basic Italian. While perfection wasn’t expected, we were told that the Italian people appreciate when tourists make an effort to speak their language. The choir director also hired an etiquette coach to show us the slightly different European customs for using eating utensils, as making an effort to do as the Romans do (literally) also shows respect. Showing respect was not only the right thing to do. It was also important because due to George W. Bush’s foreign policy decisions, and the loud, arrogant, ethnocentric behavior of “ugly American” tourists before us, not all Europeans thought highly of Americans. We understood that we were unofficial ambassadors from America, and we wanted to represent America well. Despite this preparation, we all felt like fish out of water, and I am sure it was very obvious to the Italians that we were Americans as well. Sometimes, the implications of this were comical. For example, for some reason, whenever my mom who accompanied me tried to order two plates of food, trying to communicate through hand gestures that one was for her and one was for me, they would give her four plates. But if I recall, we shared the extra food with people at our table and given that we were suburban Americans not accustomed to so much walking on old cobblestone roads, the extra food did not go to waste. But one hot afternoon when we had time to visit the Trevi Fountain, we decided to treat ourselves to a scoop of gelato from a nearby stand. But the cup was filled to overflowing, and as Mom and I shared it, some of it spilled on the bench near the Trevi Fountain where we were sitting. Mom noticed that an Italian cop was pointing at us and giving us a dirty look, and terrified, Mom frantically cleaned up the spill and said we had to throw the rest of the gelato away. I was disappointed, but I completely understood her thought process. While we make every effort to be law-abiding citizens here in America, we would not be so fearful if a cop yelled at us for spilling ice cream on a monument in this country because we are U.S. citizens who understand our country’s laws, and our rights.
But the Bible is clear that we are supposed to feel like fish out of water in our countries of earthly citizenship too, because we are citizens of heaven, and I think at the root of Christian Nationalism is a failure to appreciate this. In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says, “In God’s eyes, the greatest heroes of faith are not those who achieve prosperity, success and power in this life, but those who treat life as a temporary assignment and serve faithfully, expecting their promised reward in eternity” (Page 51).
The most well-known story in chapter 1 of the book of Daniel is when Daniel, who was among the best and brightest of the nobility in Judah and was kidnapped and taken to Babylon for training to serve king Nebuchadnezzar, resolved that he was not going to defile himself by eating the royal food and wine offered to him from the king’s table. Instead, he asked the guard appointed to Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to test them by giving them only vegetables and water for ten days, after which time he could compare their appearance with that of those who ate the royal food. Sure enough, at the end of this ten day trial period, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who ate the royal food. I have seen this passage referenced in articles about healthy eating in a Christian context. You could think of the royal food in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace as the modern American diet—I imagine lots of red meat, maybe cheese and definitely decadent dessert options—and while being plump was once a sign of wealth and status even as recently as my grandparents’ generation, science has proven that a lower-calorie plant-based diet is much healthier. But that is not what this passage is really about. The Bible does not say that Daniel didn’t want to eat the royal food because he needed to lose weight, or because he feared the temptation of so much decadent food would cause him to gain the freshmen 15. The Bible says that he did not want to “defile himself” by eating the royal food (Daniel 1:8). By refusing to eat the royal food, Daniel was declaring to Nebuchadnezzar that his citizenship was not for sale.
In Daniel’s day, Babylon was the superpower, wealthy, prosperous, even decadent. On the other hand, his homeland in the southern region of Israel, was once part of a powerful, prosperous empire, but due to the mismanagement of kings who disobeyed God, was now a backwater region where people barely got by in a subsistence economy a region that was weak and easy to conquer. Nebuchadnezzar was hoping that by wining and dining Daniel and his friends, he could shift their loyalty, so that when they returned to govern Judah on Nebuchadnezzar’s behalf, they would praise Babylonian culture and customs, and shift the loyalty of the rest of Judah’s people.
The early church described in the book of Acts lived by Daniel’s example. They had no political power, and in fact faced brutal persecution, but they endured this without compromising their faith because they understood that their citizenship was in Heaven. When Constantine outlawed the persecution of Christians and gave them political power, the allure of this worldly peace and comfort is understandable. But before long, this newfound privilege corrupted Christians so that they forgot how it felt when they were persecuted, and used the sword to persecute others. In short, they became a friend of the world, and “anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” James 4:4). And just as a former U.S. citizen who decides to join a terrorist organization intent on harming America is no longer fit to be an ambassador for the United States, Christians who allow themselves to be metaphorically wined and dined with access to political power to spread their faith through legislation rather than love, are no longer effective ambassadors for Christ who preached that in his kingdom, the meek shall inherit the earth, and the humble will be exalted. And this, in a nutshell is a large factor behind why the secular world does not think highly of Christians these days. Just as respectful Americans should be embarrassed by the bad reputation “ugly Americans” have given us abroad, true Christians should be embarrassed/heartbroken by the behavior of pastors who twist Scripture to champion Christian Nationalism, giving Christianity a bad reputation in secular society, and even leading astray kind, well-intentioned Christian friends and neighbors who are not as educated in Scripture and thus may not even realize they are selling their heavenly citizenship when they practically worship a candidate whose life is the antithesis of Christian virtue but who panders to them with promises of political power. So I implore you, when you travel abroad, don’t be an “ugly American.” But even more important, during our temporary stay on earth in our countries of earthly citizenship, we must make every effort not to be “ugly Christians” as the behavior of “ugly Christians” could have eternal consequences.
That Reminds Me of a Song: In the spirit of keeping it Christmas forever, and given that I often think in song, I thought it would be fun to end each post with a song that came to mind while writing the post, because the wonderful thing about our Christian faith is that it has inspired so much beautiful music that can be savored any time of year. So for this post, I leave you with Carrie Underwood’s Temporary Home. The whole song is beautiful, as the characters, a little boy in foster care, and a single mother in a half-way house understand that their adversity is only temporary, and the culmination of the song, the old man in the hospital bed, is a poignant reminder that our lives here with the curse of sin and death are only temporary. This song brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it.