But What About Christian Nationalism?

Preaching from Acts 17 — where the early Christians were dragged into court for saying ‘there is another king, Jesus’ — Pastor Kent Keller answers a question that flares up every Fourth of July. He starts with his own loyalties, plainly: ‘I love my God. I love my country. I worship my God. I do not worship my country.’ Patriotism is good; it becomes something else when we wrap the cross in the flag. Was America founded Christian? The historical evidence is real — the Mayflower Compact, Winthrop’s ‘city upon a hill,’ the Declaration’s four references to God — yet the founders deliberately refused an official state church, because faith can never be forced and the gospel persuades rather than coerces. Underneath the whole debate is the confession the church has made for 2,000 years: we have no king but Jesus. Grateful citizens; faithful first to Christ — and the freedom that lasts is not political but the freedom Christ won at the cross (Galatians 5:1).

Monday · Monday, July 6, 2026

Another King

"…and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

— Acts 17:7 (ESV)

The believers in Thessalonica got dragged into court over six words: ‘there is another king, Jesus.’ To a Roman world that insisted Caesar was lord, that sounded like treason — and it was the truest thing they could say. Kent put it plainly: we can love our country, but we have only one King. Not a party. Not a president. Not a flag. On the weekend America turned 250, it’s worth saying out loud — there is only one King, and his name is Jesus. Every earthly power will one day answer to him. Where you set your deepest allegiance today quietly shapes everything else about how you live.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are King over every ruler and every nation. Forgive me for the times I’ve handed my heart to lesser kings. Today I bow to you first — my highest allegiance, my truest citizenship. Reign in me. Amen.

Reflect: If Jesus — not a nation, party, or leader — is your only King, what’s one loyalty in your life that needs to move down a rank today?