What would Christian nationalism actually look like?

I've been thinking about Christian nationalism a lot lately.

One of the interesting things about Christianity is that it was born in the midst of the Roman Empire with a local government that was subservient to Rome.

So most of the New Testament is written to people who are the underdogs, not to the people in power. To see what Jesus thinks about power, most of the time you have to pay more attention to what he does than what he says.

That leads to a lot of room for interpretation, and it makes it difficult to take Christianity and turn it into a national religion that looks anything like its original form.

But there are rare times Jesus speaks about the nations or about power.

One is a passage in the 25th chapter of the book of Matthew where Jesus is separating those who knew him from those who didn't. If you've spent much time in church — and I mean any kind of church, liberal, conservative, anything that says it's Christian — you've probably heard it.

The test Jesus applies is whether they helped him when he was naked, thirsty, or in prison.

If you're like me, every sermon you've ever heard about that passage emphasizes, "I assure you that when you have it done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me." (Or if you prefer the King James, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.")

What's interesting to me is that not one sermon I've heard emphasizes the beginning of the story. I'm using the Common English Bible here because I think it's as good a translation as we have.

Jesus is talking about his glorious return. He'll be sitting on a throne surrounded by angels taking his place as king. And here's what he says:

"All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." (Other translations say "the people" instead of "them," but that's not what the Greek says. I looked it up.)

The nations. Not individuals.

And both the ones who gave clothes, food, and prison visits and the ones who didn't (and are told, "Depart from me; I never knew you") are surprised. They were just doing what they did, and Jesus explains that they were doing it to him.

The other passage that comes to mind is the first sermon Jesus gives. This one is in the fourth chapter of the book of Luke.

He mainly just reads from the prophet Isaiah (which, like all the prophets, has a lot to say about power and governing):

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,

to proclaim release to the prisoners

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to liberate the oppressed,

and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he says, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it."

I don't think we've ever seen a nation that enacts this vision, and it's nearly opposite the one Christian nationalists are pushing.

Imagine: the hungry are fed, the thirsty have water, the prisoners are freed, the blind see (health care, maybe?), the oppressed are liberated, and there's good news for the poor.

I want to live there.