Christian Nationalism and Progressivism vs. The Good News of Jesus Christ

We are living in a moment where political identities are becoming spiritual identities.

Increasingly, people are not just voting their convictions, they are discipled by them. On one side, Christian Nationalism wraps the cross in a flag. On the other hand, Progressivism often reshapes faith in line with cultural trends. Both claim moral urgency. Both promise a better world. And both, in their own ways, fall short of the transforming power of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. This is not a call to disengage from society. It’s a call to discern what is ultimate and what is not.

Christian Nationalism confuses the kingdom of God with the kingdoms of this world. It seeks to preserve moral order, but often through power, control, and cultural dominance rather than sacrificial love. At its core is a subtle but dangerous shift: Jesus becomes a means to an end: national strength, cultural stability, or political victory. But the way of Jesus looks nothing like this. Jesus refused political power when offered (Matthew 4). He declared His kingdom “not of this world” (John 18:36). He conquered not through force, but through the cross.

When Christianity becomes fused with nationalism, it loses its prophetic voice. It can no longer challenge injustice if that injustice serves its preferred power structure. The result is a distorted gospel – one that baptizes power instead of crucifying it.
 
Progressivism often begins with a sincere desire for justice, inclusion, and compassion – values deeply rooted in the heart of God. But it can drift into something else: a redefinition of truth based on cultural consensus rather than divine revelation. Here, the danger is different but equally serious. Instead of using power to control, it reshapes truth to affirm. Sin becomes rebranded as self-expression, repentance becomes unnecessary, the authority of Scripture becomes negotiable.

In this framework, Jesus is no longer Savior and Lord, but primarily a moral teacher or social reformer (John 14:5 – ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life). The offense of the gospel—the call to die to self—is softened or removed entirely (Luke 9:23 – whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves, and follow me). But a gospel without repentance is not good news. It offers affirmation without transformation.

Though they appear opposed, Christian Nationalism and Progressivism share a deeper similarity: Both attempt to use Jesus to advance a vision of the world, rather than submitting to Jesus as Lord of all. One prioritizes power and order, the other prioritizes freedom and affirmation.

But the gospel transcends both.

The kingdom of God is not built by seizing control, nor by reshaping truth to fit culture. It is built through surrender to a crucified King who redefines both power and freedom.
The gospel does something neither ideology can do: It changes people from the inside out.
Political systems can legislate behavior. Cultural movements can influence norms.
But only the gospel can transform the human heart. And that is where the real crisis lies.
Our deepest problems are not merely political—they are spiritual. Pride, Greed, Fear, Tribalism, and the need for control or validation.

No policy can eradicate these. No movement can fully heal them. But the gospel speaks directly to them. Through Jesus, power is redefined as servanthood; justice is fulfilled through mercy and truth; identity is received, not constructed; enemies are not defeated but loved. This is not a weakness; it is the only power capable of lasting change.

If the church is to be faithful in this moment, it must resist the temptation to be co-opted by either extreme. This means, in my opinion, refusing to equate the kingdom of God with any nation or political agenda, refusing to dilute the truth of the gospel to align with cultural pressures, remaining rooted in Scripture, centered on Jesus, and led by the Spirit

The church does not exist to take power or to mirror culture. It exists to embody an entirely different way of being human. A way marked by humility instead of dominance, truth instead of relativism, love instead of fear, and faithfulness instead of cultural approval. In a world fractured by ideology, the gospel offers something radically different—not a middle ground, but a higher one. Not compromise, but clarity. Not balance, but surrender. The question is not whether we care about the world’s problems—we should. The question is whether we believe the way of Jesus is sufficient to address them. Because if it is, then our allegiance cannot be divided.

We don’t need a politicized gospel. We don’t need a culturally adapted gospel. We need the gospel of Jesus Christ—unchanged, unfiltered, and unashamed.

And it is enough.

Check out the latest All Saints podcast: Designer Jesus vs. The Real One