Whose God

So many nations, as well as territories, overtly claim that God is on their side, primarily when it comes to war.

On this subject, Bryan Zahnd, writes:

Dostoevsky in his spiritual/political novel, Demons, …explains that every great nation must believe that God is their God — that they have God on their side. 

The necessary sacrifices for continued greatness required of citizens by empires, especially as it pertains to war, can scarcely be made unless the name of God can be invoked as their God. …

Great nations inevitably make a proprietary claim upon God. They make him their God so that God’s chief duty is to maintain the interests of the nation. Of course this immediately appears as preposterous, unless it’s your nation we’re talking about. 

[In this regard] America is just as susceptible to this kind of delusional thinking regarding God as the other great nations that have gone before us. 

On a related note: American Christians tend to think, (if not actually, then emotionally) of America as a kind of Israel. So that the prophets’ messages to Israel in the Old Testament are generally applicable to America.

But I would suggest that America is more analogous to the Roman Empire in Paul’s day, than the kingdom of Israel in Jeremiah’s day. 

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More from Bryan Zahnd:

I remember the time that an important European pastor asked me not to teach on the kingdom of God, because, as he said, “You American Christians all think America is the kingdom of God.” (Though I protested that I did not think this, I understand how he arrived at that opinion.)

More recently, I had a lengthy discussion with several Australian Christian leaders who had just returned from a conference where the topic was how the Australian church could best position itself to speak into the politics of the nation. They concluded that the model of the American religious right was a perfect example of what not to do.

The mistake the American evangelical church has made is … becoming openly partisan with one political party, … as their defacto religious wing.