{"id":15923,"date":"2018-01-18T07:57:52","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T15:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15923"},"modified":"2018-01-18T07:57:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T15:57:52","slug":"nationalism-and-the-kingdom-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/nationalism-and-the-kingdom-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationalism and the Kingdom of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cImagined Communities<\/em> represents one of the cornerstones of modernist thought in nationalism studies.\u201d[1]<\/a> Anderson proposed the idea that nations and nationalism are modern constructs whose establishment was rooted in the tandem development of print capitalism and the use of vernacular language, which enabled groups of people to create a shared identity. This shared identity\u2014which exists in the imagination of the group\u2014is so strong that its members are willing to kill and be killed for it.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Anderson, the Enlightenment\u2019s dismantling of religion and the weakening of monarchies paved the way for nationalism, as their mutual decline left an unmistakable void. But as I read the subsequent analysis, asserting that \u201cthree fundamental conceptions\u2026lost their axiomatic grip on men\u2019s minds,\u201d[3]<\/a> I began to ponder the fundamental difference between religion and the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

The three \u201cfundamental conceptions\u201d[4]<\/a> that Anderson identifies are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The idea that existential truths could only be expressed in certain languages (Latin for Christians, Arabic for Muslims).<\/li>\n
  2. The belief that monarchs were divinely appointed by God.<\/li>\n
  3. The notion that the origin of the universe is inextricably linked to the human existence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It may seem paradoxical to say it, (perhaps even heretical to some), but I\u2019m pretty sure God was cheering when these \u201cfundamental conceptions\u201d lost their \u201caxiomatic grip\u201d on humans\u2019 minds. Or in plain English, I\u2019d bet God jumped for joy when people finally started questioning what the Church and those in power had emphatically labelled \u201cunquestionable.\u201d Alas, isn\u2019t that exactly what Jesus did?<\/p>\n

    \u201cNo surprise,\u201d Anderson concludes, \u201cthat the search was on, so to speak, for a new way of linking fraternity, power and time meaningfully together.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

    No surprise, indeed. For humans have always used the intersections of fraternity, power, and time to understand their place in the world and to make meaning of life. And while I agree that these forces combined to give rise to nationalism, I see how they also paved the way for a new understanding of the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

    During the Protestant Reformation, leaders like Luther and Calvin contributed to the dismantling of these \u201cfundamental conceptions.\u201d Luther dared to translate the Bible into the German vernacular and Calvin \u201cbelieved free election was the best method of establishing a ruler.\u201d[6]<\/a> In his book Heroic Leadership, <\/em>former Jesuit Lowney reminds us that confident adaptation comes from \u201cknowing what\u2019s negotiable and what isn\u2019t.\u201d[7]<\/a> Lowney says that \u201cLuther and others fully exploited the full power of the printing press,\u201d[8]<\/a> demonstrating further that the Reformers started the ball rolling a century before the Enlightenment took center stage. While monarchs and the Roman Catholic Church may have held to these three \u201cfundamental conceptions,\u201d the Reformers clearly viewed them as \u201cnegotiable\u201d and had already begun to dismantle them.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s more, while Anderson acknowledges that the Enlightenment brought these \u201cfundamental conceptions\u201d into question, it also brought with it \u201cits own modern darkness.\u201d[9]<\/a> This darkness is related to the fact that the Enlightenment movement did not offer a satisfactory explanation for suffering, and therefore failed to give meaning to life. From Anderson\u2019s perspective, this opened the door to nationalism. Reviewer Calhoun explains how nationalism attempted to fill that darkness, \u201cEventual independence movements were typically not simply negative rebellions against empire, but positive assertions of concepts, models and even blueprints for new societies.\u201d[10]<\/a> Humans need something to live FOR, not just something to be against.<\/p>\n

    It was the phrase \u201cblueprints for new societies\u201d that caught my attention and got me thinking about the Kingdom of God. Isn\u2019t that Jesus\u2019 \u201cblueprint for a new society\u201d? We, the people of the God, the Church with a capital C, are also an \u201cimagined community,\u201d but one born in the imagination of God. Christ himself challenged all three of the \u201cfundamental conceptions,\u201d but the result was not a form of nationalism, but rather the establishment of a \u201choly nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cBut you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

    Unfortunately, nationalism often leads people and nations to believe that God is on their side, failing to recognize that God’s Kingdom is for everyone. It does not respect political borders. It does not refuse entry based on the color of one’s skin or the origin of one’s passport.<\/p>\n

    Beyond that, our devotion is not to the Kingdom of God, but to the King, who laid down his sovereignty to unite himself with his own people and to elevate them to the status of \u201cjoint heirs.\u201d[12]\u00a0<\/a>And while we certainly do experience a “deep, horizontal comradeship,”[13]<\/a> our shared identity is found in both partaking of and constituting the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n

    Think of how often Jesus taught, \u201cthe Kingdom of God is like\u2026.\u201d What follows is never something that could be translated into a nationalistic identity.<\/p>\n

    It belongs to the poor. (Luke 6:20)<\/p>\n

    It comes to you. (Luke 10:9)<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s tiny like a mustard seed. (Luke 13:19)<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s open to those coming from any direction (Luke 13:29)<\/p>\n

    It belongs to children. (Luke 18:16)<\/p>\n

    It welcomes tax collectors and prostitutes. (Matt 21:31)<\/p>\n

    It will be taken from those who think they deserve it the most. (Matt 21:43)<\/p>\n

    This is the upside down Kingdom of God, the place I want to live. My loyalty is not to the Kingdom, but the King. The only truly sovereign Sovereign.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Jason Xidias, An Analysis of Benedict Anderson\u2019s Imagined Communities<\/em> (London, 2017). 13.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Benedict R. O\u2019G Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism<\/em>, Revised edition (London New York: Verso, 2016). 8.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Anderson. 35<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Anderson. 36<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Anderson. 36.<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> \u201cJohn Calvin: One of the Fathers of Modern Democracy | Christian History Magazine,\u201d Christian History Institute, accessed January 18, 2018, https:\/\/christianhistoryinstitute.org\/magazine\/article\/calvin-father-of-modern-democracy.<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Chris Lowney, Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World<\/em>, Reprint edition (Chicago, Ill: Loyola Press, 2005). 29.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Lowney. 30.<\/p>\n

    [9]<\/a> Anderson, Imagined Communities<\/em>. 10.<\/p>\n

    [10]<\/a> Craig Calhoun, \u201cNation and Imagination: How Benedict Anderson Revolutionized Political Theory,\u201d Online News, ABC, May 9, 2017, http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/religion\/articles\/2017\/05\/09\/4665722.htm.<\/p>\n

    [11]<\/a> NET Bible\u00ae copyright \u00a91996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http:\/\/netbible.com All rights reserved. I Peter 2:9<\/p>\n

    [12]<\/a> Ibid. Romans 8\u00a0:17<\/p>\n

    [13]<\/a> Anderson, Imagined Communities<\/em>. 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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