Should Christians be Nationalistic?

President Trump was elected partially because of his slogan “Making America Great Again.”  Millions upon millions of Christians rallied around him, some because of their desire to not have Hillary Clinton as president and many because of Trump’s “America First” mentality.

But should Christians be nationalistic?

Let’s answer that question with scripture as that is the best place to answer any question.

First, there should be no nationality requirement within the church family as all nations can be born again.  Paul wrote in three separate letters that there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek - Romans 10:12, Galatians 3:28, and Colossians 3:11.  Obviously he was speaking of salvation’s work being the same no matter the ethnicity or cultural background, but does this truth not go even further?

Second, basing our treatment of people based upon their nationality causes division and strife.  One of the greatest problems in the early churches was the division between the Jewish people and Gentile world.  Even the early church in Acts 11 had a major contention over the fact that Gentiles had been saved and wanted to be included in all that the church at Jerusalem was doing but the Jewish believers refused to include them as equals.  The strife was so severe that even Paul and Peter had a major disagreement over this issue and Paul was forced to confront Peter over his actions of not treating the Gentile believers as equals in Galatians 2:11-21.

Third, we are commanded to preach the Gospel at every group of people regardless of our feelings about their ethnicity.  Just remember what happened to Jonah when he decided to let his prejudice of Nineveh alter his journey.  And in Revelation 14:6-7 we are told that every nation, every kindred, and every tongue and people are to have the everlasting Gospel.  The world is coming to America and let’s reach them with the Gospel as commissioned by God Almighty.  We send missionaries around the world to reach the very same groups that are coming to our shores today.

Fourth, the real issue for most Christians is not because of the issues I have mentioned above, but because these people groups have come to America ILLEGALLY.  They then are treated as equals and are very often the recipients of the exact same benefits as American citizens without the perceived responsibilities.  Again we go to Scripture for answers about the individual issues such as food, healthcare, and housing.  2 Thessalonians 3:10-13 states that food is in direct connection to working and is not a “free” benefit EVER, thus it has nothing to do with citizenship but willingness to labor.  Healthcare is not even directly mentioned in scripture thus we cannot speak to its source of payment and nationalism.  Housing has various verses describing it but nothing detailing if it is a privilege solely based on citizenship.  So truthfully, the issues that upset most Christians must be seen as a personal view of privilege and not a biblical based one.  This does not mean that allowing illegal entry into a nation is acceptable, just that it has no solid basis in exact Bible commands but more in biblical principles.

Here are some questions that every Christian must ask themselves:

1. Is there ever a situation where I would encourage a person to entry my country without going through proper channels first? 
2. If my government refused entry of a person based solely upon their Christian faith what would I do?
3. If a missionary believed that God called them to a country that forbids Christians would I encourage them to break man’s law to obey God’s call?
4. In the light of eternity what should I be more concerned about, the souls of men or my nation’s well being?
5. Should I just ignore people coming into my country illegally just for the potential that they might receive the Gospel of Christ?
6. If the laws of our land are ignored in the area of immigration, where do we ignore other laws that affect our daily lives because it benefits a group in need?

There is clearly no easy answer to this complex issue.  But it is very clear that God wants every Christian to preach the Gospel and that is where we must start the discussion of nationalism.