White (not at all) Christian Nationalism

Why it found a home in the LCMS...

In recent years, stories have emerged from many news organizations about the rise of white christian nationalism and Nazi ideology within the church. (It’s not Christian at all, hence it is crossed out.) In particular, certain articles have spoken to the reality that some white christian nationalist leaders and Nazi apologists are members of my denomination, the LCMS. (If you are not a part of this denomination, take this post as a warning to your own.)

While two of the more public faces of this abomination have been excommunicated from their congregations, one of those two was welcomed into another LCMS congregation. This is wrong. That is obvious and needs to be dealt with.

But that’s not why I’m writing today. I’m writing to ask the question that my denomination seems unwilling to ask of itself:

How could a white christian nationalist feel comfortable in any of our congregations?

How can people who espouse Nazi ideology sit in Lutheran pews and not be met with the reality that their dehumanizing views are sinful?

And, let’s just ask the question in a more intimate way: Would these men who have been excommunicated, if still unrepentant felt at home in my congregation?

Am I speaking well and soundly about God’s love for people from every tribe, race, nation, and language? Am I condemning racism often enough? Emphatically enough? Undoubtedly, I have work to do.

The reaction I have seen over the past few years from the denomination at a national and regional level has been…brief. They seem to think just saying: “this is bad and wrong” will make it go away. And while I’m grateful that church leaders have issued statements on this issue, much more needs to be done. And the question still remains.

Why is our church body a place where a Nazi can feel at home?

The answer to that is probably quite specific to the congregation, pastor, and unrepentant nationalist. But allow me a few observations.

If the LCMS officially publishes anything that has overlap with the political realm, it is overwhelmingly pro-conservative, pro-Republican, and even pro-patriarchy. Just this week I got an email from my denomination’s communications team. It highlighted four political topics. Article 1 - March for Life (Abortion). Article 2 - Church and State (which I’ll call neutral). Article 3 - standing up to morally decaying government (Abortion). Article 4 - Gender Identity. This email is par for the course.

The LCMS is consistently lacking in speaking to issues more commonly affiliated with the Democrat party. Issues like global climate change and our care of the creation, healthcare, humane treatment of immigrants and refugees are given no column inches, no radio time, no response.

I’m not saying that the LCMS has to speak to these issues to appeal to Democrats. I’m saying these issues that we label as liberal, progressive, or (rolls eyes) woke are just as much Christian issues as the others. If we are “free to be faithful” (a favorite tagline of ours), then we ought to be free to be faithful in regard to protesting ICE, opposing the sale of public land, and advocating for universal healthcare. All of these are issues that are about the saving of life, the thriving of life. But we won’t affiliate ourselves with these for some reason.

Indeed, one is more likely to hear our brand of Lutheran pastors and parishioners in the narthex joking about global climate change not being real or bashing the Affordable Care Act or offering some sort of hatred against Spanish-speakers than what I propose in the previous paragraph.

I have heard all of these in Lutheran churches. Sometimes in hushed tones. But more often spoken openly. More often it is the assumption that everybody agrees.

One pastor I know in Minnesota got into an argument in which he literally said that there were no Democrats in his congregation. While that is doubtful, I think it is unfortunately becoming more and more likely. The more often such narthex conversations happen, the less comfortable people who tend to vote Democrat feel in our congregations. So they leave. And the narrowing continues.

I am not saying that Republicans are evil and Democrats are good. I’m not saying Republicans aren’t welcome in my congregation. They definitely are. And I’m not saying that all Republicans are white christian nationalists.

But I will say this: the movement of the Republican party toward hatred of the poor and immigrants is quite obvious if you have ears to hear. And white christian nationalists find a suitable home with Republicans. And the Republican leadership doesn’t dissuade them or differentiate themselves from them very often or very well.

So, why would an unrepentant, hate-filled white christian nationalist feel at home in our churches?

Because we have not done enough to differentiate ourselves from them.

We have not preached the whole counsel of God. We have narrowed what we will speak about and pray about either out of fear or idolatry or both. We have taken on a culture war in which the Nazis have decided we are on their side. And with just a few well-placed arguments, perhaps they can recruit us to the cause. When white christian nationalists view your denomination as a recruiting ground, you are doing something terribly wrong.

And that should cause all of us, not simply to decry that reality, but to actually repent and confess that we have left much undone. And our failure to act with justice and speak with clarity has caused hate to take hold and be multiplied in our congregations.

What are we going to do about it? What are we going to change so that we are viewed as the last place a Nazi would ever dream of recruiting people? How are we going to fight off the wolves? Because if we don’t, if we pretend the wolves aren’t already in sheepfold, our sheep are going to be eaten.

What are we going to do about it?