Apparently, that bastion of former unbiased news coverage, CNN, is promoting an upcoming installment of “The Whole Story” titled The Rise of Christian Nationalism, set to air on Sunday, March 8. According to Pamela Brown, their chief investigative correspondent, she has been working on this project for several months and will also expose Christian classical education, along with this alarming rise in “Christian Nationalism,” as one of the great threats to our democracy. To sustain her conclusion, she points to the “radicalization” of Christianity following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Mind you, though this type of propaganda that is being showcased as news is dubious at best, it is certainly nothing new. There are examples of derogatory and hateful rhetoric that were even launched at the fledgling early believers. If you will recollect, they were called cannibals because of the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper, were accosted for being subversive to the Roman government, and were blamed for Nero’s burning of his own capitol. Obviously, these kinds of attacks gave birth to all sorts of violence and maltreatment of the early church in a concerted effort to destroy its influence. Thankfully, the actions of the Roman opinion makers at the time did not have the desired effect they sought against those early Christian followers, nor will anything CNN or the prideful left do succeed against Christ’s church today.
That is not to say that Christianity in today’s America is exempt from prejudice and persecution. In fact, the CNN affront may just be one more steppingstone toward America turning away from Christianity toward a godless socialistic and humanistic position in its history. If so, time will tell. What is beyond question is this: the church in America must ready itself for the coming storm, for our current state suggests we are unprepared.
CNN is ostensibly defining Christian Nationalism as “an ideology rooted in the belief that our country was founded as a Christian nation, and that our laws and institutions should reflect Christian values.” Ms. Brown goes further to assert that the assassination of Charlie Kirk “radicalized” Christians into a feeling of being persecuted.
Based on these concepts, let me see if I can get this right. Any idea of cultural morality or government interaction with the general populace must be void of any Christian influence. Then they tell us that Charlie Kirk’s death and his subsequent memorials have caused Christians to become “radicalized.” If prayer, worship and open forgiveness for Charlie’s murder by Erika Kirk is some sort of fanaticism, then I think maybe I have been laboring under a false concept of the terms. The reality is that the godless left with all their babbling cannot get within speaking distance of the truth. How, then, can they claim that Christianity in America has become “radicalized” while simultaneously ignoring or downplaying the violence, looting, so-called “mostly peaceful demonstrations,” the murder of unborn children, and even the glorification of assassination that have accompanied the ideology of socialism and confusion? They also fail — or refuse — to acknowledge that Charlie’s killer had ties to ANTIFA and was involved in a transgender relationship with a “furry.”
So, with all this in mind, what should Christians be about in this time of national turmoil and division? The first thing that I would say is that we need to be concerned but not fearful. The will of God will be accomplished in America and in each of our own lives, regardless of the arrows of Satan himself, much less puny little ol’ CNN. Secondly, I would urge believers to be TRUE, true to the Scriptures and true to the Gospel. Thirdly, we need to be BOLD in our intentionality to stand for what is right with clarity and love. Lastly, we are compelled to be STEADFAST in the defense of not only our faith, but the well-being of our families, our churches and our nation.
Though our detractors would desire that Christ’s Church be confined to the stained-glass prison of our buildings and that true believers, along with our concerns and thoughts, be banned from the marketplace of America, we simply cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated into cowardice. If real Christians in this nation do not speak out for morality, justice, government accountability and order, then our children’s blood will cry out from the soil upon which we stand.
The choice is before us, and the path is clear: Southern Evangelical Seminary and I will choose to be true, bold, and steadfast followers of Christ. At the same time and with the same breath, we will be patriotic Americans, unafraid to speak clearly into our culture with the Gospel and the values that it inherently brings to the table. God, have mercy on our nation and its inhabitants if we stand idly by while our voices are silenced.
After a successful career as a lawyer and judge, Judge Phil Ginn retired as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District in North Carolina. Throughout his 22-year judicial career, he had the privilege of holding court in almost 50% of the county seats in North Carolina. Currently, Judge Ginn serves as the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (ses.edu) and is a regular contributor to Christianity.com and The Washington Times. Judge Ginn has also been featured on Fox News, CBN, Newsmax, Decision Magazine, The Christian Post, Townhall and many others.