An Idolatrous Conceit

‘Christendom’ is the idolatrous term used to invoke God to support national and political institutions, programs, agendas, and ideologies.

The English term ‘Christendom’ in popular usage refers to “that part of the world in which Christianity prevails,” either because most of the nation’s citizens claim to be “Christian,” or because a specific church is recognized by the State as its official religion. That nation becomes identified as “Christian,” it is one of the “Christian nations” of the world as opposed to the less enlightened peoples and cultures of the planet.

In political contexts, the term is synonymous with “Western Civilization.” Christianity becomes associated and identified with specific regions, political blocs, ideologies, economic theories, ethnic and national groups, and cultural values. This may indeed be appropriate when speaking of the “Christian” religion, but the idea is incompatible with the biblical faith as preached by Jesus and his Apostles.

[Photo by Kelsey Knight on Unsplash]

Unfortunately, too many followers of Jesus have yet to embrace the idea of separation from the world - “In the world, not of the world.” They use the methods, institutions, and religious and political ideologies of this fallen age.

This practice has prevailed since the merger of Church and State in the fourth century. The English term ‘Christendom’ is a combination of the name “Christian” or “Christianity and the noun “kingdom.” But the resulting word occurs nowhere in the Hebrew or Greek Bible, it is an artificial term, and often a legal fiction.

Today, we have political operatives in the Church masquerading as pastors and prophets who speak of ‘American Christendom.’ This is madness. All the kingdoms, empires, democracies, and other regimes of the present age will disappear sooner or later, and only one realm will remain, the Kingdom of God.

In contrast to ‘Christendom,’ Jesus proclaimed the “Kingdom of God,” a realm in which the old social, national, and ethnic barriers of this sinful age have no place. God’s Kingdom welcomes “immigrants” from even the remotest corners of the planet, especially those marginalized and rejected by human society.

Public pronouncements about ‘Christendom’ by political and religious leaders are roadblocks to the proclamation of the Gospel since they associate the name of Jesus and his message with specific nations, cultures, and ideologies. It is a counterfeit of the true faith that hardens hearts to the Apostolic message, especially among those not well-disposed to the nation or culture that claims to represent Jesus.

‘Christendom’ is a pale imitation of God’s Kingdom, or more accurately, an example of political expediency, propaganda, and a deliberate counterfeit. Politicians use it and similar terms to advance their agendas and gain popular support, implying to the gullible that God backs their power grabs. Unfortunately, their efforts are often joined by far too many “howling imposters” and political agents working inside the Church.

In contrast, Jesus summoned all men to repent and submit to God’s sovereignty, and his Kingdom is a political reality that transcends all national, ethnic, economic, political, geographic, and cultural boundaries, making it an enemy of the power structures of this age that even now is “passing away.”

REDEMPTION, NOT CONFLICT

Through his Death and Resurrection, Jesus began to redeem men and women from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, making them a “Kingdom of Priests,” a “holy nation,” singular, and one new covenant community.

In Christ, all divisions based on national identity, economic status, race, or gender are disallowed. Such things are contrary to his self-sacrificial death for others, including the “enemies of God” - (Galatians 3:28, Revelation 5:5-12).

God has dissolved the “middle wall of partition” between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, between Jews and Gentiles. No man or woman is advantaged or disadvantaged before Him because of gender, race, or nationality.

Any attempt to identify or limit the Apostolic faith to specific nations, societies, or “civilizations” contradicts scriptural teaching and constitutes idolatry, if not blasphemy.

Jesus was not Egyptian, Russian, or American. God is one, and He created all men. Christ certainly was Jewish while on Earth, but now he is the Lord who reigns as Sovereign over all nations. What counts before God is not national identity but whether a man or woman is “in Christ.”

The methods Jesus bequeathed to his disciples for establishing his Kingdom differ radically from those employed by the political institutions and politicians of this world, and unfortunately, far too many church leaders. Jesus tasked his disciples with engaging society through Gospel proclamation, by living cruciform lives and serving others, not through political might or collective and state-sanctioned violence.

The “weapons” that Christ gave us are contemptible in the eyes of the world, yet they are the very means by which he is redeeming humanity and the creation itself. His method was demonstrated by his submission to arrest, trial, and execution by the World Empire.

The more politicized the institutional church becomes, the more it identifies the name and message of Jesus with the culture and political ideology of the nation in which it resides. When it adopts the ways of the world, church leaders embrace the insidious heresy named ‘Christendom,’ thereby perverting the Gospel.

The blame for this satanic deceit is not with the politicians of this age, however. They live in darkness under the dominion of Satan. Those who are responsible are the church leaders who choose to employ the ways of this world rather than deny themselves and embrace the Cross of Christ. To them, Caesar and Rome are more appealing than Calvary.

The deception of ‘Christendom’ is the attempt by politicians, pastors, prophets, apostles, and preachers to domesticate the Christ of Scripture and exploit him to validate the programs, values, and ideologies of national institutions and the agendas of corrupt political parties, values that all too often are far more Antichrist than Christian.

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SEE ALSO:

• Jesus Saves! - (The Good News announced by Jesus offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• Humanity's Only Hope - (Jesus is the true Light of the World, the expression of God, and the only source of truth, life, and salvation)

• His Salvation Offer - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and true life to men and women of every nation and nationality)

• The Spirit is Life - (The Spirit of God imparts life, especially the everlasting life of which the Gift of the Spirit is the foretaste and guarantee)