REDEDICATE 250???

The upcoming “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” is being promoted as a spiritual renewal for the nation ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary. Organizers describe it as a moment to “rededicate our country as One Nation under God,” featuring political leaders, military symbolism, evangelical celebrity pastors, and public calls to restore America’s “Christian foundations.” (freedom250.org)

But Christians must ask a deeper question: Which god is actually being invoked here? And which Jesus is being proclaimed?

Because when we compare the rhetoric surrounding this event with the witness of Christ in the Gospels and the writings of the New Testament, the contrast becomes impossible to ignore.

Jesus never called for the fusion of empire and faith. He never demanded that Rome become a “Christian nation.” In fact, the Roman state eventually executed Him precisely because His message threatened systems built on domination, nationalism, hierarchy, and religious control. The Kingdom Jesus proclaimed was not enforced through political power, national identity, military spectacle, or cultural supremacy. Jesus explicitly said, “My kingdom is not from this world” (John 18:36).

Yet this event centers political authority and nationalist mythology alongside Christian worship. Its speakers include some of the most visible architects of modern Christian nationalism, alongside government officials and military imagery, all wrapped together under the language of divine destiny and American exceptionalism. (freedom250.org)

That is not the Gospel.

The Jesus of the New Testament consistently moved away from state power, not toward it. He blessed the poor, not the powerful (Luke 6:20). He healed the outsider instead of sanctifying empire. He touched lepers, defended women, welcomed eunuchs (Matthew 19:12), ate with sinners, and shattered religious gatekeeping. The early Church grew not through coercion or nationalism, but through radical hospitality, mutual care, and sacrificial love under persecution (Acts 2:42–47).

Christian nationalism does the opposite. It wraps the Cross in the flag. It confuses patriotism with discipleship. It teaches that God uniquely favors one nation above others. It turns faith into tribal identity and replaces the Sermon on the Mount with culture war rhetoric.

And perhaps most dangerously, it attempts to baptize political power itself.

The language surrounding Rededicate 250 repeatedly frames America as specially chosen by God and calls for the nation to return to an explicitly Christian identity. (freedom250.org) But the New Testament never teaches that any earthly nation is the Kingdom of God. The Church’s allegiance is to Christ, not Caesar. The Apostle Paul reminds believers that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

Even more troubling is the company this movement keeps. Critics and scholars have warned that this event advances Christian nationalist ideology while blurring the constitutional and spiritual boundaries between church and state. (apnews.com) Some featured voices associated with the gathering have openly promoted authoritarian theology, anti-LGBTQIA2S rhetoric, exclusionary politics, and forms of militant Christianity that stand in direct opposition to the liberating witness of Jesus. (theguardian.com)

This matters because the Gospel is not strengthened when it is attached to political dominance. It is corrupted by it.

The earliest Christians understood this clearly. They did not seek to “take back” Rome. They formed communities of compassion inside an unjust empire. They cared for the sick, fed the hungry, welcomed the rejected, and proclaimed that every human being bore the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Their power was not nationalism. Their power was love.

Jesus never instructed His followers to build a Christian empire. He instructed them to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44). To care for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40). To welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:35). To forgive endlessly (Matthew 18:21–22). To reject religious hypocrisy (Matthew 23). To wash feet instead of seeking thrones (John 13:1–17).

And that is why events like this must be named honestly.

This is not a national revival rooted in the teachings of Christ Jesus. It is a public expression of Christian nationalism dressed in worship language. It is an attempt to merge religious identity with political identity, national mythology, and state power. It reflects the theology of empire far more than the theology of the Cross.

As followers of Jesus, our task is not to “rededicate” America to domination disguised as holiness. Our task is to rededicate ourselves to the radical Gospel of compassion, liberation, humility, mercy, justice, and peace.

The Kingdom of God has never depended on flags, politicians, or nationalist movements. It has always been found wherever human beings choose love over fear, truth over propaganda, mercy over cruelty, and Christ over empire.