Does Britain’s Christian Heritage Matter? 

16th October
Something is happening to the messaging around Christianity in both the USA and the UK.

If you follow social media may have noticed frequent posts asking questions like. ‘Does Britain’s Christian Heritage Matter?’ The question seems innocuous, but the very slightly veiled subtext is about immigration or other religions. This is the more acceptable face of so-called “Christian” Nationalism, which is, of course, an oxymoron. If you are a Christian, your first allegiance is to Jesus Christ, and any other allegiance, including to one’s country, is secondary and marginal.
 
Some of the messaging around so-called Christian Nationalism is overtly racist or defamatory about immigrants, but this more subtle approach is far more dangerous.

By way of contrast, the Bible pictures Heaven as a multicultural melting pot in Revelation chapter 7. “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Race, nationality and ethnicity simply cease to matter in the place of perfection that is heaven. The Old Testament emphasises the importance of our common humanity trumping any sense of tribalism. Leviticus 19:34 states, "The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” This verse emphasises the importance of treating strangers with kindness and respect, and Jesus taught that on the day of judgement he will say to those who welcomed strangers in this life: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” So by any measure so-called “Christian” Nationalism is anti-Christian, conflicting with Jesus values and teaching and that of the Bible as whole.

Recent respected reports drawing on verified data have revealed that only the tiniest minority (if that) of any “Christian” Nationalists ever go to Church. So let Reform and Restore Britain go to hell in a hand-cart, along with all the black-clad, balaclava-covered “Patriots”. Their message is utterly opposed to the teaching of Jesus. They are no more Christian than the Third Reich. So when you see a social media post asking apparently innocuous questions like: ‘Does Britain’s Christian Heritage Matter?’ just be aware that it originates in the very darkest corner of hell.