American Idolatry: Repenting from Christian Nationalism

This Lent, we invite you to journey with us through a timely and faithful exploration of what it means to follow Jesus in a moment of deep political division and religious confusion. Our Lenten sermon and Sunday school series, American Idolatry: Repenting from Christian Nationalism, is grounded in the book American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church by sociologist Andrew Whitehead.

Lent has always been a season of truth-telling, repentance, and reorientation—a time when the church pauses to ask hard questions about what we have placed at the center of our lives and whether those commitments align with the way of Christ. This series takes seriously the concern that, in our cultural moment, Christianity is often confused with nationalism, political power, or cultural dominance. When that happens, the gospel itself can be distorted, reduced, or weaponized in ways that harm both the church and the world God loves.

Together, we will explore how Christian nationalism differs from Christian faith, why it is appealing, how it shows up in subtle and overt ways, and why it ultimately contradicts the life and teachings of Jesus. We will ask what it means to repent—not as shame, but as turning—away from idols that promise security and toward a deeper trust in God’s reign of justice, mercy, and love.