Jesus is reported to have said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).
When church and state join forces, you know that bad things are about to happen. This is not theory; this is history. When the Roman Empire made Catholic Christianity the religion of the state, soon after, the persecutions followed.
When Jesus was offered by the devil “all the kingdoms of the world,” he refused (Matt. 4). Now the Church in the United States is being made the same offer. Unfortunately, it is bowing the knee to glory and power—to a kingdom that belongs to this world.
Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” Then why do some Christians want to create a kingdom on earth? This is against the wishes of Christ as recorded in their own Bible. And so we now have Christians who are willing to “fight” and kill for God.
The sad part is that as they pursue Christian nationalism, they fail to realize that they are joining up with the “ruler of this world.” And do you know who that is? According to their own book, it’s the devil (John 16:11; 12:31; 14:30; 2 Cor. 4:4). That is why 1 John 5:19 says that “the whole world lies under the power of the evil one.”
The most dangerous people in Jesus’ day were the religious leaders. During the Dark Ages, when church and state were united, again it was the religious leaders who fostered the inquisitions, the crusades, and the witch hunts. Not much has changed in 2,000 years.
All Scripture quotations are from the NRSV Updated Edition unless otherwise noted.
Dr. Jay Forrest, a perennial philosopher, explores rational spirituality, meditation, and timeless wisdom from science, psychology, philosophy, and mysticism—offering a clear, open‑minded path for the spiritual‑but‑not‑religious.