Christian nationalism – an evangelistic opportunity

Tim Dieppe responds to the Theos report on Christian nationalism out this week

A hot topic

Christian nationalism is a hot topic these days. It seems like hardly a week goes by without some news item related to Christian nationalism. Last week, I was on BBC Sunday Morning Live discussing the question.  This week, a detailed 135-page report by Theos was released on the subject.

Up until recently most of us had never really thought much about Christian nationalism before. It wasn’t even a widely-used phrase.

Gone are the days when everyone understood that Britain was a Christian nation. But many people are now wondering whether that is a good thing or not. Was it not better to be a Christian nation – whatever that means? Have we lost something that was valuable somehow? Hence, the current discussion about Christian nationalism.

The problem of definition

The newly released Theos report is titled: Beyond “Christian nationalism”: Measuring attitudes to Christianity and Britishness today. It is based on a survey of 1,765 UK adults about their attitudes to Christianity and Britishness.

Every time this is discussed, people raise the question of definition. What exactly is a Christian nationalist? Who counts as a Christian nationalist?

The Theos report agrees that defining Christian nationalism is difficult:

“As we said at the outset, Christian nationalism is a contestable, unhelpful and possibly even meaningless term. It has strong American connotations, implies a coherence and unity that it presupposes rather than demonstrates, and obscures possible differences relating both to Christianity and nationhood.” (p107).

Nevertheless, as Theos notes, Christian nationalism “is the phrase that is currently in use, and for that reason if no other, we should start with it.” I tend to agree that we can’t avoid the phrase. It is part of our cultural vocabulary. But it is important to clarify what is meant if we possibly can when discussing it.

Theos defines Christian nationalism as the belief that the two terms “Christianity” and “the nation” are “somehow coterminous or co-dependent.” So, in their view, a Christian nationalist believes that: “to be truly British (or American . . .) you need, therefore, to be a Christian.” (p14).

I don’t agree with this position, and I don’t think I know any Christians who do. It’s a rather odd position to take in my view. Nevertheless, this is the definition that Theos uses so at least we can be clear what they are talking about.

Categories of attitudes towards a Christian nation

Theos categorises people into five groups or positions in terms of their attitude towards a Christian nation.

1. Committed Separatists (34%). Don’t want Christianity to be part of Britishness, but don’t have a strong sense of Britishness anyway.
2. Cultural Separatists (16%). Don’t want Christianity to be part of Britishness, but don’t want another cultural or religious identity such as Islam to occupy that space.
3. Values Integrationists (26%). Don’t think you need to be Christian to be British, but do see Christianity as an important element of British values and want to see that recognised and protected.
4. Identity Integrationists (11%). See Christianity as fundamental to Britishness and want to defend the nation’s Christian heritage.
5. Belief Integrationists (13%). Want to see Christianity integrated with Britishness, but more because they want to promote the Christian faith than preserve Christian values.

I am not sure I would fit neatly into any of these categories, but I would probably be closest to a Belief Integrationist.

Christian nationalists who are not Christian

Defining Christian nationalists as those who think you need to be Christian to be British has led to some startling headlines. The Guardian reported on the Theos report with the headline: Christian nationalism in Britain driven by people who seldom go to church. It claims that this “research challenges the notion that the growing visibility of crosses and other symbols reflects a revival of Christianity.” If you say that Identity Integrationists are those closest to being Christian nationalists by Theos’s definition, then while 81% of this group identified as Christian, only 13% attended church weekly and only 31% prayed weekly.

So, there are lots of people out there who say they are Christian and who want Christianity to be part of Britishness, but who don’t go to church.

An evangelistic opportunity

It is very striking from this survey that while 11% of the total sample said they attend church at least weekly, many more people than that are concerned about Christian values in our culture. The Values Integrationists, the Identify Integrationists, and the Belief Integrationists together make up 50% of the sample. All of these people want to recognise and protect Christian values in society, yet the vast majority of them do not go to church.

What an evangelistic opportunity! This means that 1 in 2 people you meet already think that Christian values are important. They should therefore be very open to the gospel! Or, to put it another way, 46% already identity as Christian, but the vast majority of them are not going to church. They already think that Christianity is true, but they lack the commitment. The fields are ripe for harvest!

In conversation with someone who already appreciates that British values and culture owe a lot to Christianity, you can point them to the source of those values and show how people need relationship with Jesus for them to work properly. You can’t have the fruit of Christianity without the roots – Jesus himself and the gospel. Our values need to be grounded in a transcendent source – that source has been Christianity in the past and can be Christianity again. And Christianity is true. We all need the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus offers.

Indeed, I know people who have been to Unite the Kingdom rallies in order to hand out tracts and talk about Christianity with the people there. They have often had warm responses and many evangelistic conversations. Many of these people may never have had a conversation with a Bible believing Christian before. They are attracted to a confident Christianity.

Concerns about Islam are widespread

The survey asked a number of questions about the influence of Islam in our society. The fact that they even asked these questions shows the significance of the topic. The key questions with answers by total sample are as follows:

1. Local church closes and is turned into a mosque – 55% net unhappy.
2. The next political leader elected in Britain is a Muslim – 32% net unhappy.
3. Your local primary school’s sex education curriculum changes due to pressure from Muslim parents – 66% net unhappy.
4. Islam is completely compatible with British values –
5. The white population in Europe is deliberately being replaced by migrants from Muslim countries – 37% net agree.
6. The spread of sharia – 28% very concerned.

While these are not all majority responses, they are large minorities. This shows widespread concern about the influence of Islam in our society.

The Great Replacement Theory

Question 5 above is about the so-called Great Replacement Theory. It is described as a “racist conspiracy theory” or a “paranoid fantasy” in the Theos report. A lot hangs on the word “deliberately” in that description. The fact is that many whites in Europe feel that their population is being replaced.

According to the last census, 37% of the population of London identify as White British – that is a minority in our capital city. That is just a fact. Many white British people may therefore have ticked Slightly Agree to the question about replacement or even Strongly Agree without necessarily believing that there is a coordinated deliberate policy in place.

Nevertheless, Britons have been told for decades now by government ministers and schoolteachers that we are a multi-faith society and a multi-ethnic society, or that we are multicultural and that all this is to be celebrated. In the minds of many ordinary people that will sound like a deliberate policy to play down our Christian heritage and to relativise Christian values. With this in mind, is it any wonder that quite a large sample net agreed with the question?

Conclusions

There is a lot more to glean from the Theos report which is well worth reading. A lot of work has gone into this report and it sheds some valuable light on where people stand in their attitudes towards a Christian nation. Theos intends to bring out more research on this subject which I am sure will also add to the debate of the issues involved.

While Theos never mentions “gospel” or “evangelism” in its report, for me the evangelistic opportunity is the key takeaway. There may not be a Christian revival just yet, but there is something of a revival of interest in and recognising the importance of Christian values in our nation. This is surely to be welcomed! And we pray that it may lead to the spiritual revival we desperately need.