Hello my friends,

With all that is happening in our world today and with this week being the beginning of the season of Pentecost in the Christian calendar, I wanted to reflect on the identity of what the church is called to be by God in the world.

New Books To Consider:

​-Wonder: 52 Conversations to Help Kids Fall in Love With Scripture by Meredith Miller. My friend, and best selling author of the book Woven, has recently published a very helpful and practical guide for parents and caregivers who want to talk to their children about the big, complicated, and complex elements of the Bible.

​-Counterweights: An Essential Practice for Holding Hope in a Heavy World by Shannan Martin. Another friend of mine has published a very profound book that helps us to hold onto hope in such a fractured world.

​-The Pastor as Midwife: Life-Giving Leadership for the Healing of the Church by Shawna Songer Gaines. Another friend of mine, whose leadership and pastoral ministry I deeply admire, has recently published this powerful book, where she writes about her experience alongside her research on the vocation and practices of midwifery to explore a vision of pastoral leadership that is shaped by the wisdom of those who walk alongside expectant mothers. Learning to pastor like a midwife helps us embrace what God is doing in our pain and see new life in unlikely places.

​-Blessed Is the Body: Disability Justice and the Community of Christ by Tatum Tricarico. If you are looking for a good devotional for the next season of Lent, I'd like to recommend this work from disability rights activist Tatum Tricarico. During Lent, we often reflect on our limits: from dust we are, and to dust we will return. We remember that we will never be able to do everything we want to do, even and especially when what we want to do is love our neighbor well. In this daily devotional, Tricarico helps us turn the tables on Lent and understand it through a new and deeper light.

If It's Nationalist, It Isn't The Church.

On Sunday, May 24th, Christians all over the world will gather to celebrate the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost has become one of the most meaningful seasons of the Christian year for me. Perhaps part of that is because I did not grow up with much connection to the liturgical calendar. In many corners of American Evangelicalism, Pentecost was often reduced to debates about spiritual gifts or emotional experiences. But over time, I began to realize Pentecost is far bigger than that.

Pentecost is about the birth of a people. The creation of a new kind of community. A Spirit-formed body in a divided world. And honestly, I cannot think of a more needed vision for the moment we are living through now.

Because we are living through a time of profound fracture. We are watching political movements openly weaponize fear, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, greed, cruelty, and even violence while wrapping themselves in Christian language and symbolism. We are watching the name of Jesus invoked to justify policies and rhetoric that directly contradict the way Jesus treated the vulnerable, the foreigner, the poor, the marginalized, and even enemies. And perhaps most heartbreaking of all, many Christians are cheering it on.

This is why Acts 2 feels so urgent right now. Because Pentecost presents a vision of the church that stands in direct opposition to the spirit of nationalism, domination, and exclusion.

Let’s read a small portion of Acts 2 together:

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

​
​The Meaning of Pentecost

The word “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word pentēkostē, meaning “fiftieth.” It refers to the Jewish festival of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, celebrated fifty days after Passover. It was one of the great pilgrimage festivals, meaning Jewish people from across the known world traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate together. This indicates to us that Jerusalem was overflowing with people from different nations, cultures, ethnicities, and languages. Luke intentionally emphasizes this diversity: “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome…” (Acts 2:9–10)

Luke is making a very clear point here: The church is born in diversity. Not after diversity is overcome. Not once everyone becomes culturally identical. Not after one nation dominates the others. The Holy Spirit arrives precisely in the midst of human difference.

God Speaks Through Human Diversity

Acts tells us the Spirit descended with wind, fire, and speech. These images echo Sinai, where God gave the Torah to Israel amid thunder, smoke, fire, and holy presence. But something radically new is happening here. At Sinai, God wrote on stone tablets. At Pentecost, God writes on human hearts. At Sinai, one nation received the covenant. At Pentecost, the nations themselves are gathered.

Then one of the most beautiful details in the pentecost event takes place. The miracle is not that everyone suddenly speaks the same language. The miracle is that every person hears the wonders of God in their own native tongue. Again, the Spirit does not flatten diversity into uniformity. The Spirit honors difference while creating communion.

This stands in direct contrast to the spirit of empire. Empires always demand sameness in order to centralize power. Empires create insiders and outsiders. Empires often require one language, one culture, one ideology, one dominant identity. But the Spirit of God moves differently. The Spirit creates unity without erasing human complexity and the beauty of difference.

Pentecost as the Reversal of Babel

Many theologians have noted how Pentecost mirrors the story of Babel in Genesis 11. At Babel, humanity gathered to build a tower “to make a name” for themselves. In the imagination of the ancient world, building such a structure towards God would be seen as a way of containing God’s presence in such a way that God’s power could be manipulated and exploited. It was an attempt to consolidate God’s power for themselves. The result was fragmentation, confusion, and scattering.

But at Pentecost, God does not gather people through domination. God gathers people through grace. At Babel, human arrogance produced division. At Pentecost, divine love produces understanding. And this matters profoundly for us today. Because Christian nationalism is ultimately a modern Babel. It attempts to merge the kingdom of God with national identity. It treats political dominance as spiritual faithfulness. It confuses allegiance to Christ with allegiance to nation, ideology, party, ethnicity, or power.

But Pentecost refuses all of that. The church is not born as a nation-state. The church is not born as an empire. The church is not born to dominate cultures. The church is born as a Spirit-filled people drawn from every nation under heaven!

“All Flesh”

Peter interprets Pentecost through the prophet Joel: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” The Greek word for “all people” here is sarx — “flesh.” It is expansive language. Human vulnerability. Human mortality. Human embodied existence.

And then Joel’s prophecy begins dismantling every hierarchy humans construct. Sons and daughters, young and old, servants and free, men and women, and people from every nation. The Spirit is poured out without favoritism.

This is why Pentecost is such a challenge to systems built on exclusion and dominance. The Spirit does not belong to one ethnicity, one nation, one denomination, one political movement, one race, one gender, or one social class. The Spirit is not a possession of the powerful. The Spirit is a gift for all people. And throughout Acts, the people most surprised by who receives the Spirit are often the religious insiders themselves. This tells us that God will pour God’s spirit on all people, with or without the approval of the “insiders.”

The Anti-Nationalism of the Church

The early church lived under Rome, one of the most nationalistic and militarized empires in history. Rome demanded ultimate loyalty. Caesar was called “Lord” and “Savior.” Imperial propaganda saturated public life. Religion was fused with state power.

And into that world, Christians made a dangerous confession: Jesus is Lord. Not Caesar. This was not merely personal spirituality as we might imagine it today. It was a radically political statement because it relocated ultimate allegiance away from empire and toward the crucified and risen Christ.

Whenever Christianity becomes too fused with nationalism, it begins to lose its prophetic voice. When the church seeks dominance instead of faithfulness, it often begins mirroring the empire more than Jesus.

And history confirms this over and over again. The church has done some of its greatest harm when it pursued political supremacy instead of sacrificial love. Whether through colonialism, segregation, antisemitism, conquest, forced conversions, or authoritarian movements, Christians have too often confused defending “Christian civilization” with following Christ himself.

We are seeing versions of this again today. We are watching Christianity increasingly used as a cultural weapon rather than a call to repentance, mercy, humility, justice, and love. We are watching some leaders invoke Jesus while mocking the vulnerable, demonizing immigrants, degrading women, defending greed, excusing corruption, rejecting care for creation, and justifying cruelty.

And Pentecost stands as a direct rebuke to all of it. Because the Spirit of God does not create domination. The Spirit creates beloved community.

The Church We Could Become

What if the church actually lived Pentecost fully?

What if Christians became known not for fear, outrage, nationalism, and power struggles, but for radical hospitality, compassion, courage, generosity, truth-telling, peacemaking, and solidarity with the vulnerable? What if the church truly believed every human being bears the image of God? What if we stopped asking how to control culture and started asking how to embody the love of Christ within it? What if our churches became places where people from different backgrounds, races, classes, and generations could genuinely belong to one another? What if we were known less for defending power and more for defending people?

Because that is the vision Pentecost offers us. Not a church obsessed with dominance. But a church alive with the Spirit. Not a church consumed by fear of difference. But a church that sees diversity as evidence of God’s creative beauty. Not a church trying to build Babel again. But a church becoming the body of Christ for the world.

The Spirit did not descend upon one nation alone. The Spirit descended upon a gathered humanity. And perhaps now more than ever, the church must remember that our truest citizenship is not found in nationalism, but in the kingdom of God. A kingdom where every tribe, every language, every people, and every nation are invited to the table together.

Prayer

Holy Spirit,
breathe again upon your church.

Where we have traded love for power,
bring us to repentance.

Where we have confused nationalism with faithfulness,
teach us again the way of Jesus.

Where fear has hardened us against our neighbors,
soften our hearts with compassion.

Where we have excluded those you have welcomed,
forgive us.

Pour out your Spirit again upon all flesh.
Upon the young and the old.
Upon the weary and the hopeful.
Upon the immigrant and the refugee.
Upon the poor and forgotten.
Upon every nation and every people.

Teach your church to speak in ways the wounded can understand.
Teach us to build bridges instead of towers and walls.
Teach us to embody the reconciling love of Christ in a fractured world.

May we resist every attempt to use your name for domination, cruelty, greed, or fear.

And may we become again a Pentecost people: humble, courageous, compassionate, truthful, and alive with your Spirit.

Amen

Now I'd like to hear from you! Did you find this helpful? What thoughts came to your mind as you read? Feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me. I look forward to reading them. A 30 Day Day Devotional: I wrote a daily devotional in hopes to provide a companion for people seeking to follow Jesus through the season of we are currently navigating together. You can find out more below: $20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now! ​ Ways to support: If you'd like to support this project, you can do so through one-time-gift of any amount you feel is right. You can also subscribe through a $5/mo, $15/mo, or $25/mo. Several others have also asked for a recurring gift option that is different from the ones offered here, like this one. If you'd like me to set up a different option for you, please just send me an email with the word "support" in the subject line. As always, I really want to thank all of you for reading and for all the ways you support me and this project every single week. I'm thankful for the ways we are building this together and hope it creates a lasting, positive change in our world along the way! I sincerely appreciate you all, Ben Remember, you can now view this and all previous newsletters as well as invite friends to join through this link: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page/profile.

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