Hello my friends,

Today, I want to reflect with you on Matthew 10:24-39 and how Jesus speaks exactly to the kind of painful division we have been experiencing in our culture along the fault lines created by Christian Nationalism. I know many of us have experienced this kind of painful division, so my hope in today’s reflection is to not only provide comfort in knowing you are not alone but to also provide scripture and language you can use to tell your own story if you are struggling to do so.

Recommend resources:

​-"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." This is a commentary I wrote on this often misquoted phrase from Jesus. I wrote it almost two years ago now, but it is relevant for our time together today.

​-Did Jesus really tell his disciples to sell their cloaks to buy swords? This is another one of Jesus' phrases that constantly gets taken out of context from Luke's gospel account. Also having to do with a sword. Thought I would also share it here in case you have had questions about it as well.

​-Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War On Democracy. I wanted to be sure to recommend this documentary again. If you haven't yet seen it, it reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. Financed through the secretive Council for National Policy, Christian Nationalists have succeeded in taking over the Republican Party, turning it into a powerful weapon to demolish democracy from within. In it, you can discover the origins of this organized grasp for power and the grassroots coalition of secular and interfaith leaders bravely confronting the unholy forces threatening democracy. By clicking the link above, you can watch the trailer and find where to see it for free.

​-The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids by Mariko Clark (Author), Rachel Eleanor (Illustrator). I just picked up this new "kid's Bible" for my kids. I have been so impressed with it so far. The stories are just so beautifully and appropriately told. They also do a wonderful job highlighting the women of scripture. If you have children in your life, this may be something to check out as well.

​11 ways to stop politics from destroying your relationships. by Anna Bonet. I found this article to be brief yet really practical and helpful regarding how to navigate difficult political conversations with our loved ones. You might find it helpful as well.

​-Matthew Taylor on the Violent Take it by Force by Dangerous Dogma Podcast. Matthew Taylor is a scholar with the Institute for Islamic-Christian-Jewish Studies, and in this episode, he talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about his forthcoming book The Violent Take it By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. He also discusses the New Apostolic Reformation, election prophecies, and the Jan. 6 insurrection. It is very illuminating and informative.

When Following Jesus Gets You Called an Atheist

Matthew 10:24-39

“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
​³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

³⁷ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

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Over the years, I have been called many things by fellow Christians. I've been called a heretic, a false teacher, deceived, compromised, and more than once, I've been told that I am not really a Christian at all.

The reason is not because I reject Jesus. It is because I reject a particular vision of Christianity that has become increasingly influential in America. I reject the idea that faithfulness to Jesus is measured by political power, cultural dominance, or national identity. I reject the belief that preserving a certain version of America is somehow synonymous with preserving the Kingdom of God.

What has made this especially painful is that many of the people making these accusations genuinely believe they are defending Christianity. They see resistance to their vision as resistance to Christ himself.

That experience has made me return often to Jesus' words in Matthew 10. It is a passage that reminds us that following Jesus can create deep divisions, even among people who claim to worship the same God.

Jesus begins by warning his disciples that they should not expect better treatment than he received. If people misrepresented him, they will misrepresent his followers. If people questioned his faithfulness, they will question theirs. A disciple is not above the teacher.nThose words feel especially relevant today.

One of the unique challenges of our moment is that the competing visions before us often use the same language. Both claim the name of Jesus. Both quote Scripture. Both speak about faith, morality, and discipleship.

Yet the vision of Jesus presented by Christian nationalism often looks remarkably different from the Jesus we encounter in the Gospels.

The Jesus of Christian nationalism is primarily concerned with power, dominance, control, victory, and cultural preservation. The Jesus of the Gospels consistently moves toward humility, compassion, mercy, enemy-love, and self-sacrificial service. One seeks security through influence. The other embraces the cross.

This tension helps us better understand the world into which Jesus first sent his disciples. When Jesus spoke these words, he was not sending his followers into pagan lands. He was sending them to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The division he describes begins within his own religious community. The conflict emerges because Jesus challenges assumptions about power, faithfulness, and what God's kingdom actually looks like.

The same thing happened in the Roman world.

The Roman Empire was deeply religious, but religion was not merely a private matter. The gods were believed to protect families, cities, armies, harvests, and the empire itself. Public rituals, sacrifices, and festivals were seen as necessary for maintaining the well-being of society. A key Roman idea was pax deorum, meaning "peace of the gods." Romans believed society flourished when people maintained proper relationships with the gods through worship and public devotion. To refuse participation was not viewed as a personal choice. It was seen as a threat to the common good.

This is one reason early Christians were sometimes called atheists.

That accusation sounds strange to modern ears because Christians clearly believed in God. But atheism in the Roman world did not primarily mean denying the existence of all divine beings. It meant refusing to honor the gods recognized by Roman society. Christians worshiped only Christ. They refused sacrifices to Roman gods. They refused participation in religious ceremonies that affirmed the empire's values and loyalties. To many Romans, this looked irresponsible, dangerous, and irreligious. In their eyes, Christians were atheists.

The parallels to our own moment are stark. Christian nationalism often functions in a similar way. It fuses religious devotion with cultural preservation. Its deepest concern is not simply whether people follow Jesus, but whether they support a particular vision of nation, family, social order, and civilization. This is why discussions about "saving Western civilization" or "restoring Christian America" occupy such a central place in Christian nationalist rhetoric. The faith becomes intertwined with preserving a social order.

The difference is that the god of this civil religion goes by the same name as the One we worship. That is what makes this moment so confusing.

In the Roman Empire, Christians knew they were rejecting Jupiter, Mars, Caesar's divine rule, and the gods of Rome. Today, many believers find themselves rejecting a distorted image of Jesus while trying to remain faithful to the Jesus revealed in Scripture.

When they do, they often receive the same accusations. They are told they are dangerous. They are told they are undermining society. They are told they are compromising the faith. They are told they are not real Christians.

Jesus understood this dynamic long before we did. That is why he speaks of division. The "sword" he brings is not a call to violence. It is the unavoidable conflict that emerges whenever God's kingdom confronts systems built on fear, supremacy, domination, and exclusion. Jesus disrupts every attempt to use religion as a means of controlling others. His presence exposes false gods, even when those false gods wear religious clothing of our own beliefs.

Do Not Be Afraid.

Yet in the midst of these difficult warnings, Jesus offers something profoundly tender. Three times he tells his disciples not to be afraid. He reminds them that God sees what others do not see. He reminds them that truth eventually comes into the light. He reminds them that not even a sparrow falls outside of God's care.

The sparrow was small, common, and easily overlooked. Yet Jesus says that God notices every one of them. Then he looks at his disciples and says, in essence, "You matter even more." When we are being misunderstood, misrepresented, or rejected, it is easy to wonder if God sees what is happening.

Jesus assures us that God does. God sees every tear shed after a difficult conversation. God sees every relationship strained by political and theological division. God sees every accusation that cuts deeper because it comes from people we love. God sees every moment we question ourselves because those around us insist we are the problem.

Fresh Wounds.

For many people reading this, those wounds are still fresh. Some have lost friendships. Some have lost ministry positions. Some have lost church communities. Some have experienced painful fractures within their own families.

The temptation is often to blame yourself. To assume that if only you had said things differently, remained quieter, or tried harder, everything would have been fine.

Certainly, all of us should remain humble enough to examine ourselves honestly. Yet we should also recognize that some divisions emerge because there are genuine differences in what we believe faithfulness to Jesus requires.

These conflicts are not simply personality clashes. They are often rooted in profoundly different understandings of power, truth, discipleship, and the nature of God's kingdom. Understanding that does not remove the pain. But it can help us stop carrying burdens that were never ours to bear.

Following Jesus has always involved difficult choices. It has always required courage. It has always meant resisting the temptation to confuse God's kingdom with the kingdoms of this world.

And throughout it all, the same God who notices every sparrow continues to hold his children in love.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

You know the pain of being misunderstood.

You know what it is like to be rejected by your own people, questioned by those closest to you, and accused by those convinced they were defending the truth.

Give comfort to those carrying the wounds of division.

For those who have been called faithless because they sought to follow you, remind them that you see them.

For those grieving broken relationships, surround them with your peace.

For those struggling with doubt, reassure them of your presence.

Give us courage to remain faithful to your way of humility, compassion, mercy, and sacrificial love.

Protect us from the temptation to seek power rather than faithfulness.

Help us distinguish between loyalty to your kingdom and loyalty to the kingdoms of this world.

When accusations come, anchor us in your love.

When fear rises, remind us of your care.

And when we feel forgotten, help us remember that not even a sparrow falls beyond your notice.

May we trust that the God who knows every hair on our heads is holding us still.

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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