What Makes a Nation Christian?

The claim that America is a Christian nation is repeated so often that many have stopped questioning it. But what if we examined that claim using the actual words of Jesus? In Matthew 25, Jesus gives us a clear set of criteria for how he will judge nations: how they treat the poor, the immigrant, the sick, and the prisoner.

So I ask: if Jesus were grading the United States today, how would we do?

We look at our policies and treatment of the poor (cutting food assistance, rejecting free school lunches, widening wealth gaps). We consider our harsh immigration system (deporting people to unstable countries, detaining legal immigrants, echoing racist rhetoric). We discuss our broken healthcare system and what it reveals when our military budget continues to grow, yet basic care remains inaccessible. And we explore our prison industrial complex (where America imprisons more people than any other nation, disproportionately targeting Black and brown communities).

Through this lens, it's tough to give us a passing grade in any category.

And yet, what shocks me most is how so many Christians have normalized these failures—defended them, even—while still claiming the label “Christian nation.” But Jesus never said a nation is defined by who it excludes or how many churchgoers sit in Congress. He pointed to how we treat the most vulnerable. That’s the test.

This episode isn’t about being unpatriotic. It’s about choosing to be Christian before being American.

Thanks for being part of this journey. Here’s to 50 episodes in and to wherever the journey takes us next.

Click here to watch or listen to episode 50.