Published by IVP on July 2, 2024
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life
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Ministering to Christian Nationalists
Pastor Caleb Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States. And he's suffered the relational fallout of standing against it, both in his community and his church. While it's possible to be both a Christian and hold Christian nationalist ideas, Christian nationalism itself is an un-Christian worldview, rooted in ideas about power, race, and property that are irreconcilable with Christian faith. Campbell has come to see himself as a missionary to Christian nationalists, reaching out to them with the love and freedom of Jesus Christ.
In Disarming Leviathan, Campbell equips Christians to minister to their Christian nationalist neighbors. He introduces the basics of Christian nationalism and explores the reasons so many people are attracted to it. He also addresses a variety of American Christian nationalist talking points and offers questions and responses that humbly subvert these claims and cultivate deeper, heart-level conversations.
Christian nationalism is an established feature of the American landscape. Disarming Leviathan can help prepare us to confront it with compassion and hospitality, and with the truth of the good news of Jesus.
Most critiques of Christian nationalism give off the same vibe as Jesus’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. I’ll be reading something that is thoughtful and true, but which also conveys the attitude, “Thank you, Lord, that I am not like other men!” This book charts a refreshingly different course, without self-congratulatory moral elitism. Caleb E. Campbell writes about this issue with compassion, curiosity, and empathy. It’s clear how burdened he feels by the relationships he has lost to political disagreements, and he shows sincere concern for the people involved within the Christian nationalism movement.
At the beginning, Campbell provides a brief history of this mostly far-right political movement, and he clears up some common myths. Throughout the book, he shares examples from Christian nationalist seminars and teachings, helping people understand the movement from the inside. He contrasts key tenets and moods of this ideology with the teaching and attitudes expressed in Scripture, and provides guidelines for how people can approach constructive conversations with the Christian nationalists in their lives. Campbell encourages people to view this as a mission field and shares advice from that vantage point, writes about preparing your own heart for the work, and includes samples and ideas for how people can pursue constructive conversations about several specific hot-button topics.
However, even though Disarming Leviathan is refreshing and helpful, Campbell doesn’t always adequately distinguish between the tenets of Christian nationalism and general conservative views. This will bother conservative readers who feel lumped in with something contrary to their beliefs, and can mislead progressives who don’t understand the distinctions. Also, there is a difference between worshiping the idol of nationalistic power, versus worshiping Jesus while also holding to some questionable political beliefs. In one hypothetical example, Campbell shows how someone is living out a mix between Christianity and vague American civil religion, and he presents this person as needing to experience true conversion. Maybe so, but maybe they are a sincere believer who needs some additional discipleship. Going into conversations with people with the assumption that they’re not saved at all is likely to cause needless offense and alienation, and I wish that this book had provided more nuance around this.
Throughout this book, Campbell uses the language of Leviathan to talk about dark spiritual powers, saying that there is more happening in our current political scene than meets the eye. He explains that as Christian nationalist leaders stoke the fears and anxieties of their followers, Satan is working behind the scenes to distort God’s word, fuel anxiety and rage, divide people, and direct people’s allegiance way from God. He provides a very serious and believable rationale for this, but then cuts his argument off at the knees by repeatedly saying that people shouldn’t ascribe evil or demonic influence to the far left. Why shouldn’t we see Leviathan at work there, too? Harmful dynamics like fostering fear and division are happening on both sides of the political aisle. Why should we call out demonic influence behind one movement, while being forbidden to see it elsewhere?
Granted, I understand his actual point. He’s expressing concern about the ways that conservatives often accuse liberals of having evil motives, and he’s challenging the idea that someone who is a Democrat can’t also be a Christian. He’s also expressing that saying, “Oh, they’re evil and trying to destroy the country!” isn’t constructive public discourse. However, even though some people need to hear this, he needed to say it in a way that didn’t undermine his entire premise. After all, in his critique of the Christian nationalism movement, he is questioning the faith of people who claim to be Christians, and he is seeing evil spiritual machinations behind politics. Why is he telling his readers to stop questioning and observing similar things? This weakens the book significantly, and will make it vastly less credible to skeptics.
Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor is a helpful, insightful book that expresses true care and compassion for people the author disagrees with. He provides clear information about the Christian nationalism movement, and he shares wisdom and encouragement for how people can engage with Christian nationalists in their lives. He writes in a conversational tone that makes this book highly readable, in spite of the stressful topics, and shares helpful advice. This book has some disappointing weaknesses that I felt a need to unpack in detail, but the book has enough value as a whole that I would still recommend it.