FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lent: A Time for American Christians to Repent of their Nationalism
CINCINNATI, Ohio - February 11, 2002
Two days before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent on the Christian
calendar, a new organization of pastors and scholars has released a document calling
the Church in the United States to repent of its nationalism. This group, calling itself
Kingdom Now, took a cue from Martin Luther and presented its concerns in the form of 95
theses. Chris Smith, one of Kingdom Now's coordinators, said today: "The tragedies of
September 11 were grievous to us not only because of the innocent lives that were taken
by terrorists, but also because their aftermath powerfully revealed the extent to which
Americans -- including Christians -- have made an idol of their nation." He continued,
"The purpose of Kingdom Now is to call our Churches to set themselves apart from the
nation-worship that is so prevalent in our land today."
Kingdom Now has targeted Lent, a season that the Church has traditionally set aside
for focusing on repentance, as a time for mass proliferation of its message. On Ash
Wednesday, the group plans to launch its campaign by sending the 95 Theses to over 100
national and regional denominational headquarters. The theses will also be sent to a
number of Christian colleges and para-church organizations. Kingdom Now also plans to
distribute the theses to individual churches via its nationwide network of supporters.
"This is a matter of urgency," said Smith, "God's people cannot continue to serve both
Yahweh and their nation."
The theses, which are available on the Kingdom Now web-site ( www.kingdomnow.org ),
present the Church's idolatry as a multi-faceted problem. One major theme of the theses
is debunking the myth that America is (or was) a "Christian Nation." For instance, the
theses proclaim that: "Despite its thoroughly religious character, the United States ...
never makes any pretension of allegiance to Jesus and to his will for establishing a
kingdom here on Earth (Mt 6:10)." Another theme of the theses is our economics,
specifically our wealth. Thus, thesis 53 states: "The nation of the United States
with its wealth -- especially relative to the rest of the world -- must be regarded by
the Church with caution for money is a powerful force and one that easily can become
a false god (cf. Mt 6:24)." Further themes developed over the course of the theses
call the Church to question the concepts of liberty, justice and democracy that the
United States presents.
"Kingdom Now believes that our message is one that God wants his people in the United
States to hear today," said Smith, "but we realize that we are not immune to the problems
we present. We need repentance as much as anyone else does, and we pray that others
across our land will join us in praying for and seeking repentance."
Press Release