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With America heading into a 250th anniversary, we sit with an uncomfortable question Christians tend to dodge until it’s unavoidable: is patriotism a sin? With Malcolm on sabbatical, Slim goes solo and names why this topic feels so spiritually charged right now.

We start with the emotional pull of national pride, the summer nostalgia, the stories we tell ourselves about home and belonging. Then we turn and face the hard collisions: what do we do with a country we love when its history and violence? From there, we unpack why patriotism is uniquely tempting for Christians, because it borrows the language of religion: sacred symbols, rituals, songs, and pledges that can quietly train our hearts toward ultimate loyalty.

Next, we dig into a biblical view of patriotism and nationalism through the New Testament lens: citizenship in heaven, life as exiles, Jesus’ refusal to advance his kingdom through coercion, and the enemy love ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. We also take Romans 13 seriously, offering a more nuanced reading alongside insights from John Howard Yoder and themes echoed in Greg Boyd’s The Myth of a Christian Nation. Finally, we trace the historic shift after Constantine and ask the question that won’t go away: did the church convert the empire, or did the empire convert the church?

Before all that we look at 2 different denominational conversations happening right now. 1 in the SBC banning women Pastors and 1 in the PCUSA and Polyamory or Monogamy in the clergy.

The Artificial Line and a point where we agree with Trump.

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Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

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