Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Shall a Nation be Born in a Day? Megachurches on Gaza

Shall a Nation be Born in a Day? Megachurches on Gaza

Last updated on: December 19, 2023 at 1:13 am by Erica Ramirez

0 Comments

Shall a Nation be Born in a Day? Megachurches on Gaza 2023-12-19T01:13:54-04:00 Erica Ramirez

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hi! I am a sociologist on a tour of Texas Megachurches. Check out my first post here.

When I first began this tour, I set out looking to document how Texas churches do (or do not) advance what sociologists call Christian Nationalism. Per sociologists Sam Perry and Phil Gorski, “Christian nationalism is an ideology that idealizes and advocates a fusion of American civic life with a particular kind of Christianity.” At its core, Christian Nationalism expresses a priority for Christianity in national politics and often, though definitely not always, adds a priority for whiteness into this mix. Given my long tenure in the San Antonio area, I hoped there might be a wide enough range of megachurch cultures that my visits could nuance how we think about Christian Nationalism –and maybe challenge how some think about Texas!

To my own surprise, in all three of the megachurches I covered for this series this fall–again, looking for Christian Nationalism–I heard a very clear emphasis on the maximum importance of the nation of Israel (not the US) and the Jewish people. (This has been all the more surprising, in part, because Gorski and Perry have cited clear strains of anti-semitism in Christian Nationalism.)

In the weeks since October 7th, I have continued visiting churches around San Antonio, listening for charismatic/evangelical responses to the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Here are notes on a couple of ways that churches I’ve previously covered are contextualizing the ongoing war in Gaza.

Community Bible Church, Guest Speaker David Nasser

On my visit back to Community Bible Church (CBC), I was surprised to find a guest speaker of Iranian descent (who had already been scheduled to address CBC, prior to the eruption of war) as the person providing limited context for CBC’s audience on the conflict currently going on in Palestine. In his sermon, guest preacher David Nasser exhorted the roughly 15k people in attendance to see Muslims as “not the enemy, but the prize”– for conversion. Nasser recounts his own conversion from Islam at age 18 (30:00), as being the result of persistent efforts by 17 Southern Baptist teenagers. Nasser recalls how this youth group “came over on Monday nights to tell [his] family, ‘There is only one savior, his name is Jesus.’” Stunningly, in this political climate, Nasser jokes, “We were the Iranians, but we got terrorized by a Southern Baptist youth group. They loved me enough to tell me the truth.” Though at first his parents protested Nasser’s conversion, ultimately Nasser’s whole family comes to Christ. Nasser testifies: “I’ve seen the power of the gospel in the life of an individual…In God’s sovereignty, God has brought an Iranian missionary to Texas to ask you what kind of relationship you have with Him”(41:01). Nasser’s testimony demonstrates what has long been true: evangelism is one of the four defining hallmarks of the movement. At a time when global politics pose confounding dilemmas amidst grave losses of life, Nasser’s sermon effectively displaces ethical and political conflicts with spiritual ones, ie the need for salvation; such displacement is truly an evangelical tradition. Given his own ethnic and religious background, Nasser’s rhetoric gave CBC listeners reason enough to see Muslims as potential subjects of salvation, with little offered in the way of ethical considerations for inter-religious relations.

The God Who Holds Tomorrow, Cornerstone Church, Pastor Matt Hagee

Over at Cornerstone Church, (son of pastor John Hagee) Pastor Matt Hagee took an equally (maybe even more) traditional evangelical approach to contextualizing troubles in the Middle East: Hagee pulled out a calendar to plot this current conflict on a divine schedule of “end times” events. Like a long line of Pentecostals before him, Hagee utilizes up-to*–the minute* technology (10:15) to broadcast his timeline– but Cornerstone’s wealth means that his calendar is 10 feet long and digital. Hagee stands like a meteorologist in front of a weather map, using a laser to direct audience attention (some 20k) from 586 BC to 1948 and then 1967, and then to today. From minute 10, Hagee uses Ezekiel 37 to name the Valley of Dry Bones passage as the origin of present-day Israel. Minute 16 features a map that superimposes names of kingdoms in Ezekiel: Magog, for example, onto what is present-day Russia. In Hagee’s take, the past and the present are like a mobius strip: ancient Israel and present-day Israel are the one and the same– the true protagonist of divine history.

But, to be sure, Israel is not the only important nation. I started this series to document what aspects of Christian Nationalism I could find operative in Texas megachurches. I quickly found that San Antonio megachurches were often more obviously Zionist than they were Americanist. The eruption of conflict in Israel and Palestine means that area pastors are narrating Israel and the United States role in this conflict in tandem. Here is how Cornerstone captioned this sermon:

“We see immense struggle across the globe at every level. People are fighting for control. Nations are working to unseat the Super Power that is the United States. Communism is trying to overwhelm capitalism. Inflation is out of control! We are working harder for less and asked to pay more. Where do we turn? Our hope lies in the fact that God is in control. No government can overthrow him; no regimen can control him. The Bible tells us that, before Jesus’ return, there will be signs We are seeing these all around us, yet we do not live in fear. It is time to look up! Our redemption draws near!”

In Hagee’s sermon, I think I hear –not predominant Zionism or a competing preference for US primacy, but instead –something like twinning of nationalist concerns.

From minute 7, Pastor Matt begins rehearsing the birth of Israel as the birth of nation “in one day” which phrase he expounds on with reference to Isaiah 66, verse 8:

“Who has ever heard such a thing? Who has seen similar things? Could a land be born in a single day? Would a nation be born at once? But Zion has been in labor and has given birth to her children.”

Hagee used this passage to contextualize May 14, 1948, the day David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, as the prophetic context for the nation of Israel’s founding.

In this short history, I note that Pastor Matt referred to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 as Israel’s “War of Independence.” I imagine that his audience might conjoin Israel’s war for independence with America’s. Listening to this part of Hagee’s sermon, I was struck by just how much evangelical and charismatic thinking about nations, about nation-ness, is informed by Hebrew Biblical texts.

I’ve been asking myself to what degree evangelicals might be more Zionist than U.S.-centric and nationalist. But perhaps it is best to consider that Christian Nationalism, as we have come to understand it, may be inseparable and continually reinforced by Zionism.

If so, I expect that conflict in Gaza will intensify the religiosity of what will likely be a wild election season.

Christian Nationalism

Previous Post

December 15, 2023

Before You Came to Birth: Grieving Children Lost in the Womb

Next Post

December 19, 2023 Spending Advent with Our (Church) Fathers and Mothers

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I love horror but would have to acclimate back to Lovecraft and especially Machen. Have ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"Very good point about MacDonald.I am certainly a Machen fan!"

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"The Scottish author George MacDonald integrated fairy world into his fiction in a way that ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"I like the idea that we can have different streams. The coffee analogy is genius."

Lisa Clark Diller

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Ebenezer" mean, as in the stone Samuel set up?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Stone of David Stone of help Stone of God Stone of Law