Jesus taught in the Sermon the Mount that God loves completely, and that we ought also love completely. What does that mean in a culture of pervasive and rising Christian Nationalism? Along with our Menno kin across the conference, we have pledged ourselves to “Christian Discipleship” in the midst of Christian Nationalism. We are meant to follow Jesus, to love completely, to cause no harm. We are meant to resist, disrupt, and challenge the culture of violent, harmful, and power-hungry Christian Nationalism all around us. Relying on Mennonite scholar Drew Strait’s work, we lift up the following: 1) break silence, 2) lament, 3) define Christian Nationalism, 4) identify political idolatry, 5) preach the whole life of Jesus, 6) activate congregations. Sermon starts right away Matthew 5.46-48 Resources: A Call to Christian Discipleship Amidst a Culture of Christian Nationalism, a resolution passed by the delegates to Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference (PNMC) in 2025Companion Worship Resource, created by a team from PNMC to accompany the 2025 resolutionDrew Strait, “How to Challenge Christian Nationalism: Building Peace in an Age of Extremism,” sharing insights in Oct 2024 from his book, Strange Worship: Six Steps for Challenging Christian Nationalism (Cascade, 2024). Drew Strait, “Political Idolatry: a group study” a 30-minute version of a longer webinar on political idolatry and White Christian nationalism. Read more on “What is Christian Nationalism” on the AMBS website: https://www.ambs.edu/political-idolatry/Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Commentary on the original source found here.Kimberlé Crenshaw, “Where there’s no name for a problem, you can’t see a problem, and when you can’t see a problem, you pretty much can’t solve it.” More at “Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies” of Tufts University.“God’s Army is Hiring,” Kate Burns, The Stranger, June 4, 2026.Image: cover for Drew Strait’s book, Strange Worship, source material for sermon
