The Power of Nationalism

Before this study program I never realized how powerful nationalism can be. Like many "red, white, and blue" Americans, I equated patriotism with nationalism. Studying history from a missiological perspective has given me insights to see that the two are not synonymous - and to understand how patriotism can be manipulated by people with their own agendas.

Nationalism played a larger role in the Reformation that I'd ever grasped. A map of the post-Peace of Westphalia Europe -- when the religious boundaries were established and hopes for reconciliation with Rome abolished -- shows that the areas most influenced by Protestantism were also those least "Latin" in culture. Germany was drawn to Lutheranism by political reasons as much as religious; Switzerland's rejection of Catholicism for Calvinism had political overtones as well. And in England, a fully nationalistic religion developed as the country struggled to be free from the power and financial structure of Rome.

For reasons of his own, Henry VIII stood to benefit from a strengthened reform movement. There were a few thousand Protestants in England in the early 16th century. The movement had grown since John Wycliffe but was largely confined to the coastal ports. However, an active Lutheran underground and the strong coastal Protestant representation afforded a starting point which was soon amplified by Parliamentary decisions restricting papal authority, removing funding from Rome, and ultimately granting ecclesiological authority to the king. Henry VIII's desire for divorce came after many years of conflict between Church and Crown. It served as the tipping point, but not the catalyst. That catalyst was the desire for national sovereignty.

Henry VIII's changes in the church were more than surface. While he replicated the liturgical and parish structures, he also dissolved the monasteries, changed the process of confession, and established the Book of Common Prayer. His changes laid the groundwork for the poor being cared for by the parish (instead of the monastery) and for the eventual melding of church and state -- something the popes had desired but failed to achieve. This supremacy of state over church eventually led to further reformers, and a little thing called the American Revolution.

Over on the other side of the globe, reform was going on as well. The Sikh religion underwent somewhat of a "reformation" in the 16th century, becoming less a religion of the guru and more a religion of the book; the book replaced the guru and personal holiness was sought as an ideal more than ritual. Sikhs have a strong integration between religion and society and their own sense of nationalism, as they desire to be separately identified from the Hindus and Muslims which dominate India. Japan had a growing Christian movement, but ultimately rejected Christianity when it became linked with rebellion against the government.

These examples demonstrate the importance of missionaries being cautious in their political involvements. Especially when we are a guest in a country, we must maintain our focus on loving people. We also must realize how closely people often link their beliefs to their identity. To be Sikhs, for example, is to follow Sikhism. At times in Japanese history, to be Japanese was to be Shinto.

That's why contextualization is so important. We have to realize that the Gospel is a message that comes without cultural baggage. It can be applied within any culture. And within every culture there will be elements to accept, elements to adapt, and elements to reject. The process of determining which are which is a task that can best be processed with national believers, once they have been given Scripture and taught how to assess their culture within biblical parameters.