Building a Communal Church

 “Our first loyalty is to the church, not to American empire. I want
to encourage and cultivate faithful Christian resistance.” That language
is reminiscent of left-wing radicals such as Daniel Berrigan or Dorothy
Day in their critique of American Christianity.

It is. I do not
believe that political and theological conservatives have a monopoly on
the truth. Look, I’m a conservative Christian. But we have been far too
quick to think of the church as the Republican Party at prayer
and to think of America as a new Israel. It’s just not true. I love
this country, which has been a tremendous blessing to me, but it’s not a
New Jerusalem. As Saint Augustine said, any peace we have today is
going to be the peace of Babylon, of captivity. I don’t tell people not
to be patriotic, but I do say, “Don’t confuse patriotism with
nationalism. Always remember that our first loyalty is to God and to
Jesus Christ.”

Building a Communal Church: An Interview with Rod Dreher