Who Really Represents America?

In this episode of Wake Up, Look Up, Pastor Zach reflects on Vice President JD Vance's argument for a more Christian America and explores how faith has shaped the nation's values throughout history. He discusses the challenges of describing America as a "Christian nation" while emphasizing the importance of recognizing the God-given dignity and value of every person. Pastor Zach encourages believers to thoughtfully engage cultural and political conversations through the lens of biblical truth, love, and shared moral principles.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Zach Weihrauch

Follower of Jesus who has graciously given me a wife to love, children to shepherd, and a church to pastor.

What is Wake Up, Look Up?

Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, who really represents America? This is prompted by an opinion piece I read in the Washington Post by Matthew Schmitz called JD Vance Makes the Case for a More Christian America. Now, Schmitz is writing about a recent memoir that Vice President Vance has put out called Communion. in this memoir, Vance talks about his conversion to Roman Catholicism and how that has shifted not only his personal thinking, but his political thinking. his argument is that secularism is what has divided our country. moving away from a shared belief in God, a shared idea of values, has actually resulted in a more divided society. His argument, though, is that secular liberalism promised tolerance, but actually produced division. He says the way out of that is for Americans to say what we know to be true out loud. More Americans than not believe in God. More Americans than not hold loosely to a set of Christian values. What he argues is a path forward for America is moving forward under the understanding that we are, at least in some sense, a Christian nation, even if what we mean by that is a nation founded loosely on the concept of God, on the idea that people are made in God's image and as a consequence, have certain rights. Schmitz is looking at Vance's argument because it's a kind of a new path forward in the Republican Party. President Trump would dabble in Christian language, but he wasn't saying that the hope for America is moving more in a Christian direction. So how should we think about this? Is Vice President Vance right? Well, I guess I got two answers to this. On the one hand, I get uncomfortable anytime we talk about America as a Christian nation. Certainly Christianity has informed not just American culture, but Western civilization. Without Christianity, much of what we know of the Western world simply wouldn't exist. So if you want to make the case that Western civilization is built on the foundation of Christian values, you're not going to get any argument from me. There are a lot of things we take for granted, like the value of all people that are inherently Christian concepts. So if that's what you mean, then sure, Western civilization is in some sense Christian. America is in some sense Christian. The danger, of course, of labeling America as a Christian nation, though, is. Is, I guess, kind of twofold. One is America has done a lot of things throughout its history. slavery, opposing civil rights, different, wars that we've gotten involved in. The, oppression of women, lots of different things that simply don't square with Christian values. If you go around calling yourself a Christian nation, the concern would be that you would be baptizing behavior that's antithetical to the person of Jesus Christ. Of course, the second problem is whose Christianity are we talking about? I mean, Vice President Vance is Catholic. I vehemently disagree with the Roman Catholic Church and really take the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, at least from Rome, as being not quite Christian. opposing primary doctrines of what makes Christianity Christianity. Having said that, let me put that aside for a second and say one thing I think Vice President Vance is right about is that the silent majority of Americans do believe in God and do hold to a set of values. I think it's okay to say that. I think we can talk about God, we can talk about values, we can talk about principles without necessarily saying that everyone in America does or has to belong to our religion. Paul says this in Colossians 3:14. Above all these, he tells the church, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. He's saying to the church, look, you're coming from all kinds of walks of life, but, but hold together this idea that you love each other, you find value in each other. Now he's writing to a church, but I think that carries over into how we think about government. I think more Americans need to say, you know what? I believe in God. I believe you were made by God. I believe you have value. And whatever laws we're going to write, whatever policies we're going to put place, that's our starting point. I think more and more Americans could come to the table and say, you know what? I do agree with that. We can argue about where that takes us. But I agree with that. I think Vice President Vance is right that secular liberalism is the kind of warp and woof of Hollywood. It's the warp and woof of the New York Times or the Atlantic or the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal. But I don't think it is of everyday America and everyday Americans. And I am glad that some politicians are feeling like it's okay to say that and actually connecting their agenda to, to the first principles that espouses. Why can't we, in a country full of people who identify with Christian values, have conversations about how those Christian values inform our country? We can and we should, and I hope, moving forward, we will. Hey, thanks for checking out Wake Up, Look Up. For more content, be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or website cccchapel.com.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at [e-mail]!