Christian Nationalism and the Defining of Christianity in the End Times

When the Faithful Are Called the Enemy

As the end times draw near, moral and spiritual confusion may grow so deep that genuine devotion to Christ gets mistaken for defiance, intolerance, or even rebellion against God himself. Cultural shifts, political influence, and compromised religious movements can quietly reshape what society accepts as "Christian," setting the stage for Spirit led believers to be pushed aside by institutions that claim Christ's name while working against his true purposes.

Drawing on the warnings in Revelation about spiritual deception, along with the historical account of Constantine's vision of the cross, this piece calls believers to stay alert to religious and political manipulation. It urges a return to Scripture and dependence on the Holy Spirit, and prepares readers for a future where the name of Jesus could be invoked to defend systems that stand in opposition to his genuine followers.

Confusion On Many Fronts

The times are confusing on many fronts. We are seeing what was once called immoral behaviors normalized. There is little shock or awe regarding media announcements of behaviors that were once unthinkable. Even our elected officials conduct themselves in aspects of behaviors that would never have been easily tolerated. This has become so normalized that it is becoming nearly impossible to label or get attention when immoral and unethical behaviors occur.

These are signs of the coming end of days, when cultural and public definitions of right and wrong become confusing and even exchanged. It is an age of rapid corruption of societal good and malalignment of what is truly godly behavior and evil masquerading as good. In such a world, those who are truly faithful to scripture—and more importantly, led by the Holy Spirit—can be called out for unchristian-like behaviors and attitudes. True believers must prepare for their worldview to flip upside down as the trials of the last tribulations approach.

The central concern of this article is not merely that society is changing, but that corrupted definitions of Christianity may eventually cause true believers to be viewed as enemies of the very faith they are committed to following.

How Society Redefines Right and Wrong

We have to face the fact that we in the Western worldview are influenced by societal and cultural norms. We expect others in our social structure to see, hear, and accept a collective understanding of what we accept as societal norms. The American way is just assumed to be true for everyone—or at least it was until now. Some are awakening to the fact that not everyone in America shares the same ideas and values, even to the point of noticing that not everyone calling themselves American looks like or holds true American values. This has become a hot issue and is leading toward fragmentation and discord within the nation and undermining its heritage as a beacon of hope to the nations.

This writing isn’t a focus on social ills or grievances. The purpose of this article is to shine a light on how norms within societies change, and how points of view become corrupted as gradual and steady pressures are applied by influential thought leaders and those with power to infiltrate a society with changes that slowly poison the collective normal shared values. This has serious implications for those who are committed to Jesus and called to follow his ways.

How Society Redefines Right and Wrong

One of the reasons I stress opposition to movements like Christian Nationalism or Civilizationism is that the combination of geopolitical alignment with religious perspectives inevitably leads to oppression based on the normalized perspective of what is defined as Christian at the time. Those outside of the religious norm become ostracized or even forced to convert to assume the image of the social norm. There are many snares and traps in this perspective that can be manipulated by the cunning and those who are insincere.

The Antichrist and Christian Nationalism

In Revelation 13, we see a description of a beast rising from the sea and being given authority to conquer the saints of God. He forces those who follow him to have a mark that allows them to belong to his society and conform to his norms. He, or “it,” is compelling and highly persuasive, even having a religious leader or false prophet leading his church and leading people to worship him rather than Christ. What this does visually is show how a social standard and viewpoint can be corrupted to a point where right is wrong.

Even today, those calling themselves Christian follow many different voices and perspectives. If anything, the religion is more divided than ever and speaking in many different voices—a kind of “babel” situation and, as such, an open door for manipulation. A simple perspective is that the antichrist will be obvious, like he will have a badge pinned on his lapel with the words, “I am the antichrist.” Or he’ll come with red skin and horns. This is naive and Middle Ages thinking. He will not come professing to be the antichrist; he will come claiming to fulfill the biblical perspective of a returning messianic character. He will manipulate the weak and misguided into thinking he really is the returning messiah and that to worship him is obedience to God—and, in fact, that he is God!

The mystery is that it won’t be another made-up religion, as it will be a corruption of the very Christian foundation created in the biblical text. His prophets and ministers will be well trained in the letter of scripture and able to manipulate those who are not marked by the Holy Spirit of God. Revelation 7 describes the marking of the people of God in verse 3, which symbolically identifies the true followers from the false. These will not be deceived by the antichrist or his prophet.

When True Believers Become the Outsiders

What if those in the majority calling themselves Christian became the opposition to the elect of God, marked on their foreheads by the angels of God? What if the churches that align themselves with the antichrist on a nationalistic and global agenda begin to purge out those believers who refuse to align with their corrupted worldview? What if the true believers become labeled as the real enemies of God?

This will happen when such true believers stand up and refuse to adapt to the growing new world order, and that order could very well be called a Christian-based civilization under the rule of a charismatic and powerful leader. This leader, in time, will claim to be the returned Christ of the Bible and exert his authority to mark his followers to identify those who have rights and privileges in his new world order as the new Christ under the Christian banner of the cross.

Constantine's Cross: A Warning for Today

Like Constantine of old, who saw a vision of the cross of Jesus and the saying, “By this sign, conquer!” this historical episode, traditionally associated with Constantine’s vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, is important because it illustrates how a religious symbol could become tied to imperial power and military conquest. Lactantius, writing soon after the event, says Constantine was instructed in a dream to mark his soldiers’ shields with the heavenly sign of Christ before battle; Eusebius later gives a fuller account in which Constantine saw a cross of light above the sun with the words commonly rendered, “By this sign, conquer,” followed by a dream in which Christ commanded him to use the sign as protection.

The lasting effect was profound: the cross, once a sign associated with suffering and execution, became linked in the imperial imagination with victory, legitimacy, and the expansion of Christian influence within Rome. [1] [2] [3] This type of occurrence could happen again! The current trends are definitely in favor of that happening. As in the days of Constantine, the church leaders relaxed as imperial power started to protect them and their authority. Such events should be a note of caution to the serious not to easily support or bless new social movements simply because they use the name of Christ. Such similar occurrences, both large and small, have repeated over the vast time since then.

Preparing for What's Ahead

As we near the end time, we should expect such masquerades to pick up, including the merging of religion and governance to create the most powerful alignment possible. And where would this be more suited than in the most powerful nation on the planet, one that controls monetary systems and vast resources on earth, the heart of power that can influence global activity? Sadly, that nation, despite its claim to fairness and freedom, is a prime target for usurpation in the name of Jesus.

The American and Western Christian churches should strive to guard themselves from the potential for corruption with the understanding that they are the guardians of Jesus’ investment in the most powerful asset in the world. Failing to do this will open the door for further corruption and a global spiritual contagion.

I make this warning without any expectation that it will go heeded, but the wise will understand and should be preparing for when the world and the written scriptures themselves become weapons in the hands of the ungodly, even those calling themselves followers of Jesus.

References

[1] Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors, ch. 44, describes Constantine’s dream and the marking of the soldiers’ shields with the sign of Christ. [2] Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, Book I, chs. 28–31, records the later account of the cross of light and the command to conquer by that sign. [3] Modern summaries of the Milvian Bridge tradition note the differences between Lactantius and Eusebius and the historical importance of the phrase commonly rendered “In this sign, conquer.”

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© 2026 A Voice. 

First published in The Dove on Medium.

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