White Christian nationalism shaped more than politics. It shaped discipleship.

In this episode, Kristen traces the formation story beneath today’s headlines. Long before it became a political slogan, white Christian nationalism formed reflexes on what felt holy, what felt threatening, and what felt worth defending.

This conversation explores:

• How “chosen nation” theology reshaped American Christian identity
• Why security, order, and national blessing began to feel spiritual
• The rise of “law and order” rhetoric within white evangelical institutions
• The Moral Majority era and the consolidation of faith and political power
• The contrast between white Christian formation and the formation of the Black church
• How Jesus consistently refused the fusion of faith and empire

Through Scripture (John 6; Luke 19; Mark 10, 11, 12; John 2), we trace a pattern: Jesus steps away from coercive crowns, mourns violent nationalism, redefines power, limits Caesar, and disrupts sacred systems.

This is not an episode about condemnation. It is about formation.

Because if we want to be formed by Jesus and shaped by justice, we have to be honest about what shaped us first.

White Christian nationalism is not just political. It distorts discipleship.

And discipleship can be re-formed.

Further Reading: Books on White Christian Nationalism and Christian Formation

If you want to go deeper, here is a list of books that trace patterns historically and theologically.

Core Recommendations

The Color of Compromise | Jemar Tisby
How the American church has been complicit in racism from slavery to today.

Jesus and John Wayne | Kristin Kobes Du Mez
How evangelical masculinity and militarism intertwined with Christian nationalism from the Cold War through Trump.

The Flag and the Cross | Philip Gorski & Samuel Perry
A sociological study of Christian nationalism as a cultural framework.

Taking America Back for God | Andrew Whitehead & Samuel Perry
Data-driven analysis of who embraces Christian nationalism and why.

White Too Long | Robert P. Jones
How white Christianity shaped racism and continues to perpetuate it, especially in the American South.

Historical Depth

The Cross and the Lynching Tree | James Cone
How white Christianity spiritualized violence & how Black theology confronted it.

Baptizing America | Melani McAlister
How evangelicals came to see the U.S. as central to God’s global plan.

One Nation Under God | Kevin Kruse
How “Christian America” rhetoric was constructed in the 1950s as a corporate and political strategy.

Theological Depth

The Myth of a Christian Nation | Gregory Boyd
An evangelical critique of fusing faith with political power.

The Politics of Jesus | Obery M. Hendricks Jr.
How Jesus’ ministry confronted empire & challenged systems of domination.

If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to:

• Text this episode to a friend who might need it
• Leave a 5-star rating and review
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Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!

The Cost of Staying Awake can feel unbearable. This week isn’t a teaching episode; it’s a lament.

In this raw and personal reflection, Kristen shares how cultural hypocrisy, sacred language used as cover, and the grief of watching injustice normalized have weighed heavily on her heart. Drawing from Psalm 13’s cry “How long, O Lord?” this mini episode holds sorrow and defiant trust together.

This isn’t about outrage. It’s about moral exhaustion, embodied faith, and the courage to pause when the weight is too much.

If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to:

• Text this episode to a friend who might need it
• Leave a 5-star rating and review
• Subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes

Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!

What is Black theology, and why does it matter for Christian discipleship today?

In this episode, Kristen offers an introduction to Black theology, not as a political framework or academic debate, but as wisdom forged in survival, resistance, and hope. Drawing from history and the voices of Black theologians, pastors, and writers, we explore how faith shaped under oppression reveals a gospel that is embodied, costly, and communal.

Rather than explaining Black theology from a distance, Kristen invites listeners, especially white Christians, to examine posture, formation, and centering. What happens when discipleship is shaped from the margins rather than the center? How has dominant American theology been formed alongside power? And why does this wisdom speak so clearly to the church's exhaustion, shallow discipleship, and longing for hope today?

This episode lays theological groundwork for Black History Month conversations, framing the month as formation, not consumption, and prepares listeners to receive the interviews ahead as testimony flowing from a living tradition.

Foundational Voices in Black Theology:

• The Cross and the Lynching Tree | James H. Cone
• God of the Oppressed | James H. Cone
• Jesus and the Disinherited | Howard Thurman
• The Politics of Jesus | Obery M. Hendricks Jr.
• A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African American Religious History | Albert J. Raboteau

Contemporary Voices:

• The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism | Jemar Tisby
• Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope | Esau McCaulley
• Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle | Dante Stewart

Essential Reading:

• The Fire Next Time | James Baldwin
• After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging | Willie James Jennings
• Howard Thurman: Essential Writings | Luther E. Smith Jr.

Note: This is not a comprehensive list, but these are the voices that have most deeply re-formed my own discipleship. Start anywhere. Read slowly. Let the work do what it's meant to do.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Black theology emerged from lived experience, not theory
• How social location shapes theology and discipleship
• The difference between faith formed at the center and faith formed under pressure
• Why liberation is not optional to the gospel
• How dominant American theology has been shaped alongside power
• The cost of a disembodied faith, especially for Black bodies
• Why turning toward Black theology does not polarize the church
• How listening itself becomes an act of discipleship

This episode is for you if:

• You're exhausted by shallow discipleship and culture-war Christianity
• You want to understand why Black theology matters without consuming it
• You're willing to listen from a different posture

If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to:

• Text this episode to a friend who might need it
• Leave a 5-star rating and review
• Subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes

Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!