Service to the Kingdom
What if patriotism isn’t boastful flag-waving but rightly-ordered love for God and neighbor in the place you call home?
Review by Christopher Parr
In 2026, a work of Christian political theology that defends love of country is likely to be accused of idealism or nostalgia. And one that is optimistic about the endurance of America’s political system? Have we not advanced past such simplistic notions? But in his recent book In Defense of Christian Patriotism, Daniel Darling successfully defends against these charges and presents his readers with a compelling argument for his vision of the right Christian posture towards one’s nation.
Darling argues that all Christians ought to be patriots, insofar as patriotism is rightly prioritized loyalty and self-sacrificial service to one’s country. True patriotism neither naively worships the nation nor rejects it because of its faults. This is a fundamentally Augustinian claim: our love for God orders our proximal loves for family, community, and country. Far from being idolatrous, patriotism is the proper expression of our care for the common good of the place which, in God’s providence, we call home. Darling argues that Christian patriotism, a general principle, will require responsibilities particular to each nation and political arrangement. His understanding of patriotism as rightly-ordered love is relevant for Christians from a variety of traditions and in any nation, but it is his Baptist ecclesiology and self-described constitutionalism that inform his practical guidance for Christian political engagement in his own home, the United States.
Darling believes that America’s system of government and civil liberties, which from the founding were intended to be supported by Judeo-Christian values, should be renewed rather than replaced. He proactively resists accusations of nostalgia, arguing that his vision is “not about going back to a mythical golden era but about applying the wisdom of the Founders to contemporary challenges.” He insists that the most productive path to civic renewal is within our constitutional system, which values both order and freedom. His analysis follows that of Alexis de Tocqueville, who observed that Christianity was America’s first foundation of ordered liberty, guarding against democratic despotism because it was not perceived as an ally of the State. While some state-established churches lasted into the early nineteenth century, the federal and state governments largely promoted the good of religion not through state establishment but through religious freedom, which both avoided interference with congregations and allowed religious individuals to bring their theological and moral convictions into public life. This is Darling’s vision as well: robust religious freedom and active Christian participation throughout State and society.
Patriotism is a universal call to Christians in particular places.
We might distinguish three aspects of Christian patriotism in the book. First, and of greatest importance for Darling, is that the Christian should be officially and meaningfully involved in the liturgy and life of an individual congregation. Darling insists upon obedience through joining the visible church as a prerequisite for political faithfulness. While he articulates this from the perspective of free church Protestantism, the position is part of a long tradition, beginning with Augustine, that argues that even in a nation that is not confessionally Christian, Christians are the best citizens because they both “seek the welfare of the city” and yet do not see political action as a source of ultimate meaning and value. They find the latter in the kingdom of God and its earthly manifestation, the Church. Darling identifies congregations as often the most enduring community institutions and argues that, through their visible manifestation of the Christian ethic, they are the best starting point for social and political renewal. Thus, Darling urges churches to politically disciple their members and encourage them towards civic engagement.
The second aspect of Christian patriotism is influencing our political parties towards better policy. Darling argues that the second greatest commandment—to love our neighbors as ourselves— pushes us to practice public theology. (Thomas Aquinas, who defined the purpose of law as “for the common good,” likely would have agreed.) To argue in the public square that our natural rights come from God, for example, is not theocracy, as some have claimed. On principles of the natural law such as the dignity and worth of human life and the conjugal view of marriage, he argues that churches have a particular responsibility to speak to the State about its obligations to justice and the common good. America’s political tradition assumes this accountability of the State to a higher authority. The State does not itself grant our natural rights and assign corresponding duties; we have them because we are “endowed by [our] Creator.”
Third, Darling identifies the family and schools as “little platoons” through which Christian citizens can work for the common good. Christians have a special concern for marriage and the family as civilizational foundations, both in society and in law. He cites sociologists including Brad Wilcox, whose work has demonstrated the myriad social and economic benefits for children who grow up in homes with a married mother and father. Darling also suggests that—whatever educational options they choose for their own children—parents should be concerned with the American founders’ vision of education for virtuous citizenship. They should care about what is taught in public schools and colleges, and they should encourage school choice provisions that give greater freedom to alternatives that may better promote intellectual and moral formation. Darling’s quotation from a Baptist confessional document, “a free church in a free state,” summarizes his position; a free state recognizes its limits and allows its citizens to take their religious and moral convictions into the public square.
Interestingly, Darling’s vision seems to suggest that even citizens of tyrannical nations should seek the common good, though he leaves that topic largely unexplored. Swiss Protestant jurist Emer de Vattel’s definition of patriotism is markedly similar to Darling’s: patriotism is the “natural” loyalty all men have towards their home, though Vattel elaborates that injustice and tyranny weaken it. American Christians can count themselves blessed that they live in a nation which, despite its flaws, has a political process through which they can advocate for justice. Even in nations without this, Christians can and have sought to influence rulers and institutions for good; in other words, Darling’s focus on Christian patriotism in an American context does not undermine his basic argument that Christians should seek their nation’s good, whether in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon or a democratic republic. Patriotism is a universal call to Christians in particular places.
Darling’s call to love one’s country is an important reminder that politics does not have to be an idolatrous power grab. True patriotism values the proper exercise of God-given institutional authority—whether that be in families, churches, or Congress—to serve the good of all. That makes patriotism an important virtue for Christians of all traditions in every age and nation, but particularly for those in a democracy that is beginning to question its ideals and institutions. Ultimately, renewing those ideals and institutions will require regenerate hearts, minds, and hands.
Christopher Parr is Special Projects Manager for Robert P. George. He holds degrees from Boyce College (B.S., Humanities) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), where he studied church history and ethics & public theology. His writing has appeared in First Things, National Review, and Religion & Liberty.
In Defense of Christian Patriotism by Daniel Darling was published by Broadside Books on September 30, 2025. Fare Forward appreciates their provision of a review copy. You can purchase your own copy here.
