Grafted into God's Family / or into Authoritarian Family

 

Grafted into God’s Family

Bible in a Year :

• Proverbs 27-29
• 2 Corinthians 10

You, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others.

Romans 11:17

Today's Scripture

Romans 11:11-21

Insight

In Romans 11, we read about gentiles being “grafted” into the family of God (vv. 17-24). Because of the Jewish people’s “transgression”—rejection of the gospel—“salvation has come to the Gentiles” (v. 11). Their rejection opened the way for gentiles to also receive God’s grace. That doesn’t mean that God has rejected the Jews. There will always be a believing remnant. And many have already placed their trust in Jesus the Messiah for forgiveness of sin. Paul says that the Jews would be envious of gentile believers enjoying God’s blessings. This would cause them to also desire these blessings and come to faith in Christ (see vv. 11, 14).

By: Alyson Kieda

During a visit with my father to his beloved Ecuador a few years ago, we visited the family farm where he grew up. I noticed a group of strange trees. My dad explained that when he was feeling mischievous as a boy, he would take a discarded branch from one fruit tree, make slits in a different kind of fruit tree, and tie the loose branch to the trunk like he saw the grownups do. His pranks went unnoticed until those trees started bearing different fruit than expected.

As my dad described the process of engrafting, I got a picture of what it means for us to be grafted into God’s family. I know my late father is in heaven because he was grafted into God’s family through faith in Jesus.

We can have the assurance of eventually being in heaven as well. The apostle Paul explained to the believers in Rome that God made a way for gentiles, or non-Jews, to be reconciled with Himself: “You, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root” (Romans 11:17). When we put our faith in Christ, we’re grafted in with Him and become part of God’s family. “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5).

Similar to engrafted trees, when we place our trust in Christ, we become a new creation and can bear much fruit.

By:  Nancy Gavilanes

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Reflect & Pray

How does it feel to know you can be grafted into God’s family? How can you bear good fruit for Christ?

Dear God, thank You for loving me and accepting me into Your family.

Discover more about the fruits we can bear when we trust God.

The challenge to my born-again brothers and sisters in Christ is to reflect on this attraction toward authoritarians like Viktor Orban, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump.  How does it commiserate with our love for Jesus Christ and the Great Commission to bring people to the Lord.  Is our conception of the Kingdom of Heaven is the same as Christ's Kingdom of Heaven?  Are we truely being biblical or just using bible verses to justify our sinful behaviors?

Alternet

72.3K Followers

Christian nationalists more likely to support 'all forms of authoritarianism': report

Story by Alex Henderson

 • 1h 

Donald Trump in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 2020 (Creative Commons)© provided by AlterNet

Many Democratic critics of Christian nationalism have been quick to note their own religious views, carefully drawing a distinction between an ideology they consider extreme and the more mainstream non-fundamentalist strains of Catholic and Mainline Protestant Christianity.

According to Religion News' Jack Jenkins, a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that "Americans who hold Christian nationalist views are also likely to express support for forms of authoritarianism."

PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman told Religion News, "While most Americans do not espouse authoritarian views, our study demonstrates that such views are disproportionately held by Christian nationalists, who we know in our past research have been more prone to accept political violence and more likely to hold antidemocratic attitudes than other Americans."

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The survey, Jenkins notes, asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with statements like "What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path" — and those identified as Christian nationalists were the most likely to agree.

"Such questions were based on two well-known rubrics to measure authoritarian leanings: the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, which was developed in 1950 by a group of scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale, which social scientists use to measure similar trends with child-rearing preferences as a framework," Jenkins explains. "Researchers found striking connections in the responses. A large majority of Christian nationalism supporters (namely, Adherents and Sympathizers) also scored high on both the RWAS (74 percent) and CRAS (61 percent) — significantly more than Christian nationalism Skeptics and Rejecters (30 percent and 31 percent, respectively)."

Jenkins continues, "In addition, about half (51 percent) of those who scored high on the RWAS also qualified as Christian nationalism supporters. The reverse was true among those with low RWAS scores: only 7 percent could be classified as Christian nationalism supporters."

PRRI found that only 34 percent of respondents on the whole agreed that the United States needs a "strong leader who is willing to break some rules." But that statement was supported by 55 percent of Christian nationalism supporters and 59 percent of Americans who scored high on the RWAS."

READ MORE: 'Watch our state burn': Trump slammed by firefighters union for threatening to 'play with their lives'

Read the full Religion News Service article at this link.

New survey points to correlation between Christian nationalism and authoritarian views

A large majority of Christian nationalism supporters scored high on authoritarianism assessments.

(Photo by Thirdman/Pexels/Creative Commons)

September 16, 2024

By Jack Jenkins

(RNS) — Americans who hold Christian nationalist views are also likely to express support for forms of authoritarianism, according to a new report, pointing to a possible link between those who advocate for a Christian nation and people who agree with statements such as the need to “smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.”

The Public Religion Research Institute unveiled the new survey last week during Religion News Service’s 90th anniversary celebration in New York City, presenting the data to a room of faith leaders, advocates and reporters. A statement sent to RNS on Monday (Sept 16), Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, framed the study as an effort to connect recent research on Christian nationalism with longstanding efforts to assess authoritarianism.

“While most Americans do not espouse authoritarian views, our study demonstrates that such views are disproportionately held by Christian nationalists, who we know in our past research have been more prone to accept political violence and more likely to hold antidemocratic attitudes than other Americans,” Deckman said.

In addition to being presented with questions from PRRI’s ongoing study of Christian nationalism — which tracks support for the ideology by rating people on a scale of Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics or Rejecters — survey respondents where asked whether they agree with statements such as “What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path” and whether they think children should exhibit traits such as obedience and curiosity.

Such questions were based on two well-known rubrics to measure authoritarian leanings: the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, which was developed in 1950 by a group of scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale, which social scientists use to measure similar trends with child-rearing preferences as a framework.

Researchers found striking connections in the responses. A large majority of Christian nationalism supporters (namely, Adherents and Sympathizers) also scored high on both the RWAS (74%) and CRAS (61%) — significantly more than Christian nationalism Skeptics and Rejecters (30% and 31%, respectively). In addition, about half (51%) of those who scored high on the RWAS also qualified as Christian nationalism supporters. The reverse was true among those with low RWAS scores: only 7% could be classified as Christian nationalism supporters.

“Support for Strong Leaders and Authoritarian Presidential Powers, by Authoritarianism Scales and Christian Nationalist Beliefs” (Graphic courtesy PRRI)

And while few Americans overall (34%) agreed the U.S. needs a “strong leader who is willing to break some rules,” the statement was supported by majorities of both Christian nationalism supporters (55%) and those who score high on the RWAS (59%).

PRRI also asked questions about current events, such as whether respondents agreed that those who were convicted of crimes for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection are “patriots” who are “being held hostage by the government,” or that Trump should do “whatever it takes to be president” if he is not declared the winner outright in November. Few Americans overall agreed with either statement (23% and 14%, respectively), but support was noticeably higher among supporters of Christian nationalism (44% and 28%) and those who scored high on the RWAS (38% and 24%).

“Perceptions of Jan. 6 Convictions and Opinions on Trump and the Election, by Authoritarianism Scales and Christian Nationalist Beliefs” (Graphic courtesy PRRI)

Researchers also asked respondents whether they were supporters of “7 Mountains” theology, a belief system popular in some conservative circles that calls on Christians to seek control over the seven “mountains” of society — including politics. Most Christian nationalist Sympathizers and Adherents (57%) said they backed the sentiment, as did significant percentages of those who scored high or very high on the RWAS (43%) or the CRAS (35%).

The theology found its greatest support among white evangelical Protestants in the survey (48%), followed by around 4 in 10 Black Protestants (42%) and Hispanic Protestants (42%).

“Our new survey shows, too, a close intertwining of apocalyptic and dominionist views among Americans who support authoritarianism. In short, authoritarianism in America is not wholly secular, but has important religious dimensions,” Deckman said.

Supporters of Christian nationalism were also highly likely (84%) to agree that “the final battle between good and evil is upon us, and Christians should stand firm with the full armor of God,” as were those who scored high or very high on the RWAS (70%) and the CRAS (61%).

“Christian Nationalist Theology, by Authoritarianism Scales and Christian Nationalist Beliefs” (Graphic courtesy PRRI)

Perhaps most troubling of all: While no group exhibited majority support for the idea that “American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” (only 16% of Americans overall agreed), the idea was most popular among Christian nationalism supporters, with 33% of Adherents and Sympathizers saying they agreed, while 28% and 21% of those who scored high on the RWAS and CRAS, respectively, agreed.