Prosperity theology teaches a simple but seductive lie:
If God is pleased with you, life should go well.

Believe correctly.
Obey consistently.
Align with the right teachings.

And in return, God will reward you with health, security, and success.

Christian nationalism operates on the same theological logic—only scaled up from the individual to the nation.

If we are righteous enough,
if we uphold the right values,
if we put the right people in charge,
then God will preserve our way of life.

The theology is unchanged. Only the subject has shifted from “me” to “us.”

From Personal Blessing to National Favor

Classic prosperity theology frames faith as a mechanism for personal outcomes. It treats God less as a sovereign Lord and more as a predictable system: input obedience, output blessing.

Christian nationalism inherits this framework almost entirely.

Righteousness becomes a national currency.
Moral conformity becomes a bargaining chip.
Political dominance becomes evidence of divine approval.

In both systems, God is not worshiped for who He is but invoked for what He can secure. Faith becomes transactional. Obedience becomes leverage. Prayer becomes a tool for controlling outcomes.

But a God who exists to guarantee comfort is not the God revealed in Scripture.

The Transactional View of God

At the heart of prosperity theology is a contract disguised as faith. If something goes wrong—illness, financial loss, instability—it must be explained as a failure of belief, discipline, or alignment.

Christian nationalism mirrors this logic precisely.

When cultural influence declines,
when social norms change,
when Christians lose their privileged position in public life,
the instinct is not repentance or discernment.

It is accusation.

Someone is weakening the nation.
Someone is inviting judgment.
Someone is sabotaging God’s favor.

In both systems, suffering is not formative—it is suspicious.

The Idol of “Things Going Right”

One of the most unchristian assumptions shared by prosperity theology and Christian nationalism is the belief that faithfulness should produce smooth outcomes.

Life should feel stable.
Society should feel familiar.
Believers should feel protected.

When discomfort appears, the theology begins to panic.

Prosperity theology responds by intensifying declarations, donations, and positive confession.
Christian nationalism responds by intensifying power grabs, legislation, and coercion.

Different tools. Same fear.

Both attempt to force the world back into a shape that feels safe.

Blessing Reduced to Outcomes

Scripture speaks often of blessing—but never as insulation from reality.

Biblical blessing is relational before it is circumstantial. It describes belonging to God, not exemption from loss. Yet prosperity theology collapses blessing into measurable success.

Christian nationalism does the same—only politically.

Economic strength.
Military dominance.
Cultural conformity.

Once blessing is measured by control, the gospel quietly disappears. God becomes useful only insofar as He preserves comfort, order, and familiarity.

Power Without Cruciform Character

Christian nationalism does not merely seek moral order—it seeks authority without vulnerability.

This is where its prosperity logic becomes clearest.

Prosperity theology wants the benefits of faith without the cost of discipleship.
Christian nationalism wants the authority of Christianity without the posture of Christ.

Patience is replaced with urgency.
Witness is replaced with enforcement.
Faithfulness is replaced with effectiveness.

What emerges is not holiness, but anxiety dressed up as righteousness.

A Faith That Does Not Depend on Outcomes

Christian faith was never offered as a strategy for keeping the world predictable.

It was offered as a way of remaining faithful when it isn’t.

The gospel does not promise cultural security.
It does not promise political dominance.
It does not promise insulation from marginalization.

What it promises is presence, formation, and hope that does not depend on control. It forms people whose identity is rooted in Christ rather than outcomes.

Any theology—personal or political—that cannot survive discomfort, loss, or diminished influence has quietly replaced God with results.

The Question Beneath the Question

Christian nationalism often asks, “How do we restore the nation?”
Prosperity theology asks, “How do I unlock blessing?”

Both questions assume the same thing:
that the purpose of faith is to arrange the world correctly.

But Christianity does not exist to make life easier, safer, or more familiar.

It exists to form a people who remain faithful regardless of how the world responds.

Conclusion: When Comfort Becomes the Measure of Faith

Christian nationalism, like prosperity theology, ultimately reveals not confidence in God but anxiety about losing control. It does not ask whether Christ is being formed in His people, only whether power is being preserved. When faith becomes a tool for securing comfort, influence, or cultural stability, it stops being faith and becomes fear baptized in religious language. The gospel does not exist to guarantee that things go our way—it exists to shape a people who remain faithful even when they don’t. Any Christianity that collapses once comfort is threatened was never anchored in Christ to begin with.

References

Matthew 5–7 (The Sermon on the Mount)

John 18:36

Hebrews 11

1 Peter 4:12–16

Philippians 2:5–11

Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel

Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving

Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon, Resident Aliens

Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace

James Davison Hunter, To Change the World

Steen, Jan. Beware of Luxury (In weelde siet toe), c. 1663. Oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Public domain