More often than not, what Christians think of as “patriotism” is what God defines as being “idolatry.”

Jesus once said “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21), a radical statement publicly declaring that Caesar and Rome weren’t God, and were so disconnected that they required two separate offerings. While many contemporary Christians use the verse to defend the idea that God is pro-government, or more specifically, their preferred brand of government, Jesus is warning us to avoid such thinking.