"We need to define our loyalties in times of peace, preparing ourselves for times of war"*

History may teach us many lessons if we are humble enough to see and learn. Today, in class we saw what happened in Germany before the Second World War. The way a political regime assumed absolute power and started to undermine church authority, while they also played as a moralizing agent of society. The church, in its vast majority played the game and accommodated to the nationalist project, but in association with it the church lost its prophetic ability to speak truth in violent times.

In México the risk is the same, we can easily find ourselves legitimizing those in power who destroy life (but may be acting as moralizing agents), and being part of political projects that confuses our primary loyalty towards God. In the United States, our neighbor, the risk seems to have even more expansive and dreadful consequences. Patriotism, combined with Christianity cannot go together. We cannot be loyal to a nation first; our citizenship is in heaven, in God's kingdom. History shows us that allying ourselves to nationalist project will undermine our allegiance to God, and  people created in God´s image will become enemies.

How then should Christians speak into what we see happening today? How can we avoid being coopted by a dominant culture that we are so accommodated to, and which provides us with privilege and security at the expense of others? It is a complex subject, but we need to ask ourselves and live in the tension. What does it mean to follow Jesus in a world of self-justified violence, human violations and massive deportations? How shall we radically live the gospel here? Are we taking the time to hear those who are most vulnerable and who are not considered within political or nationalist projects?

My reason to study history follows the same as my professor; I want it to help us understand our context for mission, that we engage faithfully and it may allow to cultivate an imagination for a different world where God’s shalom is extensive.

*Phrase used by Proffesor Sarah Williams in the class Church & State at Regent College. The ideas reflected here are my thoughts about class, and what was discussed there.