We must come to terms with two unpopular realities: first, that there are very real differences from one collective ethnos to another, with some distinctions greater than others. Second, that 2,000 years of Christianity working within an ethnic group inevitably produces a people markedly different from those shaped for generations by the worship of false gods.
Just as Christianity sanctifies an individual over the course of his life, exposing sin, reorienting desires, and reordering priorities, so too does Christianity sanctify a people group over time. Just as idolatry degrades an individual over the course of his life, hardening him to sin, distorting desires, and corrupting priorities, so too does idolatry degrade a people group over time.
We are not to think of ourselves merely as isolated individuals. At the most basic level, we are members of families, because who we are is deeply shaped by where we come from—our religious and ethnic roots. Scripture teaches that God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him and worship idols, but shows steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments (Ex. 20:5–6).
If this is true, and it is, then we should expect to see vast differences nation to nation, ethnos to ethnos. And we do! It’s why everybody wants to live amongst people of European Christian descent. This is not ethnic supremacy. It’s a recognition of the supremacy of Christ’s influence on a particular ethnos. Of course, the pagans will attribute such differences to sin—injustice, violence, and oppression. But isn’t that exactly the evaluation we should expect from those who already consider obedience to Christ an offence and outrage?
The Scripture attributes any positive differences to God’s grace, generations of obedience, and thousands of years of progressive conformity to God’s commandments. This has always been the solution to the corruption in this world. It’s why Jesus called Christians the “salt of the earth.” Salt is a natural preservative that prevents decay. It’s why the Apostles were commanded to go and make disciples of all the ethnos, teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded.
Not only does the Gospel promise eternal life, but it also has a profound impact on how we live today and how our children live tomorrow. Just as a vineyard takes time to mature, so too do Christian nations, along with the fruits they produce. And yet today, we’re witnessing the children of those who refused to sow the seed reaping the fruit of those who did. But God will not be mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap (Gal. 6:7).
The solution to sin and its corrupting effects throughout the world isn’t to strip bare the vineyards of the faithful, but to plant new seeds, to construct new vineyards. The changing face of once-European Christian nations under the pressure of high immigration demonstrates that the fruit of the vineyard is limited, because it was never meant to feed the nations. The nations were meant to plant and cultivate vineyards of their own, not reap the limited harvest of others until there’s nothing left at all.
Religion working on an ethnos over time has profoundly determined the vast cultural, moral, and spiritual distinctions we see from nation to nation, people to people. You cannot import those people without importing those distinctions. To deny this, or to dismiss the pattern by pointing to exceptions, is not only intellectually dishonest—it does harm to ourselves, the next generation, and to those neighbours we are commanded to love.
