Former Vice President Mike Pence has for many years introduced himself to audiences by saying: “I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican – in that order.”
I’ve heard many evangelical Christians in the UK speak warmly of Pence’s strong Biblical faith. Indeed, there is much to admire. But I’m concerned.
As Pence spoke at rallies around America in the autumn of 2016 – in support of the Trump-Pence Republican presidential ticket – he had an oft-repeated recipe for his stump speech. He would slam the Clintons (Hillary Clinton was Trump’s Democratic rival) and extol Trump.
He would claim that the Republicans’ much-loved “Christian nation” was slipping away. Then, in a solemn tone, he would tell his audience that it wasn’t too late. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,” Pence would say, quoting God’s voice in 2 Chronicles 7v14, “then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The crowd would always roar their approval. [1]
"The true application of this passage today is to the church."
But quoting 2 Chronicles 7v14 in the context of American politics didn’t start with Mike Pence in 2016.
Forty years earlier, as Americans celebrated the nation’s bicentenary, there was a popular song written called “If My People” which was used in “God and Country” worship services alongside patriotic symbols such as the Stars and Stripes.
In the same decade, American historian Peter Marshall co-authored The Light and the Glory in which he claimed that America had a divine calling to be “a light to lighten the Gentiles” and that America was “God’s new promised land.” He made a connection between 2 Chronicles 7v14 and the United States.
Then in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president, he had his left hand on his mother’s Bible open at – 2 Chronicles 7v14.
And quoting this verse and applying it to the USA certainly didn’t end with Mike Pence. The American evangelist Franklin Graham, in an article entitled “Repentance brings Revival” in Decision Magazine in April 2024, quoted the same verse and followed it immediately by talking about what he saw as being at stake in the 2024 elections. So why am I concerned?
Context
First, I think there is a concern regarding context.
The Canadian theologian Don Carson loves to tell us that “a text without a context is a pretext.” And the immediate context of this verse is the dedication of the temple by Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6. But the wider context is to Israel as God’s covenant people. So to interpret “my people” as “Americans” is simply wrong teaching.
It’s hardly surprising that many American Christians seem to think that the Bible is about America! Hence the growing sales of the God Bless the USA Bible, also known as The Trump Bible, which contains not only the Old and New Testaments, but the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance (to the flag and the nation)!
Application
Second, and leading on from that, there is a concern regarding application.
“My people” cannot be correctly applied as referring to Americans, and neither can “their land” be correctly applied as referring to the USA. This is not a divine promise to heal America. This passage is about God’s covenant relationship with Israel and everything that came with that covenant, one of which was the Promised Land. The true application of this passage today is to the church.
The four conditions that God sets out – humbling, praying, seeking and turning – are the main elements of biblical repentance. And sadly, there’s much about the church – both in the UK and in the USA – that calls for biblical repentance. One could name pride, idolatry, corrupt leadership, financial and sexual scandal, false teaching, counterfeit gospels, injustice and unbiblical styles of worship just to get the ball rolling.
Applied correctly, therefore, this verse “isn’t a window through which we criticise the world’s wickedness, but rather a mirror by which we call out our own.” [2]
It could well be the case that Ronald Reagan didn’t fully appreciate these theological points when he drew attention to 2 Chronicles 7v14 at his first inauguration, so I think he deserves some charitable understanding. But folk such as Mike Pence and Franklin Graham know their Bibles. They know their theology. In their hearts, they know what 2 Chronicles 7v14 is – and isn’t – about. How our leaders need our prayers for both steadfastness and faithfulness.
- Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (New York: HarperCollins, 2023) p.23.
- Eric Michalls, ‘Why 2 Chronicles 7:14 Has Nothing to Do With America’, July 2, 2017, www.servantsofgrace.org accessed July 19, 2025.
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