(RNS) Donald Trump has declared May 1 to be “Loyalty Day” in the United States.

His doing so may take on more significance given his intense focus on American nationalism and exceptionalism, but every president has made such a declaration (including Barack Obama) since 1958.

Many of Trump’s critics will no doubt press him on what he means when he talks about supporting “freedom, equality, and justice” and on whether the policies articulated in his campaign and pursued by his administration actually reflect these American values.

This is an important debate. But for Christians, regardless of who our president happens to be, our loyalty lies with Christ and his church. Not the nation in which we happen to reside.

We can say and mean this, of course, while still affirming that patriotism can be a good thing.

Sometimes what one’s country actively promotes aligns with the values of one’s faith. And it is very good to have a special concern for one’s neighbor and local community. But knee-jerk, uncritical loyalty to one’s country — especially when reinforced by the liturgical ceremonies of civil religion taking place today — is something Christians ought to resist.

The mystical body of Christ constitutes our primary community. We are called to be in solidarity with all human beings, with a special concern for the most vulnerable, wherever we find them. God’s gifts have a universal destination that must not be limited by borders drawn by nation-states. Jesus commands us to welcome and care for strangers, a command that mentions nothing about national origin.

Violence may be necessary to secure the social order of the nation and advance a country’s interests overseas. But Christ warned his followers that living by the sword means dying by the sword, and to do nothing violent in resisting those who do us evil.

When the good of the country comes into conflict with the commands of Christ, our loyalty must be to Christ.

A general view of St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. RNS photo by David Gibson

My own tradition, Roman Catholicism, has historically been looked at with suspicion in the U.S. For much of this country’s history, faithful Catholics were thought — not without reason — to invest their loyalty elsewhere. We built our own schools, hospitals, and other institutions. We lived and worshipped differently. We were most certainly “other.”

Multiple authoritative statements from Rome confirmed this otherness. Indeed, “Americanism” was even identified as a 19th-century modernist heresy by Pope Leo XIII.

Though some anti-Catholic sentiment still lingers in the culture, most Catholics and their institutions have since been assimilated into U.S. American life. The turning point may have come with the first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, who assured Americans during his campaign that his Catholicism would have no impact on how he governed the nation.

Unsurprisingly, being a Catholic Christian today doesn’t indicate much about one’s views on ethics or politics. Despite our tradition’s commitment to nonviolence, Catholics get abortions, support torture, and favor going to war at rates similar to the rest of the population. Despite our tradition’s skepticism of wealth and commitment to supporting the most vulnerable, U.S. Catholics’ views on immigration, health care, welfare, and taxes are also not significantly different from the population at large.

That today’s loyalty pledges will not strike most Christians as troubling indicates just how well we have been assimilated into the culture. Most are Americans first and Christians second.

Generally speaking, of course, this is not a conscious choice. Far too often, the cake presented from the pulpit and in religious education courses is really just the good of the nation-state topped with the frosting of theological language. The “liberal” churches are ones that work toward a national Democratic agenda, while the “conservative” churches are ones that work toward a national Republican agenda. But what ultimately defines a particular church, even on its own terms, is most often its relationship with the nation-state.

There remain a few hardcore groups who have remained loyal to their theological commitments while self-consciously resisting those of the nation-state. We have Jehovah’s Witnesses to thank, for instance, for the constitutional right to not participate in today’s civil liturgies.

Again, let me be clear: There is nothing wrong with rightly ordered patriotism. But Christ was insistent about the fact that we cannot serve two masters.

Choose this day whom you will serve. As the biblical prophet Joshua said when he gathered the people of Israel, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

(Charles C. Camosy is associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University)