The Political Pimping of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ wearing a purple suit and surrounded by others.

Earlier last year, the well-known conservative congresswoman from Colorado, Lauren Bobert, was speaking at a Christian event run at the Charis Christian Center. In a segment on gun rights where she was mocking the question she often gets about “how many AR-15s do you think Jesus would’ve had?”, she uttered the following response: “well, he didn’t have enough to keep his government from killing him.”[1]

You read that correctly.

She said that.

In a room full of Christians.

And no one stood up in outrage.

For the record, I am completely fine with a politician advocating for their person. What struck me as weird wasn’t that she was standing up for the gun rights she believed in, but it was the attempt to couch her point by misrepresenting a central moment in Christianity. You can make the argument that she said it as a joke, sure. It still doesn’t shake my concern that no one else sounded concerned.

But it gets worse.

Pastor Greg Locke (pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in TN) made the following statements in a sermon in May 2022:

“If you vote Democrat, I don’t even want you around this church—you can get out. You get out, you demon. You get out, you baby-butchering election thief. You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation. They are God-denying demons that butcher babies and hate this nation.”[2][3]

Now, churches are naturally filled with people who have various political views. But not welcoming someone in the church because of the opposite party affiliation? Classifying an entire group of Americans as demons who “hate this nation” because they vote differently? Unfairly characterizing a group as baby-butcherers and (not referred to in the quote above), later reassuring the crowd with Jesus’ quote from Matthew 16:18 “upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”? I think the only thing more troublesome than this stream of nonbiblical consciousness is the verbal jeers of the congregants who not only fail to oppose such statements but are actively affirming them. You may say “but Robert, that’s just one guy.” Sure. But his church’s Facebook followership is at over 93,000. That’s a lot of reach—even if we were to assume he was the only one to utter such things.

To clarify before I go further, I am not arguing that all candidates that claim the Christian banner are in the wrong. Point in fact, I think it is good for genuine and compassionate believers to enter politics. The Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s, for example, has its grounds in the church, so I would never say that it can’t be done well.

But there has been and continues to be this a concerted effort by some politicians and pastors alike to secure the “evangelical vote” or to treat their particular political viewpoint as gospel truth. This has resulted in an unholy cocktail of politics and religion that cannot compare to what the Civil Rights movement accomplished.

Instead of empowering Christians to vote according to their conscience and rather than seeing what the truth of Scripture teaches about a subject in its original context before applying it to political action, I am discouraged to see that often the opposite takes place: the Bible and faith that believers hold on to so dearly is often hijacked for political purposes and/or to build one’s particular platform. The person in question isn’t subjecting themselves/their message to the teachings of Jesus. Rather, they bend the teachings of Jesus to scratch the ears of their political allies. In this way, Jesus isn’t served. He is pimped. Brought under the control of a new “lord” who simply uses Him to get what he wants. This, my friends, is not Christianity. This is an idolatrous form of religious oppression: straying from the message of Jesus while weaponizing him against our political foes. And history has shown us the extreme outcome of this is never good.

How can we sit back while the message that is supposed to give hope is hijacked by those who blatantly show they have no regard for the entire message of Jesus?

How can we do nothing while the text is wielded such that is at best manipulative, and at worst downright abusive?

Why do we allow these charlatans to access our churches and grant them our platforms in order to propel their political careers despite whatever negative light that their behavior or speech might shine on our faith or the Church?

And why does it feel like I’m the only Christian who cares?

Pause.

I objectively know that the previous question is untrue: loads of my friends care about this deeply. It’s actually the subject of frequent “shaking-our-head” discussions. But sometimes I’ll watch the latest outrageous attempt to appeal to Christian audiences work and I am overcome by a sensation similar to being the only one at an overly packed party to observe that something is seriously wrong with Jenny, but everyone else is too drunk to notice.

The American Church has to draw the line. The Democratic and Republican establishments don’t speak for Jesus. And the witness and work of the Church is too important for its words to be stripped and pimped by those who have shown that they don’t even study the Bible nor have been transformed by its teachings.

What, then, are we to do? First and foremost, we must understand how to identify the true from the false, or the genuine from those with ulterior motives. Are there warning lights or tell-tale signs that someone is hijacking our faith or attempting to pimp the tenants of Christianity for their own gain? Fortunately, the answer is yes.

Identifying Warning Lights

 Matthew chapter 7 records the tail end of one of the most famous sermons that Jesus gives—the Sermon on the Mount. In this message, he is educating the crowd about many things related to their faith. In verse 15, he gives a warning that I believe applies to our discussion here. He says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Contextually speaking, a false prophet was a person who:

·      Claimed to speak for God but was never sent by Him (Jer. 14:14); this also includes one who claims to be a godly teacher but whose behavior is so contrary to the Scripture that they show their lack of credibility and their hypocrisy by their lack of obedience (Matt 23)

·      A person who intentionally misused the Bible, resulting in the misleading of others or their personal gain (2 Pet. 2:1-3)

·      A person who teacher who claimed to be from God but denied Jesus (1 John 4:2)

Long story short, this is a person who pretends to be a part of the group. They may go to the events and claim the belief, but this is a person who is carrying a false flag—evidenced by their speech and action. That makes this person not a genuine believer, but a deceiver. An individual who misrepresents the faith, not because they are failing but operating in good faith, but because they are consistently and intentionally molding Jesus’s words into their image and to fit their framework vs being having their identity and framework molded by the teachings and person of Christ. This isn’t someone who “tries and fails”, but someone who will not acknowledge when they are wrong, though they are shown the obvious truth.

So how can we recognize when this is happening? If we are supposed to watch out for these ravenous wolves that want to hijack the faith for their own appetites, is it possible to detect them in hiding? What are the signs to look out for? Here are some warning lights. 

Warning Light #1: Using Christian lingo to bypass the door.

 As sad as it is, some may use generic Christian phrases in the same way that a mysterious figure at a 1920s door to a seedy bar may use the carefully chosen “password”. I am shocked at how easily, sometimes, a speaker gets a pass because they uttered the phrase “God bless America”, “America is God’s country”, or the ole “I like to thank my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” It’s almost like the rest of the nefarious stuff they do or say doesn’t matter. As long as pay the cultural attribute to God, then no big deal, right? No. Believers should remain highly critical of these organizations or individuals that attempt to schmooze their way into securing the evangelical vote because they cap their speech with “God and country” or because they bash the sins of those that we don’t like (while often ignoring the other sins that are acceptable). This is not about our interests. This is about wanting to feed Christians into their machine—but only when it’s convenient.

Warning Light #2: Intentionally or recklessly misusing the Bible.

This is a tactic that is largely born of ignorance. It is a grasping of theological straws because it simply sounds good. It’s done by those who have a dangerously misinformed interpretation of a concept or by those who have not cared to even properly study at all. I am reminded of the earlier quote about the crucifixion and the AR-15s. It was such an obvious attempt to curry favor with Christians and such an egregious mishandling of the Scriptures that I want to break out in hives every time I hear it. And if you don’t think the God of the Bible cares when people intentionally/ recklessly teach the wrong thing, think again. James, the brother of Jesus, warns the Church in his ancient letter by saying “not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1, ESV).

Warning Light #3: Intentionally or recklessly abusing others with the Bible.

This tactic goes a step farther than misuse. While it may not be their intent to “abuse” someone with the Scripture, it is this person’s intent to be “right” or “righteous” no matter the cost. It is often a “ends justifies the means” form of spirituality that couldn’t be further from the character of Christ. In its mild form, this could express itself in peer pressure/bullying, like “if you don’t vote for this person, you’re supporting the plan of Satan.” At its extreme, this tactic has justified the dehumanizing treatment of others because they are “unbelievers”. This is the stuff that religious violence, American slavery, and even genocide are made of. Tread very carefully when some politician or church leader claims to fight for Christian values in one breath and in the other breath wields the bible in a way that attempts to crush members of the LGBTQ community or those of a different religion as if they are less than human. This is often telling that they don’t care about the whole counsel of the Scripture—they simply care about their particular issue and are willing to use the text as a bludgeon on those who disagree. I don’t want to understate this: using the Scripture, not in earnest, but as a weapon to force someone into your viewpoint, is not faithful text handling—it is dangerous, deceptive, and (in the past) has been deadly. Not even the God of the Bible forces one into belief. Humans are given agency and they are free to operate with consequence informed choice.

Warning Light #4: The Practice of Selective Outrage.

The concern here isn’t possession of passionate conviction about one issue over the other. Depending on who we are, some issues simply matter more to us than others. That’s normal. The issue, here, is more so the blatant selective outrage that some will express over a topic, leading me to believe the outrage is not “because the bible says”, but more of “I’m outraged and also the bible says…” I’ve spoken with people that will cringe and call you out if you let slip a frustrated “Jesus Christ!” but then will display serious contempt over the poor, the outsider, or disenfranchised. After all, the argument goes, those people should have made “better decisions” or should “stop complaining.” That strikes me as backwards, for these are the exact type of people that Jesus highlighted in his ministry and talked about.

Another example would be the person who cites spiritual reasons why it is important to go to church and worship the Biblical God, but will leave Sunday service and not blink as they hastily categorize entire swaths of southern immigrants as dangerous rapists and criminals who want to taint America’s way of life. Let us, again, visit the wisdom of James:

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle [control] his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jam 1:26-27)

Warning Light #5: Spiritualizing things that don’t need spiritualized.

This is the tactic that frames every battle as a demonic attack, every political opposition as an attempt to thwart God’s plan, every issue as a matter of good versus evil, and every social change in our society as a strategic effort against the Christians. Make no mistake, Jesus did predict that society will grow more immoral. And as far as treatment of believers goes, Jesus did warn his followers of the incoming opposition via persecution, hatred, and spiritual warfare. But we must Jesus spoke of persecution that would follow believers who were actively trying to live out the gospel of truth and hope within their lives, not as a natural consequence to being a poor-mannered, ill-tempered human. When people mistreat Christians because we are behaving poorly, that’s not persecution—that’s consequence.

Another flavor of spiritualizing things that don’t deserve it, comes in how we interpret some aspects of politics. One jaw-dropping example involving use of this tactic involved the spiritualization Donald Trump, by some, into almost a messiah type figure. An example of this is a billboard that was erected in Georgia that showed the former president next to the quoted bible verse “Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.” (Isaiah 9:6)[4]. This quote sounds very inspirational about a government leader. But there is just one problem: the author penned this verse a couple thousand years ago and it, in no way, is about Donald Trump or any other president. The verse is an exaltation pointing to the coming promised one, Jesus Christ. One can see how deceptive this tactic is, for it uses calculated language to stir the hearts of Christians to political action. If we say that the other party disagrees with us, that’s one thing. If we say that the other party is destroying the country with their demonic policies, the Christian community gets pigeonholed into how they are “supposed” to treat that issue or person. And that is exactly the point.  

Moving Forward 

Now that we’ve identified warning lights, what are we to do? How do we move forward into action? Let’s quickly revisit Matthew for some advice.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matt. 10:16).

Here’s what we can glean from this verse as related to our conversation: 

Remember who sends us.

As believers, we are to be on mission in this world—realizing the kingdom of God to those around us as we go about our daily lives. We are not commissioned by Trump, Biden, Democrats, or Republicans. We are sent into the world as ambassadors of Jesus, first and foremost, before we ever owe ourselves and allegiance to anyone else. A firm Jesus conviction, not a party tradition, should ground our political action. 

Be vigilant of the wolves.

Remember that not everyone who talks the talk is walking the walk. Not everyone who says “God bless” is a genuine ambassador of Godly purposes.

Be wise as serpents.

Upon hearing this phrase, Jesus’ Jewish audience would have likely had one main image pop into their minds—the image of the serpent in the garden (ref. Genesis 3). If you remember, this being was described as cunning and crafty. He had a peculiar ability for analysis that could break down and understand words and intentions. Now, ultimately, his abilities were used to twist the words of God in order to manipulate Adam and Eve, but the ability was a marker of his intelligence, nonetheless. Even today, the snake is still thought of as a crafty and tactical type of creature. Our takeaway is that we should operate with a keen and discerning eye that studies what people say and do so that we are not fooled by posers.  

Be innocent as doves.

This part of the verse curtails the other image. It is an image of moral purity. We should conduct ourselves in a way where we are not sinking down to dirty tactics that are commonplace in our world and politics: lying, baseless accusations on someone’s character, denying our own sinfulness, and simply misleading people in general. The lesson here is not to become morally bad like the image of the Eden rebel, but that we intelligently and critically navigate our political world in a way that does not leave us gullible.  

Conclusion

With these points made, I am not saying that Christians should disengage from politics entirely. Jesus didn’t. Paul didn’t. The first century Greco-Roman world was fraught with political and social tension as the oppressed Jewish group had to navigate life with their Roman occupiers living among them. In this world, Jesus made waves by offering something new. Something refreshing. A message that was evergreen and did not depend on who was or was not in power. His message, echoed by the other New Testament writers, offered believers a path to freedom. It gave them wisdom and empowered them to live dangerously holy and sacrificially loving lives, within their context, and no matter their circumstance. And according to Jesus it would be the “love that you have for one another” that would be the tell-tale sign that their form of religious expression was the real thing and that by this, they would be worthy to be called followers of the Way.

[1] Lauren Bobert statement. https://www.businessinsider.com/lauren-boebert-jesus-didnt-have-ar-15s-save-his-life-2022-6

[2] Clip from sermon. Greg Locke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1AlrvZr95k

[3] Article regarding sermon quote. https://churchleaders.com/news/424869-greg-locke-says-christians-cant-vote-democrat-speaks-of-insurrection-overshadowing-generosity-to-single-moms-on-mothers-day.html

[4] Billboard. https://www.newsweek.com/billboard-hailing-donald-trump-second-coming-jesus-appears-georgia-1628789