Hey guys, it’s Lee. Thanks for stopping by The Not So Political Protestant, a publication dedicated to correcting the course of the American church in regard to politics and its place in the lives of Christians. The Not So Political Protestant is here to call God’s people back to sanity and repentance because, as citizens of another world, we should live kingdom first, country second.

Now without further ado, let’s get into today’s podcast.

I posted a question yesterday—What words and commands of Jesus is the MAGA movement fighting for? Since MAGA is so passionate about the gospel these days, one would think I would have gotten a flood of responses with verses and examples of Jesus’ words they are passionate about.

I did not.

I received three comments:

* One said: “school prayer, anti-trans, and the fight against Christian persecution.”

* Another tried to play gotcha by saying “a theology based only on the words of Jesus is dangerous.”

* The third, also attempting a gotcha moment said: “Jesus is the Word; therefore all of the Bible is Jesus’ words.”

However, when pressed, not a single one provided any words of Jesus from the gospels which the MAGA movement is fighting for. The only one who responded further told me he doesn’t like to give “boxed answers.”

We must ask ourselves why this is. Why would they not proudly post examples of the words of Jesus they stand for? Sadly, the answer is because they don’t fight for the words of Jesus. That is, unless they appear to support their agenda.

The few verses from the gospels I do hear proclaimed by MAGA Christians are generally those that align with a militant Christianity narrative:

* “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34)

* The flipping of the tables in the temple (Matthew 21:12–13)

* Jesus telling His disciples to “Buy a sword” (Luke 22:36)

* The overarching call to repent or perish

Occasionally I will see verses used to rebuke critics like myself who speak out against the movement such as:

* “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7)

* Jesus’ “mote in the eye” rebuke (Matthew 7:3)

Other than these, I cannot think of a single verse from the gospels that MAGA is passionate about. If I’m missing anything, please let me know. But no one can deny that the words of Jesus are not the bulk of their message and are largely missing from it.

Think of how excited they were when the gospel was spoken at Charlie Kirk’s memorial. They flooded social media proclaiming a “great revival.” They celebrated full churches and people coming to Christ because of it. Now, I’m not denying any of that happened—but I would ask two questions:

* If MAGA is truly a Christian movement, why is it so unusual that the gospel be proclaimed at one of its rallies and people get excited when it does?

* And if the gospel message spoken that day is bringing souls to Christ, should that not convict us that our focus has been more on politics than the gospel?

Yes, they say things like “Jesus saves” and warn people about hell. But much of the teachings of Jesus—the ones that challenge our flesh and pride—are ignored:

* Mercy, grace, forgiveness, love, compassion, kindness

* Loving and praying for our enemies

* Rejoicing exceedingly when persecuted (Matthew 5:11–12)

* Do not resist an evil person but turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)

* “Those who live by the sword die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52)

You see, these commandments from Jesus are inconvenient for our flesh. They go against what our hearts want us to do—that is fight back, be angry, and take vengeance. The MAGA agenda and message is one of strength, retribution, and getting even which is why MAGA Christians put these commandments of Christ on the back shelf.

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Now, I am not saying there is not a true Christian in the MAGA movement. There are many good, godly Christians who love God with all their heart, some have given their lives to ministry, while others volunteer at food shelters, and I believe most love their fellow man. Whether you support Donald Trump or not is not a pass-fail for being a Christian—though I personally believe it’s unwise given what he stands for.

What I am saying is far too many Christians have divorced much of the Bible from their political views. This is rather ironic considering they say they are fighting for the Bible and godly morality. Yes, they believe we should be loving, gracious, compassionate, etc. They just don’t care if their government isn’t.

Now, there is one more thing Jesus spoke in the gospels which I do hear from MAGA Christians often. That is His statement, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father” (Matthew 10:33).

They quote this to warn the lost not to reject Christ and to support their standing up for the faith. They are correct on both of these. However, we don’t only deny Jesus when we reject Him but also when we ignore or deny the authority of His commands. This verse should cause us to tremble at the possibility of our denying Christ by lessening part of His message, not emboldening us to use it as a weapon against the world.

But the Christian Confirmation Bias doesn’t end with the gospels. If we open the question up to include the entire New Testament, the MAGA go-to verses are few:

• Romans 1 (which speaks about homosexuality)

* Romans 13:1 (Trump is God’s man and we should support him unconditionally)

* Acts 25 (Paul appealing to Caesar to support standing up for our rights)

* Ephesians 6:12 (the battle against principalities and powers)

* 2 Timothy 4:3 (men won’t endure sound doctrine)

* 2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (the coming apostasy)

* Jesus as Lion/Conqueror in the book of Revelation

Even if we move to the Old Testament, the same narrow lens confirmation bias appears. The bulk of their message is based on:

* The creation narrative

* Israel’s war stories

* The verses that call homosexuality an abomination

* The Psalmist’s ‘You knew me in my mother’s womb’ and child sacrifice verses

* 2 Chronicles 7:14 calling the nation to repentance

* Jeremiah 29:7 which they believe calls us to push for a theocratic government

* The story of Cyrus whom they believe Trump is a modern-day example of

Beyond these, you will hear little else. Also, if you look closely many of those are used incorrectly, such as the verses in second Chronicles and second Thessalonians which are speaking to God’s people, not the world. And the verse in Jeremiah which actually is part of God telling the people to get comfortable being in bondage because they’re gonna be there a while.

Let me stop here and say this because I know it will come up. I am not blind to the fact that the progressive Christian democrats do the same thing. So, please don’t pull out the “But they did it too” argument. I am a conservative and am speaking to my people right now, not the progressive democrats. Also, the Democrats—while they do cherry-pick Jesus’ love and compassion scriptures—do not claim to a Christian political movement. Only MAGA does that.

As I said, I believe a large portion of MAGA followers are good Christian people who truly love God and desire to see the lost saved. The problem is they’ve been swept up in a movement which calls itself Christian while denying or ignoring the overwhelming substance of Christ’s words and the Word of God itself.

That is how Satan operates; he sprinkles in just enough truth in to make it look legitimate. Things like;

· “We are fighting for Christian liberty”

· “We’re bring God back to the Whitehouse”

· “We are restoring godly morals”

But, once he has us onboard, he relegates these Christian causes take a back seat as he inflames anger, fear, and fleshly passions. This makes the fight come not from a place that is godly, but from the flesh. And when this happens, a person will only use biblical proofs when they seem to agree with their agenda.

At this point, Satan has won. He has deceived them and has them thinking they are fighting the good fight, when in actuality they are distracted from the true fight Christians must have—the fight for the souls of men.

And that breaks my heart which is why I am so passionate about this.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this edition of The Not So Political Protestant. I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree. Just keep it civil and know you will be pressed to give scriptural proofs for your stance, so search the scriptures because without those, we have no footing to take a stand.

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Until next time, have a great day and don’t forget to live KINGDOM FIRST – COUNTRY SECOND

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