DISCLAIMER: When I first created this blog, I sought to avoid turning it into a pseudo-Christian, quasi-political collection of thoughts masquerading as Christian insight. For the most part, I’ve dodged political commentary, but this post requires it to an extent. This is because the true topic is idolatry, and politics are the object of that idolatry. It contains a serious warning for this specific kind of idolatry, which is prevalent in the United States. I pray sincerely that you are edified by it.
If you are one who genuinely strives to serve the King, I want you to read this brief message carefully, slowly, and intently. I realize that’s a tall request in this era of Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and short-form social media content, but it’s of great importance and due to the nature of the warning coupled with what I’ve witnessed in America over the past few years.
This is a message to the faithful ones, the believers, the saints: be alert! Political idolatry is running rampant on all fronts. Guard your hearts and minds with all diligence.
Political idolatry transcends political affiliation—it’s not a matter of Right or Left, nor a Republican or Democrat. You may ask, “How is that possible?” Well, there are Christians behaving like the new President of the United States (POTUS) is the savior (He’s not, and it’s not close.). There are other Christians responding to his administration with utter despair, doom-and-gloom, as though they don’t know the true Savior. While there can be valid concerns for and against any presidential administration, and the current one presents some challenges, both aforementioned attitudes from Christians reflect a misplaced trust that is idolatrous and sinful (yes, both attitudes!).
The people of God are meant to be strangers and pilgrims (Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11); this earth is not the Christian’s home. Regardless of the government structure or governing officials, there is a sense in which the believer is always out-of-step with those movements because he or she is a citizen of a different kingdom, one not made nor governed by man. That’s why those believers resting as if the kingdom work is somehow complete on the heels of a new presidential inauguration, are completely off base. Make no mistake, the mission of God is to reach every tribe, people, and tongue with the good news of Christ (Matt. 28:19).
Conversely, there are those believers suddenly calling for prayer over issues that could be considered akin to social inconveniences. Many of these believers are unaware they’re being stirred by spurious media reporting, and their reactions are usually attributable, in the final analysis, to their disdain for the sitting POTUS.1 Unfortunately, it’s often my experience that those people calling for prayer have been curiously absent in the past, even when anti-biblical actions were known and clearly taking place, and there should have been such calls to prayer.
Essentially though, this is an appeal to the saints, a request to examine themselves. What happened to Christians weighing matters based on whether they were “righteous” or “unrighteous?” (These words are chosen with purpose and shouldn’t be considered flippantly. They are biblical terms, not subject to our preferred and subjective definitions, and they supersede terms like liberal and conservative or the Left and the Right.)
“Righteous” and “unrighteous” for the Christian are clarifying terms when understood biblically. They should be like corrective lenses to the aged, far-sighted man or like the car defrost setting on an icy winter morning. They allow one to cut through the murky allegiances, seeing and siding with what is objectively right while renouncing what is objectively wrong. The clarity they provide reminds me of when the Pharisees and Herodians sought to ensnare Jesus with a “gotcha” moment in Mark 12:13-17. They asked the question of whether the people should pay tribute, and Jesus, looking at whose depiction was on the coin, called them to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar but to give to God what belongs to God. This wise approach prevented Jesus from being trapped, and, just as we should do, He focused on what was righteous—i.e., doing both!
Ultimately, the believer must always align with righteousness, not merely with a party or popular movement. We are citizens of a different country, a new kingdom. It’s one that’s founded on righteousness and redemption, and one that reflects the character of our King. If the content of this post applies to you, and your emotions have been overcharged with undue worry and calls for prayer that were missing when previous biblical atrocities occurred, repent. If the content of this post applies to you, and your attitude has been passive and bordering on worship due to the idea that you believe this president will “save the nation,” repent. If this post doesn’t quite apply to you, please know the warning still does. That’s why I urge you to pray and be on guard because, while it may not be present now, such idolatry is not beyond any of us.
1. To be sure, there are concerning issues with this current administration, and some of those issues can (and currently do) go beyond social inconveniences. However, such is true, more or less, of any POTUS administration and Congress, although it’s not my goal to make an equivalency between the current administration and previous ones. The concern is how we measure good administration from bad administration, and if we are thoroughly concerned today but were previously unconcerned (or only mildly concerned), we must ask ourselves, “Why?” Did things become drastically worse according to the Script, or did things become drastically worse in ways that were more personally tangible?