Exposing Idolatry Wherever It Hides

When is the last time you bowed down to a golden calf? Probably not that recently if at all. Idolatry isn’t really about that; it’s about letting something besides God define you. It’s about identifying with something that isn’t the ultimate concern. I need only look at my own bank account because I trust my own financial prosperity over God’s providence. Or my iPhone that demands I play one more game of chess instead of ten more minutes of prayer. Or my Instagram feed that is a kind of brightly lit warehouse of statues of any other gods we can imagine. What are those things that I’ve placed above my Christian calling? To whom am I most loyal?

One prominent example in our country today is the rise of white Christian nationalism. This is a perverse worldview that confuses our American civil religion with the call of Christ. It confuses our Christian identity with membership in a particular race, socioeconomic class and country. When you fail to separate empire from your faith, you’ve completely lost the thread. Christian nationalism distorts the gospel and replaces Christ with the golden calf of cultural and political boundary markers.

The connection is easy to grasp. As soon as empire got involved in the faith, it slowly turned from being about the Kingdom of God to being about the agenda whatever current earthly kingdom was in charge at the time. It turned from a focus on creating a world right now that is focused on peace, justice, love and compassion to a kind of occult club where you need to belong to the right groups and espouse the right ideas to get a pass into heaven after you die. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that so many Americans find Christian nationalism so compelling when they’ve incorrectly received the basics of faith. They would much rather believe that God’s blessing is reserved for their race, their group than to work to end homelessness, protect refugees, visit the imprisoned and the other tough Jesus stuff.

Privilege is the most seductive of all idols. Jesus often told us that we should not assert privilege but instead we should serve. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Try selling that on the campaign trail. Christian nationalism is only about protecting privilege and that is in direct opposition to the faith. Nationalism enrobes itself in religious language and symbols that it doesn’t take the time to understand. It tries to undermine the Christian faith to turn it into a tool that advances the interests of one group over another. Nothing could be more anti-Christ than this.

The privilege and exclusivity of white Christian nationalism demands far more than it could ever give. Doctrinal errors abound, of course. But right now, I’m worried about something greater than heresy. I’m worried about spiritual captivity. The idol of nationalism demands total loyalty to country, not to Christ, in exchange for false security, false identity and false meaning. American exceptionalism can only make sense if you are willing to believe that other countries are inferior. Insistence on special definitions national identity must fracture communities, fuel division and obscure the liberating message of the gospel for their own survival. Nationalism is directly opposed to Christianity because it insists on division.

Karl Barth is perhaps the most influential theologian in my own thinking, so it won’t surprise you that I turn to Barth for an example of what to do in these divided times. The paradox is that the more divided we feel, the more insecure we feel, the more we want to protect those divisions. I say with zero intended hyperbole that Barth’s example during Nazi Germany is one we would do well to remember as fascism has arrived in our own country.

Many German churches in Barth’s early career aligned themselves with Hitler’s regime, a parallel that should frighten us today. In addition to risks to our democracy, the greater danger is not simply the rise of a bad politician like Hitler or Trump, but a deeper spiritual cancer. It was the idolatry of placing country or a Fuhrer over the primacy of God. Barth understood that when a church’s loyalty slid from Christ and into nationalism, from the deep study of scripture and revelation into the shallow memes of a political movement, the faith itself is at stake.

If we want to lead in our faith, we must unmask idols of all kinds, but especially Christian nationalism that is built to deliberately circumvent the will of God. Other idols like my iPhone may erode my time with God, but nationalism launches deliberate attacks the foundations of our faith. We need to name this idol for what it really is. We cannot allow others to seize control of our own narrative with their political agenda and culture wars. We must use our prophetic voices to protect Christianity itself in the face of these anti-Christian attacks.

Calling out this idolatry is not political in the sense of Republican or Democrat, right or left styles of discourse. It is prophetic because it exposes the false gods that are demanding our hearts. The gospel does not call us to neutrality, even if taking a side makes you uncomfortable. The gospel calls us to a radical realignment and return to the only true God.

In some ways, MAGA may be more insidious than Nazi propaganda. Hitler demanded loyalty, Trump only hints at it, albeit with the subtly of a mob boss. If like Hitler, Trump tried to place himself above church authority, I would like to think that many of these MAGA Christians would abandon him. Instead, he slowly chips away at the words of Christ. Why would we not respond with as much outrage over this chipping away? You may think we need to tighten up immigration even though I would disagree with you on economic grounds, but you cannot possibly think the cruel actions of ICE are acceptable in light of Christ. You may think that we need to be more fiscally responsible, but you cannot possibly agree with ripping out USAID with no timeline for adjustment leaving many of the poorest in our world to die without alternatives. I’m not trying to shame your political ideology, but I do want to call out this national idolatry. There is a clear right and wrong way to go about doing anything and that is, “Love God, Love Neighbor.” Absolutely nothing I’ve seen from Trump is in line with that core lens of Christianity. Nothing. Set your meaningless faith in tax cuts aside and anchor your identity in Christ. It is liberating to worship God alone.

Speaking out against Trump and the administration is not in any way partisan, at least not from the perspective of living our faith. If I wanted to purely call Trump out as anti-American, I would have plenty of ammunition beyond nationalism. No other president has called our free media, “the enemy of the people,” or tried to silence a free press with lawsuits and extortion. No other president has accepted gifts worth hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign governments. No other president has ignored court orders and refused to enforce the constitution. And no other president was a convicted felon and rapist. There are plenty of political reasons to reject Trump, but that is not what I’m talking about.

Rejecting idolatry means we reject Trump, nationalism and MAGA. This cannot even be debatable within the context of Christian faith. The elimination of foreign aid, especially food and medication, to some of the neediest people in the world without warning, planning or an ability to find suitable replacements will lead to the unnecessary death of millions. This is an attack on God’s plan. You shouldn’t be mad when more clergy speak out against this administration. Instead, it should make you pause to wonder why so many have entered this arena when they never have before. It is imperative that we stand up to these constant assaults on our faith.

I happen to think we’re living in the most perilous times imaginable. That is because I cannot escape my own egocentrism. Every age faces challenges and calls to discernment. Do we continue to cling to the gospel as the center of our lives or do we allow ourselves to be pulled into the orbit of lesser gods. Barth’s warning in his age reverberates in our own. Our vocation is not about supporting a national ideology but to bear witness to Christ.

I pray for you to have courage to name our idols. I pray for you to have the humility it takes to turn from them. I pray for you to have the faith to rebuild lives and communities that have been shattered by our current policies. This is true worship and sets an example our world desperately needs.