Like many others, 2016 was a shock to my system.
While I had assumed many evangelicals would continue to vote for politically conservative policies, I was SHOCKED (Shocked I say!) to discover the evangelical multitude in the U.S.A. happily giving full throated support to the methods that MAGAworld used to gain power.
How could so many Jesus-followers support the antichrist methods of
fear mongering,
rage-inducing,
god-talking1,
arrogant,
nationalistic,
deceitful,
dehumanizing othering?
To be clear, my concern was not primarily with some ambiguous multitude… I was thinking about my people.
My family.
My congregation.
My neighborhood.
It was shocking to see so many men and women shared communion with align with this beastly power.
As I thought and prayed, two questions began burning in my heart:
- How could these beloved Jesus-followers give allegiance to a movement that blatantly disregards2 the teachings of Jesus?
and, more pointedly, - How could I, like a missionary, reach out and call them back to allegiance to Jesus?
Diving Into the Chaos
To answer the first question, I realized I needed more information.
So I took a deep breath, prayed, and dove head first into the chaos-waters of ‘faith-based, MAGA, Qanon, Christian Nationalism.’
I signed up for newsletters, chatted in discussion groups, participated in Turning Point Faith rallies, engaged in “Biblical Citizenship” coaching calls on Zoom, hung out at “Patriot Pastors” meetings and even attending the nationwide Pastors Summit.
As I plumbed the depths of these waters, I discovered that the leaders are not arguing for a well-crafted political ideology, nor are the many adherents concerned with conservative policies.
This movement is not really about policy or political ideology… it’s about power.
While the organizations I explored certainly advocate Christian Nationalism, they seem to do so to obtain more power. Operating more like a cult, these organizations stoke fear and rage while promising to meet their deepest needs : Safety, belonging and purpose.
This menace is more than ‘Christian Nationalism’.
It is something bigger…
something older…
something ancient.
Introducing Leviathan
Though now draped in red, white and blue, this ancient menace is nothing new.
In their wisdom, the ancients recognized this power-force that promised peace and prosperity while feeding on chaos, demanding allegiance and eventually, sacrifice as a spiritual reality. They talked about it in a variety of ways5, and often imagined it as an embodied reality sometimes referred to as The Serpent, The Dragon, the Beast…. or, Leviathan6.
Reflecting on Leviathan’s methods, the 6th Century theologian Gregory the Great states:
“This Leviathan tempts in one way the minds of people who are religious, and in another those who are devoted to this world. It presents openly to the wicked the evil things they desire, but it secretly lays snares for the good and deceives them under a show of sanctity.
It presents itself to the one as more manifestly wicked, as though they were its friends, but to the others it covers itself, as it were, with a cloak of comeliness, as if they were strangers, in order to introduce secretly, concealed beneath the cover of a good action, the evil that it cannot actually accomplish.
Hence its members, when they are unable to injure by open wickedness, often assume the guise of a good action and display themselves to be wicked in conduct, but yet they deceive by their appearance of sanctity.
For if the wicked were openly evil, they would not be received at all by the good. But they assume something of the look of good, in order that while good people receive in them the appearance that they love, they may also take the poison blended with it that they avoid. . . .
…they seem to promise what is good, but they lead to a fatal end.7
The ancients knew that even the people of God could be seduced by this great power, especially when it presented itself as the way, the truth and the life.
To put it another way, God’s people have been at risk of Leviathan’s seduction for millennia (see Rev 13).
This helps me understand my first question… HOW did my loved ones give their hearts to Leviathan? The ones that I love are not caught in something new… they are caught up in a deceptive power that has been at work from the beginning.
Disarming Leviathan
Now to my second question: how are we to reach those in Leviathan’s grip?
I believe the Apostle Paul guides the way:
Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, justice like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit — which is the word of God.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.
-Ephesians 6:10-20 (emphasis mine)
We are not in a fight with flesh and blood.
We are not at war against those in Leviathan’s grasp.
They are our mission field!
So, how can we reach them?
The same way we reach any people group with the gospel, we live as ambassadors, committed to consistent prayer, pursuing godly justice, proclaiming the gospel of peace, abiding in the truth of Jesus, resting in his salvation by the power of His Spirit.
Only by HIS power and work will those that I love be freed from Leviathan’s grasp.
One day, this ancient beast will ultimately be defeated by the King of Kings.
Until that day comes, let us live on mission, working to reach those in Leviathan’s grasp, calling them to turn back to repent and believe in the good news that Jesus is the risen king!
1 By ‘god-talk’ I mean rhetoric that uses scripture, often out of context, and slightly distorts it to support the speakers’ ultimate ends. In 2022 America, god-talk is still prominently used in political campaigns and stump speeches. See Genesis 3:1, Matthew 4:1-11.
2 See Don Jr’s claim that following Jesus’ teaching has gotten them nothing.
3 Perry & Whitehead, et al
4 Example: Turning Point USA shifted to incorporate “Christian” principles and language in their rhetoric after they realized the power of the SBC and the evangelical influences in CPAC.
5 Paul says “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
6 See Genesis 3, Job 41:1, Isaiah 27:1, Revelation 13. I understand these to be embodiments of evil, chaos, death. I also see a connection with Paul’s “Powers and Principalities.” I do not mean to directly tie them as synonymous. However, I do believe they are interwoven concepts within the scripture and speak to the same ‘evil power’
7 Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job 33.44-45.14