A recent piece asked bluntly: What is MAGA Christianity, and is it Christian? That question has only grown louder after Charlie Kirk’s memorial service.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” That line from Matthew 7:21 hangs over this debate like a warning light. It forces Christians to ask whether political allegiance can mask spiritual bankruptcy.
The memorial seemed to display two competing Christian languages: one of forgiveness and gospel-shaped mercy, the other of vengeance, justice defined as payback, and political fury. Erika Kirk’s gospel versus Donald Trump’s, in a phrase. The gap showed up in tone, gestures, and the use of Christian words as political weapons.
That raises the blunt question: is MAGA Christianity so distinct that it amounts to a false religion? The New Testament sting is uncomfortable: “‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” and the reply, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Those lines demand discernment, not reflexive defense.
Judgment among believers isn’t new; conservative Christians regularly decide which churches and leaders are faithful. Charlie Kirk at times insisted publicly that you cannot be a Christian and vote for a Democrat, conceding that some political acts are morally decisive. The tension is that the same scrutiny applied to left-leaning churches must also apply within our own ranks.
History helps explain the fault lines: think Magisterial versus Radical reformations. The Magisterial stream—Luther, Calvin—produced institutions and elite churches; the Radical stream birthed populist, bottom-up movements like the Baptists and later Pentecostals. MAGA Christianity channels that radical energy: anti-elitist, charismatic, and politically combustible.
The Radical tradition’s strengths—zeal, immediacy, suspicion of elites—can also become liabilities when untethered to disciplined theological norms. The Magisterial tradition guards against drift into politics-as-religion but can become complacent and socially conformist. Both impulses have to be held in tension or the gospel warps into something else.
Charlie Kirk’s memorial combined heartfelt tributes with elements that were plainly troubling. President Trump said, “I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them.” That statement, from someone who claims Christian faith, is jarringly at odds with gospel ethics.
Speakers invoked faith for political ends. Jack Posobiec came onstage holding a rosary and crucifix and invoked grand, sacred comparisons: “Charlie Kirk brought us to the promised land.” “Charlie Kirk died for all of you.” “Charlie Kirk’s gift of his sacrifice means that Charlie Kirk will live forever.” He even declared that salvation for Western Civilization “was saved through Charlie’s sacrifice in the only way possible: by returning the people to Almighty God.” Those lines blur messiah rhetoric and political hero-worship.
Then came the martial language. Stephen Miller yelled, “We are on the side of God!” and thundered, “We will defeat the forces of darkness and evil!” He added personal invective: “You have nothing. You are nothing. You are wickedness. You are jealousy. You are envy. You are hatred.” That tone turns spiritual warfare into political execution.
If MAGA Christianity is the latest Radical iteration with no Magisterial mooring, it risks becoming alien to the gospel it claims to hold. It sings Christian hymns, cites Scripture, and yet often substitutes partisan triumph for repentance and charity. For those inside the movement who feel no disquiet, the spiritual stakes are very high.
Judgment by fruit is unavoidable; so too is scrutiny when a movement ” the Lord’s prayer with images of American military prowess” and when participants storm the Capitol and later pray in the Senate chamber. Such actions and rhetoric force fellow Christians to ask whether the religion being practiced is Christ-shaped or political idolatry.
https://x.com/SecWar/status/1969530822127407323