Right-wing partisanship of evangelicals blinds them to their political hypocrisy 

As a former evangelical church senior pastor and husband of a two-term Republican mayor, I might surprise some by sharing how it bothered me to see a large percentage of evangelicals vote for Donald Trump in 2016, and likely do so again in 2020. What bothers me more, however, is that these partisan evangelicals have been taught God requires them to do so.

Since the early 2000s, I’ve been increasingly concerned about the intertwining of Christian beliefs with political ones by many evangelicals. This hyper-partisan, nationalistic religious belief system says the Creator desires to implant Christians into American governmental power in order to force “Christian” rules into our civil code. These MAGA believers are convinced God will be kind to our country only if abortion is criminalized and Israel is supported in all circumstances. This view eerily parallels the first century religious leaders, known as the Pharisees, who yearned for the arrival of a “messiah” to install their religion into governmental power by overthrowing their corrupt government.

Why did a swath of Christians vote for Trump? He’s the “messiah” the Pharisees were looking for — a man brought by God to overthrow the “evil” government and put their religion into power.

Jesus called this mindset the “leaven of the Pharisees” and warned the hypocrisy of such would ultimately infect all that we do, just as a bit of leavening yeast eventually works through and changes an entire loaf of bread. Today, the “leaven” of right-wing partisanship has so infiltrated evangelical beliefs, we are blind to the hypocrisy of unwavering fealty to an amoral, publicly unrepentant man despite our labeling of Bill Clinton as “unfit for office” due to his marital infidelity.

This partisan group-think began kneading its way through American evangelicalism in the 1960s. Richard Nixon adopted white Christians into his “Silent Majority” and convinced them “law and order” would save them from turbulent cultural change. Paul Weyrich, a Republican operative, weaponized abortion in the late ‘70s (previously considered a “Catholic issue,”) using it to galvanize a “Moral Majority” vote against Christian President Jimmy Carter. Pastors began consistently preaching Moral Majority partisanship from evangelical pulpits, enabling men like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and Roger Ailes to use these “God-fearing” voters in cynical efforts to reshape the country.

Thus, the perfect opportunity for a self-promoting, media-savvy “strongman” to begin drawing all evangelical voters unto himself by proclaiming a foreign Muslim was president. Today, evangelicals pragmatically justify their support for Trump as a slightly uncomfortable means to the political power needed to secure that Moral Majority blessing — even if such justification is driving people away from our churches and our faith.

The din of MAGA Christianity has forced many progressive-leaning Christians to choose between remaining silent of their beliefs or leaving their beloved church communities behind, particularly Millennial attendees. Polls show most American Millennials have already ceased attendance at the churches of their youth, likely never to return.

Can this mindset be changed? I’m proof that a stalwart Reagan supporter can see that voting Republican isn’t a solemn, Christian duty. There’s a burgeoning group of “unleavened” Christians asking our brothers and sisters to consider if these political beliefs line up with the biblical story of our true messiah. Do we believe Jesus would wear a MAGA hat when he never endorsed codifying biblical laws and angrily denounced the pragmatic morals of the religious and politically powerful? Would Jesus join today’s religious leaders in their all-encompassing endorsement of conservative politicians when he so strongly denounced those biblical leaders who felt saving “their temple and their country” gave them cover for executing Jesus himself?

As a person of faith, I’m excited about what could happen if we’re willing to consider a different viewpoint. I also dread the incredible, long-term carnage if we don’t.

What if our goal for advancing God’s purpose on Earth focused on humbly reaching out to those who’ve been marginalized by partisan evangelical politics? Could this be transformative for our culture? What if we set aside our politics in order to listen to the stories of illegal immigrants, the queer community, and those suffering systemic racial and economic inequality — people akin to the Samaritans and tax collectors that Jesus befriended in the Bible? Could this form of “pro-life-ness” open doors to our primary message that a loving Creator exists and is reaching out to the world?

Our friends on the left could help support such a shift by more openly embracing the valuable role churches can play in our culture. Voters from our communities of color have long had to lay aside socially conservative values in order to exercise their historical, social justice-based support of Democrats. Simply acknowledging a value for religion and making room for Bill Clinton’s abortion credo of “safe, legal and rare” would offer an alternative for a large group of religious Americans who want their faith to be a part of their electoral decisions.

Without such change, I fear history’s definition of this generation will be of a leaven-filled divide that ends our ability to come together as a people and perhaps ends the evangelical church altogether in the next generation.

With that potential legacy hanging over us, isn’t change at least worth a try?