We Must Be Free
Resisting the Evangelical Prophet Complex
After World War II, theologian Karl Barth met with German church leaders. As the story goes, during the meeting they began to explain the rise of Hitler (and excuse their own failure to resist) by blaming demons. To which Barth supposedly responded, “or maybe we were just political idiots.”
I’m thinking a lot about this today in the wake of Trump’s conviction. As Barth wrote in his Church Dogmatics, it is never good to stare too long at demons.
Trump’s felony conviction hasn’t altered the American landscape, but confirmed it. We only need to look at the new campaign slogans featured on GOP social media, like “Victory on November 5” and “Never Surrender”
Evangelical Prophet Complex Reacts
And, on cue, the evangelical prophet complex has fallen in line. I included many of these names, and their tweets, in my PhD, documenting their support for the election fraud narrative by calling for prayers from Christians.
These prayers show how the problem has never just been the political decisions of evangelicals, but decisions made with messianic expectations resting on Donald Trump. All the conspiracy theories find their power from a theological charge, from being folded into a Christian-American myth. (See this post from reporter Kate Shellnutt for these and more.
Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Dallas (founded by W.A Criswell)
Eric Metaxas, Evangelical Podcaster, Bonhoeffer Biographer
Paula White-Cain, Evangelical Pastor, Prayed over Trump on J6
Al Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
We Must Be Responsible And Free
I want to offer the strongest pushback to Dr. Mohler’s claim that “there is no way out.” This is fatalism; it is beneath the Christian.
Mohler is dressing up false necessities as moral conviction to justify the unjustifiable.
Pushed to its farthest reaches, “there is no way out” breeds violence by extinguishing Christian freedom and responsibility. This is the roots of January 6.
And now, evangelical leaders are falling right in line with the partisan cause by holding out November 5, 2024 as the date which determines the fate of America. Such fatalism breeds violence. And this is exactly the fire Trump’s slogans are meant to stoke.
Christians in America don’t have to deny the stakes of the election and our political responsibility. But we cannot cede our freedom to fate, we cannot blame demons for our own faithlessness.
Each level of consciousness brings its own version of Christianity, with increasing amounts of truth at each level. And the lower stages are indeed painful to watch at times.
Many in the U.S. are so embarrassed by the evangelicals (and other lower consciousness versions of Christianity) that they're leaving the faith altogether. This is largely because they no longer see a version of the Jesus story that works for them.
The good news is this shift away from these churches and pastors, while it appears like a regression to some, is actually a progression into a higher level of consciousness, even if they're exploring agnosticism or atheism. This incubation period is preparing them for something brighter, something truer.
This will be one of the great surprises of the coming decades.
Of course you are right. How I wish you weren't. Many people are now scared to death of pending violence. I would love to see a blog reminder about why this is a time for renewal of faith, not fear.