The errant Christian participation in the Capitol insurrection has its roots in the apocalyptic craziness espoused by the likes of the late Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye. Their 'end of the world' mania misled many, laying the foundation for conspiracy theories...

... and the horrid view of the civil government so many trapped in the maze of this nonsense espouse. In an odd-couple marriage, Christian post-millennialism was then married this movement to a 'save America', all in the name of a mythical 'lost' Christian America and hopes for a

... future Christianized state, a theocracy in the Christian sense. Opposition to Christian positions on moral issues was equated w/ opposition to God. How? Paul Weyrich and the Reagan-era GOP saw this as an opening to win the Evangelical vote for themselves & beat Carter in 1980

EVs had voted for Carter in large numbers in 1976, Carter identifying with them as a Baptist and Sunday School teacher, a humble, gracious, country boy. The GOP wrangled that support to itself by taking up the fearful millennialism of the EVs and making the Democrats...

... an embodiment of the Beast of Revelation. American could be a Christian Republic, saved from evil - from the Democrats in particular - and, later, from the swamp, the deep state, or whatever label worked best. Because a majority of people would never accept these wild views

...the GOP promised EVs conservative judges who would back their social agenda. That was a crucial strategy and gave cover for a generation of Christian leaders to urge voting GOP 'because of the Supreme Court' no matter what. Issues of economy, war, character, etc were subsumed

into the critical battle to win the Courts in order to stop abortion, the 'persecution' of Christians, and 'communism', which is always, of course, the great enemy of the cold-war generation. Along the way, they forgot about fascism. Large numbers of EVs tethered fidelity...

...to Christ to support for the GOP agenda. Essential in that mix is the fact that this is a largely white EV escapade. Had white EV leaders actually had deep conversations with and listened to the concerns of Black EV leaders, they might've at least exercised more caution.

This failure to listen, fueled by errant eschatology and the desire to control the corridors of power (or at least find access to it and with it maintain cultural viability when their numbers were in decline), led many to support even the Big Lie of election fraud and participate

...in the insurrectionist activities of Jan 6. Some will say, 'I was just there praying and preaching.' But why? You engaged in public displays of righteousness - which Jesus repudiates - and did so in support of falsehood and ultimately murderous, revolutionary violence.

A day of reckoning has arrived for Evangelical Christians. We must repudiate: a) errant apocalyptic fear-based theology; b) the Constantinian myth of the conservative 'Christianized State'; c) the replacement of the Great Commission with 'saving' America;

d) exalting false patriotism as true spirituality, and e) seeking influence in the culture through levers of power. In place of these errors - rest in the present rule of Christ; offer a wide embrace of political diversity; get back on mission; seek to serve rather than to reign;

disavow the celebrity driven culture of public protest Christianity for worshipping communities of humility led by faithful servants; live in our cities as those who love our neighbors & seek the common good rather than as those who see their neighbors as enemies and fight them.

There's a long way to go on the journey home to Gospel sanity but for many it is time to take those first steps out of the lie. Yes, this is a wildly oversimplified version of what's transpired - hey, it's Twitter - but you can read the big books on it all. Christians will...

...sometimes agree with more conservative positions and sometimes with more liberal positions, and all should have their approach informed by Scripture. But never again should Christians so identify with a single party or cause that they risk eclipsing or besmirching Jesus.

Jesus was at the Capitol insurrection. Not on the lips & banners of the insurrectionists, the plotters & hunters, but with the broken and violated and fearful who cried out for help amid the mob.

True Faith isn't about getting Jesus on your side of a revolution, but rather humbly following him into service with sacrificial love for all.

So let’s be faithfully present as neighbors, participate in politics w/ humility & graciousness, & recognize that whether we US Xtians are Ds, Rs, or Indy, our tribe will get it wrong at times & get it right at times. We can work together, worship together, and love one another