MAGA churches are not being persecuted for righteousness but for not loving their neighbors. They are being persecuted by unexpected judgment like Jesus cleansing the temple.
Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., is not being persecuted for faithfulness to the gospel, but for allegiance to the American empire. There is no cause for rejoicing at the disruption of worship on a Sunday. I find it repulsive, but violence begets violence, protests increase protests from the other side.
After Sunday’s protest inside Cities Church, a Southern Baptist Convention congregation in St. Paul, Minn., the predictable outrage of MAGA evangelicals erupted. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor and Donald Trump apologist Andrew Walker called the service’s disruption “utterly despicable.” Said he: “There is no constitutional right to protest a private religious assembly. What Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey have unleashed in their regime of disorder and lawlessness is shameful. God bless Cities Church.”
Rodney Kennedy
There’s irony in Walker appealing to “constitutional rights” when the MAGA evangelical movement empowers a president who routinely operates outside constitutional parameters.
I think God is using unexpected prophets to judge Cities Church.
How a church bearing the name of Jesus promotes the themes of resentment, nativism, nationalism, racism and militarism is a mystery. Baptists, of all people, long schooled in the principle of the First Amendment, now act as agents of the empire.
MAGA evangelicals have been raising hell in American politics. Their movement is filled with economic angst, racism, religious bigotry, antifeminism and hostility toward immigrants, science, the media and democracy. They have given birth to a Christian nationalism that is neither Christian nor patriotic.
The only freedom these Baptists desire is the freedom to control others by force and violence. They are taking the kingdom of God by violence. All this they have done in the name of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
Here is where I changed my mind about the interruption of worship at the SBC church in St. Paul: I consider it a counterattack by people tired of the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of evangelicals.
“I consider it a counterattack by people tired of the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of evangelicals.”
When you engage in the political arena six days a week and use your pulpits to spout dissension, anger and hatred, you can’t suddenly declare your Sunday church building a “sanctuary of the Lord.”
Some sacred spaces are less “houses of God” and more what the court priest Amaziah called, “temples of the king” in Amos 7:12. American flags fly in such evangelical churches, a sure sign of idolatry. Preachers promote what Franklin Graham calls a “God who hates.” They advocate punishment for alleged lawbreakers.
Instead of faux outrage, MAGA evangelicals need to repent and “clean out their own houses.” Instead of whining about worship being violated, they should ask what led protesters to take such a drastic approach to communicate.
If only this church were being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I pray MAGA evangelical churches everywhere will discover gospel reasons for facing the persecution and outrage of the culture. Until then, the Sunday protest in St. Paul was probably only round one.
Rodney W. Kennedy is a pastor and writer. He is the author of 11 books, including his latest, Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit.
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