One of the most blatant forms of Christian hypocrisy in our time is Christians holding all the ordinary people we share this country with accountable to the most rigid moral standards while simultaneously holding their preferred politicians accountable to no standards at all.

As a Christian, I just can’t imagine hearing all the lies and demonization regarding immigrants, women, people with disabilities, people from other religions, the nonreligious, FEMA, and more, and somehow conclude, “yes, this is how Jesus would want us to engage with the world.”

I’m so tired of the kind of Christianity that claims to stand for truth while spreading misinformation. That claims to love God while demonizing people. That praises bullies while punching down to the vulnerable. And still demands that everyone believe it is following Jesus.

This is what indoctrination looks like. This is what Christian supremacy looks like. This is what corruption looks like. My fellow Christians, we must be louder in our opposition towards our faith being weaponized and bastardized in this way.

Nationalism keeps telling us Christians to take up our swords and make our nation "Christian" by any means necessary. Jesus keeps calling us Christians to take up our crosses and be like him, serving the world through grace, humility, compassion, and self sacrificial love.

The separation of church and state protects Christianity rather than threatens it. It protects Christianity from becoming corrupt by the allure of political power, wealth, and privilege, which causes it to abandon the gospel of Jesus. It protects Christianity from nationalism.

Jesus’ harshest words weren’t directed towards “sinners.” Jesus’ harshest words were directed towards those who used their religion as a tool of oppression and self serving power. Jesus’ harshest words were directed towards religious hypocrisy. May we remember this.

When a politician claims that God is on their side, they are just using God to try to get you on their side. It is simply taking God’s name in vain for the sake of their own pursuit of power. Turning any politician into some messiah like figure for Christianity is blasphemous.

If you see that God is in the business of protecting your preferred presidential candidate from death, but not the other person at the rally, or school children, or immigrants, or Palestinians, then it may be that you’re confusing your own political bias for God.

If our Christianity results in our fellow citizens having less rights, less healthcare, less shelter, less food, less clean water, less breathable air, less access to education, and less likely to earn a living wage, that’s when we know we are following someone other than Jesus.

A Christian movement that demands its fellow citizens be held accountable to the strictest of Biblical laws while simultaneously not wanting its preferred presidential candidate to be held accountable to any law is embodying the height of both political and religious hypocrisy.

Real leaders don’t need immunity. They lead by the strength of their character. They understand the gravity of their power and they are humble enough to know its limits. They know accountability is a strength, not a threat to their power. Only tyrants need immunity.

One lesson that we Christians have not learned in the last +2,000 years is that Jesus had no political control over the Roman Empire and he still changed the world. We keep trying to change the world the way the Roman Empire did instead of the way Jesus did.