Two very different services have unfolded in the public square in recent years, and the responses to them reveal something important and troubling about the state of our witness as the church.
At the presidential inaugural service, Bishop Mariann Budde preached the gospel and prayed for mercy. She asked that the powerful would show compassion toward the most vulnerable, echoing the heart of the gospel and the repeated cry of Scripture: that the “least among us” would be remembered, cared for, and treated with dignity through the decisions of the powerful. And yet, her words were met with outrage. Many voices accused her of politicizing the gospel, of using the pulpit for an agenda. Mercy, somehow, was framed as political overreach.
Fast forward to Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. Here, the language of religious nationalism was on full display by many in political power. Political leaders openly credited Kirk with winning elections for them, and his political influence was celebrated as if it were part of the gospel itself. Several even blatantly called for hatred against their political “enemies.” And yet, when concerns were raised about this distortion of Christian faith, the response from many was dismissive: “It doesn’t matter, the gospel of Jesus was preached!”
The contrast is striking. A pastor calling the powerful to mercy, something Jesus himself did time and again, is deemed divisive, political, even unacceptable. But blatant fusions of the gospel with right-wing politics and figures are tolerated, excused, or even praised. This reveals a dangerous double standard: right-wing politics can be comfortably wrapped in Christian language, but anything that even sounds like compassion, justice, or mercy is instantly labeled “too political” or “leftist.”
This is not simply an inconsistency, it is a distortion of our faith. It reduces the gospel to a tool for one side of the political spectrum while discrediting the very heart of Jesus’ teaching when it challenges the powerful. If mercy is now “too political,” but the blatant partisan rhetoric of those in political power at a service is not, then we have lost sight of Christ himself, who preached good news to the poor, healing for the broken, welcoming the stranger, and freedom for the oppressed.
This hypocrisy should be deeply concerning. It shows how easily our faith can be co-opted by ideology, and how quickly the message of Christ can be bent to serve partisan ends. Jesus calls us to something better, to a kingdom not of this world, to a gospel that refuses to be weaponized by either the left or the right, to a way of mercy, compassion, and truth that transcends political allegiances.
The tale of these two services is not ultimately about Bishop Budde or Charlie Kirk. It is about us. Which kingdom do we serve? The kingdom of political power or the kingdom of Christ? One invites us to protect ideology at any cost. The other calls us to lay down our lives for our neighbor in love.
May we have the courage to know the difference. May we bravely follow Jesus, even when it costs us comfort, reputation, or influence. Because in the end, it is not partisan victories that reveal the gospel, but lives transformed by mercy and grace.
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” -Jesus (Matthew 9:13)
So let me get this straight. A bishop prays for mercy at an inauguration and suddenly she is Che Guevara in a collar. But at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, politicians fuse MAGA with the gospel like it is a Marvel crossover event and everyone nods along like that is just good church. If mercy is too political but hate-speech with a hymn is somehow holy, then we are not preaching Christ anymore. We are running a bad political infomercial with a choir.
Yes. Thanks for voicing my thoughts and fears so clearly.