Opposing Performative Christianity.

On Saturday, August 1st, the president posted an AI picture of himself kissing a golden crucifix with an American flag waving behind him on his Truth Social account.

This picture was in a long string of pictures he posted that same day, ranging from him as George Washington to him taking over Greenland.

This, of course, is not the first time he’s posted an image of himself tying himself to Christianity. He’s posted a picture of himself, claiming he is on a mission from God and that nothing can stop him. He’s posted an AI picture of himself as the pope. He’s even posted an AI picture of himself as Jesus, later claiming he thought it was a doctor after significant backlash.

This is very clearly taking God’s name in vain, and not presidential, but it unfortunately goes much deeper than social media.

This is in tandem with his long political courtship with white Evangelical Christians, making promise after promise to prioritize and favor their interests, which he has largely carried out. Along the way, he’s had photo ops with a Bible in front of a church, created his own edition of the Bible to sell for financial gain, invited worship services to be held at the White House, held a nationwide broadcast of the entire Bible being read by himself and numerous other people, created an anti-Christian bias task force, and numerous other endeavors centered on the values and interests of the religious right.

This trend is observed in many other government departments, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, which routinely invoke scripture and the Christian faith to justify their decisions and practices.

Alongside this very public display of perceived Christian loyalty, so much of what this administration carries out is completely antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. Gutting USAID, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world, stripping food assistance, healthcare, veteran protections, environmental protections, food protections, and utterly cruel treatment towards immigrants, all while carrying out senseless wars, are just a few examples of many that contradict the message of Jesus.

This isn’t new, unfortunately. Throughout history, many authoritarians have engaged in performative Christianity and used it as a potent tool to encourage Christians to support them and their cause, even in spite of the blatant evil and atrocities they were committing. When they fused themselves as “standing up for the Christian faith,” even the worst things were justified by many Christian supporters.

This trend can be clearly seen in the authoritarian regimes led by figures such as Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin, and Viktor Orban. While there were Christians who resisted these figures and their manipulation of Christianity, often paying for it with their lives, many Christians supported them, believing that their cause was in fact genuinely Christian.

Long before modern authoritarianism, many European monarchs claimed that their authority came directly from Christianity. This is known as “the divine right of kings.”

If a king ruled “by God’s will,” then resisting the monarch could be portrayed as resisting God. This idea did not always prevent rebellion, but it gave rulers a powerful ideological foundation for their centralized authority and pursuit of power.

One of the most urgent questions for Christians in America today is: if a political figure were manipulating Christianity for their own political purposes today, would we have learned from our own history and have enough integrity to stand against it, or would we be among those who supported it?

Because I believe we are seeing authoritarians engaging in performative Christianity in America today and in recent decades, I want to give as clear a definition of what performative Christianity is and the dangers it brings. Only in the hope that my fellow Christians in America would be equipped to know it when they see it and oppose it.

Performative Christianity, which I mean the public display of Christian identity or symbolism without assuming sincerity or judging anyone’s personal faith, can become a powerful political tool for authoritarians because it leverages the social and cultural functions of Christianity rather than its theological content. This phenomenon has been identified by scholars across many countries and historical periods. It is not unique to Christianity, but Christianity will be the focus of this post because of how the current administration is invoking it continuously.

Here are the main characteristics of performative Christianity.

1. Performative Christianity creates a simple “us versus them” identity

Authoritarian movements depend on defining an in-group that deserves protection and an out-group that supposedly threatens it. When Christianity is treated primarily as a cultural badge by those in power, it becomes an easy way to mark who belongs and who doesn’t.

You’ll hear narratives like, “Real Americans are Christian” and “Our nation was founded on Christian values” and “People who disagree are enemies of Christian civilization.”

Whether individuals actively practice Christianity becomes less important than whether they publicly identify with the group.

It is the exact kind of hypocrisy Jesus talked about when he said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” (Matthew 15:8-9)

2. Performative Christianity gives authoritarianism perceived moral legitimacy.

Christian institutions often carry centuries of moral authority.

Politicians who appear at churches, quote scripture, pose with clergy, and invoke God frequently may gain some of that perceived legitimacy, even if their personal conduct or policies do not consistently align with traditional Christian ethics. This doesn’t necessarily persuade everyone, but it can make criticism seem like an attack on Christianity itself rather than a critique of a political leader.

3. Performative Christianity discourages criticism.

If a leader successfully links themselves with Christianity, opponents may be portrayed not merely as political rivals but as anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-God, enemies of the nation’s traditions, or even “evil” and “demonic.” This reframes partisan disagreement as moral or spiritual rebellion.

Reframing partisan talking points as a “spiritual battle” is one of the most effective ways to undermine clear, logical discourse among people. Because if the stakes are this high in the battle between good and evil, then there is simply no time for nuanced discussion over complex political issues and finding common ground, only fighting. Because “you can’t find common ground with evil.”

This is a central framework of Christian nationalism that fuses loyalty to the nation, to the political movement, and to Christianity.

It presents all three loyalties as so psychologically intertwined that any criticism of one is portrayed as an attack on all three.

4. Performative Christianity encourages loyalty over accountability.

Many Christian traditions emphasize virtues such as faithfulness, forgiveness, unity, and respecting authority (though interpretations vary widely). An authoritarian movement selectively emphasizes these themes while minimizing other biblical teachings about justice, humility, care for the vulnerable, or holding rulers accountable.

This selective use of scripture is one of the clearest trademarks of performative Christianity. Such as using it to hold all ordinary people rigidly accountable while holding preferred political figures accountable to no standards at all.

5. Performative Christianity turns cultural anxiety into partisan energy.

Periods of rapid social change can produce feelings of loss and deep uncertainty. This creates the perfect vacuum for Authoritarian leaders to swoop in and promise to restore “Christian America,” “traditional values,” and a “biblical culture.”

Whether those historical ideas ever fully existed is less important politically than the emotional appeal of restoration and protection.

6. Why performative Christianity is especially effective.

Religion as a whole differs from many other identities in that it involves deep emotional commitment, community networks, trusted leaders, moral authority, family traditions, rituals, and sacred narratives. These make religious identity a particularly powerful source of social cohesion for many people. So, if a political movement successfully aligns itself with a dominant religious identity within its country, it can gain advantages in mobilization and loyalty. No matter how nefarious its purposes may be.

I believe we are clearly seeing this happen with Christianity in the United States in the highest levels of government. My continued work, hope, and prayer are that Christians in my country would collectively become the most clear-eyed and sincere voices in opposition to performative Christianity and the authoritarianism that engages in it. For not only is the integrity of our faith at stake, but people’s very existence is as well.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sent his disciples to preach the gospel not to people outside his religion but to those within it. I believe that is the task of the church in America today. We must follow Jesus’ example and call our own back to His gospel, because performative Christianity is causing tremendous harm, both within and outside Christianity.

May it begin with us.