'Incumbent' on Christians to condemn 'extremism in the church' for democracy’s sake: evangelical

This Christmas, a journalist raised in the evangelical tradition called on his fellow believers to confront the rise of Christian nationalism before it tears apart the fabric of society.

In a recent essay for The Atlantic, journalist Tim Alberta — the son of a megachurch pastor who has identified as an evangelical since childhood — warned of the creeping threat that Christian nationalism poses to society as a whole.

"The crisis at hand is not simply that Christ’s message has been corroded, but that his Church has been radicalized," Alberta wrote, adding that "culture-war flash points have accelerated notions of imminent Armageddon inside American Christendom."

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"A community that has always felt misunderstood now feels marginalized, ostracized, even persecuted. This feeling is not relegated to the fringes of evangelicalism," he continued. "In fact, this fear — that Christianity is in the crosshairs of the government, that an evil plot to topple America’s Judeo-Christian heritage hinges on silencing believers and subjugating the Church — now animates the religious right in ways that threaten the very foundations of our democracy."

To underscore his point about evangelicals feeling "persecuted," Alberta quoted Dallas-based pastor Robert Jeffress, who is also an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump. In an interview with Alberta for his book, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, Jeffress compared evangelical Christians in the United States today to Jews during the Holocaust.

"You sound like a hysterical maniac if you say the government’s coming after us. But I believe they are," Jeffress told Alberta. "It happened in Nazi Germany. They didn’t put six million Jews in the crematorium immediately... It was a slow process of marginalization, isolation, and then the 'final solution.' I think you’re seeing that happen in America."

Alberta argued that non-Christians would be mistaken in feeling that the fight against the rise of Christian nationalism isn't their battle to wage, saying that America's future depends on their involvement.

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"It is incumbent upon [evangelicals] to stand up to this extremism in the Church," Alberta wrote. "Yet the responsibility is not theirs alone. No matter your personal belief system, the reality is, we have no viable path forward as a pluralistic society — none — without confronting the deterioration of the evangelical movement and repairing the relationship between Christians and the broader culture."

Click here to read Alberta's full essay (subscription required).