American evangelicalism, once a movement that purported to offer the gospel’s transformative power and wisdom, has devolved into a political weapon, a hollow shell of what it was meant to be. It has abandoned its sacred call to radical love, justice, and mercy in favor of political expediency, cultural influence, and financial gain. The evangelical church today, cloaked in a veil of self-righteousness, is more concerned with maintaining power and prestige than with living out the teachings of Jesus Christ. Its leaders, once the spiritual shepherds of a faith community, have traded their moral authority for political clout, and in the process, they have corrupted the gospel, turning it into a tool for personal and partisan gain.
At its core, evangelicalism in America has become an ideology dressed up as a faith. The movement has lost any meaningful connection to the person of Jesus Christ and instead serves as a vehicle for advancing political agendas, protecting wealth, and maintaining the status quo. Evangelical leaders, who once spoke of salvation, grace, and spiritual renewal, now echo the talking points of right-wing politics, forgetting that their Lord was a poor, marginalized figure who condemned the powerful, warned about wealth, and called for the care of the oppressed. The alliance between evangelicalism and conservative politics is not a coincidence—it is a deliberate and disgraceful fusion that has gutted the movement of its prophetic voice.
The evangelical embrace of Donald Trump, a man whose character is antithetical to everything that the Christian faith stands for, has exposed the depths of this betrayal. Trump, a man whose immorality, dishonesty, and egoism are evident in every aspect of his life, was enthusiastically endorsed by evangelical leaders as the champion of Christian values. This is not only a gross distortion of the gospel but a direct insult to the teachings of Christ. These evangelical leaders have turned a blind eye to Trump’s myriad moral failings—his racism, misogyny, greed, and outright dishonesty—because they saw him as a means to an end: power. The sad reality is that, for too many in evangelical circles, politics has replaced faith. In the search for power, they have chosen political alignment with a man who exemplifies everything that Christ came to challenge. This is not a political disagreement; it is a betrayal of the very heart of Christianity.
The embrace of Trump is not the only moral scandal of American evangelicalism. The movement has systematically distanced itself from the social and spiritual teachings of Jesus in order to accommodate the prevailing ideologies of the day. Evangelicals, once on the front lines of social justice, have largely abandoned any meaningful engagement with issues of poverty, racism, and inequality. Where Jesus preached the love of neighbor, the evangelical church has come to preach the love of nationalism, exclusion, and prosperity. Instead of welcoming the stranger and caring for the marginalized, the evangelical movement now cultivates an “us versus them” mentality, demonizing immigrants, the poor, and anyone who doesn’t conform to their narrow understanding of morality.
Let us not forget how the evangelical movement has become the very definition of hypocrisy. In the past, the church was a place for reflection, for repentance, for honesty in the face of human frailty. Today, however, it has become an institution that demands conformity above all else. Questions are not welcome, and doubt is viewed as a threat to the system. The movement is consumed with preserving the status quo, forcing adherents into a box of ideological purity where any deviation is punished. Those who dare to ask questions about the church’s practices or challenge the prevailing orthodoxy are ostracized, labeled as heretics, and often cast out. This culture of fear and control creates an environment in which spiritual growth is stifled, and true discipleship is nearly impossible. Evangelicals have forgotten that Jesus Himself was a challenger of the status quo, and in doing so, they have lost the courage to do the same.
The theological reductionism that has overtaken the movement is another tragic distortion. What was once a vibrant, intellectual faith has now been reduced to a shallow, black-and-white system of beliefs. No longer is there room for nuance, complexity, or mystery. Instead, everything is codified into a list of doctrines that are interpreted with such literalism that they lose any depth or meaning. The gospel, once a message of transformation, becomes a tool to reinforce a specific political agenda, with passages about love, mercy, and justice ignored in favor of texts that can be twisted to justify exclusionary practices, cultural superiority, and the accumulation of wealth.
Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this is how the evangelical movement has constructed an entire theology around fear. Fear of hell, fear of the unknown, fear of “the other”—this has become the driving force behind much of evangelical practice. The message of grace, freedom, and love that should define the Christian experience has been replaced with a constant drumbeat of fear, guilt, and shame. This fear-driven approach to faith results in a congregation that is more interested in being “saved” from punishment than in living out the radical, life-giving love that Jesus taught. The movement has constructed a false sense of security, where believers are encouraged to place their hope in political power, cultural dominance, and doctrinal purity, rather than in the transformative power of grace, repentance, and forgiveness.
In this climate of fear, doubt is not only discouraged but punished. The very act of questioning one’s faith becomes anathema, and anyone who dares to challenge the accepted narrative is cast aside. The evangelical church has become an echo chamber—afraid of change, allergic to dissent, and suspicious of anyone who does not adhere strictly to the prescribed beliefs. The result is a spiritually stagnant movement that has lost its ability to engage with the real struggles of the world. Instead of being a beacon of light in a darkened world, it has become a fortress of ideological purity, retreating further and further from the complex, messy reality of human life.
It is no wonder, then, that more and more people are leaving evangelicalism. The church, once a place of refuge, healing, and community, has become a toxic environment—where questions are silenced, power is worshiped, and grace is forgotten. People are waking up to the reality that evangelicalism has not only failed to live out the gospel but has become an agent of harm. Those who leave are not rejecting God—they are rejecting a corrupt system that has used God’s name to further its own interests.
The time has come for evangelicalism to reckon with its own failure. It needs a radical transformation—a return to the core principles of the gospel, a return to the values of love, justice, mercy, and humility that it once claimed to represent. It must free itself from its political entanglements, from its obsession with power, and from its insidious culture of fear and control. Only then can it hope to become the movement it was meant to be: a movement that embodies the radical love of Jesus, challenges the systems of oppression and injustice, and offers true transformation to a broken world.
Until then, American evangelicalism will remain a shadow of its former self—a movement that has lost its moral compass, abandoned its mission, and betrayed the very gospel it once held so dear. And as long as it continues down this path, it will continue to do more harm than good, perpetuating a false version of Christianity that bears little resemblance to the message of Christ.