A new trend popped up in the media this week. Someone coined the term "Matthew 25 Christians," and it gained immediate traction.
Background: MAGA Christians
The term "Matthew 25 Christians" was created by someone trying to differentiate between MAGA Christians and true Christians. A MAGA Christian believes in a Christianity that promotes equality, peace, love, charity, and religious freedom -- but only if you're a white, Protestant American, born and living in the USA, and of western European ancestry. Even Jesus Christ himself wouldn't qualify to be a Christian under this definition.
Closely related to MAGA Christianity is Christian Nationalism, which title claims two pieces of virtue that it does not deserve. Christian Nationalism is the belief that the USA was founded on Christian principles, as a Christian nation, and that that makes it a special nation among all the nations of the world. (Parenthetical comment: other ideologies also have this belief. But they don't turn it into a blunt weapon like Christian Nationalism does.) Christian Nationalists wish to force their beliefs onto everyone in the USA, through laws, regulations, and physical enforcement.
If the two overlapping groups, MAGA Christians and Christian Nationalists, have their way, then the country will be run by an American Taliban, indistinguishable from the despots currently oppressing Afghanistan, Iran, and other nations under the color of religion.
Much of this is being driven by evangelical Christians, whose professed beliefs are often so far removed from true Christianity as to be unrecognizable. And the evangelicals are the best at setting themselves up to judge who is and isn't Christian.
(To be fair: It's not just the evangelicals. Every single slice of Christianity is expert at judging and condemning their fellow Christians, putting themselves with the sheep and everyone else with the goats, arrogating the authority of Him Whose Right It Is To Judge. But if my own children's high school experience is any indicator, the evangelicals are the worst offenders. If you are an evangelical Christian, and you object to this characterization, then show it to me by the way you live. See By Their Fruits, below.)
The Quiet Rise of the Matthew 25 Christians
The people who coined the term "Matthew 25 Christians" were pointing out the wide divide between true Christianity and MAGA Christianity.
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus gives the great parable about separating the sheep (his followers) from the goats (everybody else) at his Second Coming. The whole parable is summarized in verse 40: "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
MAGA Christianity denies aid to the poor, sanctuary to the immigrant, health care to the sick, and kindness to the prisoner, actions that Jesus specifically calls out in this parable. He condemns those who practice MAGA Christianity with this counterpoint in verse 45: "Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me."
More and more Christians are standing up and denouncing MAGA Christianity. They are finally saying, "That's not who I am. That's not what I believe."
"But, but --" the MAGAs Protest
During the 2012 elections, evangelical Christians mobilized and became a potent political power. Their leaders became kingmakers. One evangelical leader was interviewed on the radio, and he was condemning certain political candidates for not being Christian, and therefore, of course, unworthy to hold public office.
The interviewer asked him what constitutes a Christian.
"One who believes in the Bible."
The interviewer pointed out that nearly everyone calling themselves a Christian believes in the Bible.
"Well then, one who believes in my Bible."
Not a word about believing in the person, Jesus Christ. Not a word about believing that He was the Son of God. Not a word about believing in His divine mission. Not a word about knowing what is written in the Bible and putting it into practice in their daily lives.
This has been carried to extremes in the last three years. To a MAGA Christian, you are only a Christian if you hold the same political views that they hold, if you agree with their "othering" of the American population, and if you agree with the supremacy of white, Protestant, natural-born American citizens over everyone else.
Nothing in there about their namesake, Jesus Christ.
How to Tell the Difference
The easiest way to tell the difference between the MAGA Christians and the Matthew 25 Christians is to use Jesus' own Sermon on the Mount as a yardstick. This sermon, the greatest guide on true Christian living, is found in chapters 5 through 7 of the Gospel of Matthew.
"Lord, Lord"
In chapter 7, Jesus himself warned: "Not everyone that says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will get into the kingdom of heaven." He told of those who would plead with, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in our name cast out devils? And in your name done might works?"
He told them that he would say, "I never knew you; get away from me, you who work iniquity."
About Public Displays of Christianity
One of the most insidious things in today's world is the rise of performative Christianity. Once confined to gatherings like church camps, rallies, and jamborees, now Christian "influencers" have a louder and louder voice, through TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, and other social media. All of this "influence" draws people away from true Christianity and closer to the extreme, damaging positions espoused by MAGA and Christian Nationalists.
Jesus warned about these types in chapter 6, when he said: "Moreover, when you do your alms, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the churches and in the streets, so that they can receive the glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward."
They do good because they want the public praise and adulation -- and, in 2026, Likes and followers. That is their reward. As far as Jesus is concerned, that's all they get.
"But," He continued, "when YOU do alms, let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing: that your alms may be seen in secret, and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly."
By Their Fruits
Again in chapter 7 of Matthew, Jesus himself tells how you can tell the difference between a MAGA Christian and a Matthew 25 Christian: "You shall know them by their fruits."
Whose words and deeds correspond more closely to the deeds and the teachings of the Master?
Whose life more closely follows the admonition, "Follow me, and do the things that you have seen me do"?
Who spreads out their hands and echoes the Master's invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest?"
Who is brave enough to tell someone who lives a lifestyle different from theirs, "Neither do I condemn thee"?
Who emulates the Master by simply "[going] about doing good?"
No, way too many of us are on the wrong side of Jesus's warning from Matthew chapter 6: "Judge not, that you be not judged." And especially the MAGA Christians. They have everyone judged, condemned, marginalized, disenfranchised, and in many cases deported. That's so much easier to do.
Pure Religion and Undefiled
Jesus' apostle James wrote this in his tiny part of the Bible: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." I submit that this is only a tiny slice of true Christianity, but MAGA Christians can't even do this part.
"You must choose. But choose wisely."
The old knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade said these words: "You must choose. But choose wisely."
So, which one are you going to be? A goat, or a sheep? A MAGA Christian? A Christian Nationalist? Or a Matthew 25 Christian? You must choose. Choose wisely.
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| Choose wisely. |
