We keep treating church scandals and political corruption as a separate category. They are not.

They’re branches from the same tree with the same rotten roots.

The Problem is not “bad apples”, but a Bad System.

When religious movements learn to excuse misconduct, minimize harm, or protect influence inside their own institutions, they rehearse the exact habits that later justify looking the other way in the political realm.

That’s why recent revelations about misconduct in charismatic and prophetic circles are not just church news, they’re reflections on our society as a whole. They tell us about how power operates — and how easily moral standards bend when influence is at stake.

Charismatic super church, Bethel of Redding, CA, platformed a young “prophet” named Shawn Bolz. Yet, when they learned that Bolz was not only fraudulent in his “prophetic words” coming from Facebook, rather than a Divine source. AND that he was sexually harassing his male staff members (while constantly preaching condemnation of queer people), Bethel went internal.

As usual, it was the old excuse: “That’s a spiritual and character issue of one man, no need to hurt the entire movement.”

As though Christianity has something in common with Las Vegas: “What happens there, stays there.”

This Pattern Is Par of a Greater Societal Problem

This issue is not just an individual church issue either – Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel, and many other Christian denominations have been shown recently to be guilty of covering for predatory leaders. This is because American Christianity has bowed to an American capitalistic brand of religion that says:

• A person’s gifting is more important than character
• Platform size is proof of “anointing”
• Loyalty to leaders and the system is valued over truth
• Thus, Influence must be protected at the cost of people, and any criticism is labeled “rebellion.”

Under these conditions, misconduct is not an anomaly. It is a predictable outcome. No wonder Christians can very easily vote a r^pist for president without batting an eye.

The power, influence, and institution usurp humanity, morality, and character.

Spiritual Blindness and Corporate Internalism Heads to the Ballot Box

Language used to control church crowds have been transported into American politics for the past few decades and has sown deep roots:

• “God is using them despite their flaws.”
• “Don’t criticize, you’ll hurt the mission.”
• “We can’t afford to lose this influence.”

This principality grooms those under its sway to view the protection of those in power, whether in the church or in governance. Add in the Christian supremacist belief that they are the “one way” to heaven, then “our side” becomes a cause to protect, rather than called out for being perverse and looking nothing like the Christ whose name it carries.

We’re told of Jesus saying, in the Christian Gospels, that such a system and organization that consistently brings forth this type of rotten fruit must be “yanked out by the (deep) roots and thrown into the fire.”

This is not about one politician. It’s about a habitual demonstration of moral compromise that leaves adherents numb to the hypocrisy of leaders whose behavior contradicts the ethics they preach.

The Public Trust We Rarely Mention

This is not only a moral issue for Christian organizations, it’s a legal one.

Religious non-profit status is not merely a tax benefit. It’s a social contract. Communities confer financial privilege because religious organizations are expected to serve the public good rather than function as partisan political machines.

Churches (and their leaders) benefit from public trust; therefore, they carry a public responsibility that demands public transparency. Yet, the spiritual language has become a cover for civic harm:

• Loyalty over truth
• Platform over character
• Power framed as divine favor
• Criticism labeled rebellion
• Harm minimized to protect the mission
• Ends justifying any means

Jesus was hypercritical – publicly, sarcastically, and loudly – of the first-century religious power brokers who partnered with an evil King Herod to “Make Israel Great Again.” The religious leaders bought into the idea that God wanted them to gain power and wealth in order for their race and religion to take governmental power.

It’s the very thing Jesus roundly rejected from Satan in the story of temptation in the desert, when the devil offered the “kingdoms of the world.”

But as the old saying goes, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The Real Issue

The issue is not that Christians engage in politics. The issue is that they’ve been trained by Christian organizations like Bethel to view power as a means to a good end.

The poor, the foreigners, the outcast and the widow be damned.

Thus, it becomes very easy for “Christians” like Speaker Mike Johnson, Karoline Leavitt, Ted Cruz, Lauren Boebert, and Nancy Mace to feel that any lie to tell or person to destroy is their godly duty – particularly in the obfuscation of anything that might harm their political movement and its leader.

Even if that leader’s life is the exact opposite of what looks like Jesus.

That’s not revival. That’s not making a country “great again.”

That’s corruption wearing religious language. No different than the “good people” that Jesus called “whitewashed tombs” and “sons of Satan.” A faith that cannot hold its own leaders accountable cannot claim moral leadership in any realm of society.

Perhaps, rather than trying to “Make America Great Again,” Christians should start trying to “Make Christianity ‘Christian’ Again.”