C.S. Lewis once said that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. But maybe he forgot a fourth option, the one that would make the most sense to the MAGA crowd: Jesus the Radical Left Lunatic. Because if you listen to what Jesus actually said, you know, without the patriotic filter of “God and country,” you start to realize that the man conservatives claim as their Savior looks a lot more like the kind of “woke socialist” they love to hate.

Let’s start with money. Jesus didn’t just side-eye wealth; he condemned it outright. “Woe to you who are rich,” he said, “for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). He told a rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21). He warned that it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25). That’s not “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” theology. That’s not capitalism baptized in holy water. That’s a voluntaryist redistribution of wealth. And if he said something like this today, Fox News would be running a nonstop bottom-of-the-screen Breaking News ticker calling him Jesus Marx of Nazareth.

Then there’s his radical nonviolence. Jesus told his followers, “Do not resist an evildoer. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also” (Matthew 5:39). He told Peter to put away his sword even as the Roman soldiers came to arrest him (Matthew 26:52). His response to enemies wasn’t “Stand your ground” or “Muh Second Amendment rights.” It was, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). If that sounds weak to some modern “Christian warriors,” that’s because they’ve confused masculinity with militarism. Jesus didn’t need a gun strapped to his robe to prove his strength.

He also had this habit of flipping hierarchies on their heads. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,” he said, “and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). In a culture obsessed with power, dominance, and “owning the libs,” service is considered weakness. Yet Jesus’ entire message was that greatness isn’t found in commanding others, but in washing their feet. Imagine what would happen if a modern pastor said that to a crowd wearing red hats and chanting “Make America Great Again.” They’d be booed off stage because the Christ they claim to follow is too humble, too gentle, too “soft.”

And let’s not forget how he treated the marginalized. He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes (Matthew 9:10–11). He touched lepers (Mark 1:41). He welcomed foreigners and outsiders, saying, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). The Old Testament had long-since echoed this ethic: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34). Yet today, the loudest voices proclaiming “Jesus is Lord” are often the same ones screaming “Build the wall.” Their policies turn away refugees, separate families, and cage children, all while quoting Bible verses out of context to justify it. If Jesus showed up at the southern border in a caravan, they’d call him an “illegal.”

Even his views on retribution were radical. He taught forgiveness without limit—”seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22)—and told people to bless those who cursed them. He dismantled the old “eye for an eye” mentality and replaced it with mercy. But mercy doesn’t win elections. Mercy doesn’t sell campaign merch. Vengeance does. Creating an enemy other does. So they swap out Jesus’ compassion for their culture war, painting anyone who still takes him seriously as an enemy of the state.

It’s almost comical. The same folks who claim Jesus as their “personal Lord and Savior” would absolutely despise him if he lived today. They’d mock him for being anti-capitalist, anti-war, and anti-empire. They’d call him a bleeding-heart liberal, a socialist snowflake, a pacifist cuck. They’d throw him out of their rallies for refusing to pledge allegiance or chant “USA.” They’d tell him to “get a job” when he fed the poor, “follow the law” when he welcomed immigrants, and “back the blue” when he called out state violence.

And the irony is that they already did. They crucified him for it. The powers of his day didn’t kill Jesus because he was too religious; they killed him because he was too political, too disruptive, and too threatening to the status quo. He refused to bow to Caesar, refused to wield the sword, and refused to let the rich and powerful go unchallenged. The empire doesn’t crucify people for preaching sweet nothings about heaven. It crucifies people who dare to build heaven here and now.

So maybe C.S. Lewis was half right. Maybe Jesus was a lunatic, but only to those whose sanity depends on power, wealth, and domination. To the poor, he was liberation. To the oppressed, he was good news. To the empire, he was a problem that needed solving. And that’s the heart of it! If Jesus were walking among us today, he wouldn’t be waving an American flag or posing with a Bible in front of a church. He’d be marching with immigrants, sitting with drag queens, feeding the hungry, and calling out corrupt politicians. He’d be exactly the kind of person the Right would label a radical left lunatic.

So, if someone like Trump ever calls you that, take it as a compliment. You might just be closer to Jesus than all the people shouting his name from the steps of power.