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6 Things MAGA Christians Should Love (But Somehow Don’t)

6 Things MAGA Christians Should Love (But Somehow Don’t)

Last updated on: March 23, 2026 at 3:31 am by Gregory T. Smith

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6 Things MAGA Christians Should Love (But Somehow Don’t) 2026-03-15T10:46:16-08:00 Gregory T. Smith

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The Bible offers a “top 6 list” of things MAGA Christians should embrace if they want to achieve greatness. But will they listen?

Are MAGA Christians making America great? Right now—no. But they might, if they realized their need to repent of their unchristlike lifestyle. (Image created by Gregory T. Smith on Open.AI)

MAGA Christians spend a lot of time warning us about dangerous things like empathy, immigrants, libraries, and occasionally the teachings of Jesus. In the interest of unity, I’d like to help. Here is a short list of things they currently dislike—and the inconvenient reasons their own faith says they should probably care about them.

1. Immigrants

Let’s face it—mission trips are a lot of work and a a lot of money. Every year, conservative Christians engage in “religious tourism” (aka mission trips), traveling to distant lands to get their hands a little bit dirty just so they can share the gospel. If MAGA evangelicals take the Great Commission seriously, they should be super stoked about immigrants to the USA. Look how much work they’re saving you—you don’t even need to pack your suitcase to get somebody saved!

Plus, let’s face it—the Bible is basically wall-to-wall migration. You get stories of exile, refugees, and people leaving poverty behind and setting off to a promised land. Immigrants are bringing that whole vibe with them. Christians who believe America is meant to be a “shining light,” a “city on a hill,” or a “new Israel” ought to be flattered when the “tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free” make the United States their destination.

2. Diversity

If they really want to make America great—if they want to model the country after the church, then diversity is one of the major virtues MAGA should support. After all, Pentecost is literally a multilingual, multicultural movement.

The church’s birthday was all about a flood of pilgrims hearing the good news, each in their own tongue. I know, I know—MAGA Christians are quick to quip, “You’ve moved to America, so you should learn to speak English. But if they really want to get biblical, they should embrace diversity and learn to speak in the languages of the people they’re hoping to convert. And, while they’re at it, they should embrace the new culture as well. Nothing says “love” like inclusion! (Or at least nothing says “Great Commission” like learning the language.)

3. Environmental Care

Maybe you’ve known ultra-conservatives who rub their hands together gleefully when they think about Armageddon, saying, “It’s all gonna burn!” When corporate power and greed gain control of religious opinion, the result is often a consumerist theology that justifies using the planet as a resource to be consumed. Many lovers of end-time prophecy who put their hope in the next world claim that Christians have no responsibility for earth-care today, and that instead we should focus on the sweet-by-and-by.

But MAGA Christians should be first in line at environmental conferences. Why? Because in Genesis (the book that fundamentalists love so much), God placed Adam in the garden to “work and keep it,” or “tend and watch over it.” This means that earth-care is humanity’s primary responsibility.

Remember the Parable of the Talents? In Jesus’ story, the master goes away on a long journey, placing his money in his servants’ hands to invest. Upon his return, some show they’ve been faithful, delivering not just his money back but interest as well. But the wicked and lazy servant who hid his portion had nothing to show his master upon his return. How does this apply to conservative evangelicals?

MAGA Christians who want to make America great ought to be first in line to make America beautiful as well. Since they believe Jesus is returning soon, they should want him to see that their investments in the world have paid off. They should want to show him the National Parks Service in all its glory, along with a planet that they’re helping to rescue from climate change. Because environmental care is biblical.

4. Empathy

Some would be surprised to hear MAGA Christians and far-right evangelicals talking about the “sin of empathy.” But that was the topic of Joe Rigney’s 2025 book, “The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits.” Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler liked it so much he invited Rigney on his podcast to explore the idea. Rigney says that “Satan corrupts through compassion,” and that, “Empathy goes beyond union to the more potent and dynamic truth of fusion, the melting together of persons so that one personality is lost in the other.” So, many conservatives these days avoid empathy out of fear it might make them too soft toward suffering people—or too “blurred” with them.

But empathy is exactly what Christ’s spirit invites Christians to practice. Empathy is the oil that the Good Samaritan uses to bind his enemy’s wounds. It is the lad’s lunch that he shares with Jesus to feed the multitude. Empathy is the finger that wrote in the dust and the compassionate protection Jesus offered the woman caught in adultery. It is the healing two disciples offered to the beggar on the temple steps. If you read the Bible, empathy is pretty fashionable among believers. If MAGA Christians practiced empathy instead of calling it a sin, they might just make America great.

5. Humility

Conservative Christians seem to be more interested in practicing a religion about Jesus than following the actual way of Jesus. If they cared more about modeling their faith to be more like Jesus’s, they’d place humility as a higher priority.

Philippians 2 talks about Jesus “emptying himself” and “humbling himself.” Jesus demonstrated this humility when, on the night that he was arrested, he wrapped a towel around himself and washed the disciples’ feet—even the feet of the one who would betray him.

MAGA Christians should love humility so much that they can’t get enough of it. If they want a more biblical faith, they should emulate Jesus by practicing humility the way he did. Instead, it’s “America first,” along with the insistence that they are on God’s side. “We’re taking America back!” they say. “We’re the silent majority.” And, even, “They’re persecuting us” (while culturally dominant in many regions). This turns Christian nationalism into religious theater—the farthest thing from humility.

Instead, Romans 12:10 says we should “love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” Philippians 2:3-4 encourages us to “do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.” And, Colossians 3:12-13 reminds us, “…Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. If MAGA Christians practiced the humility of Jesus, maybe they would make America great.

6. MAGA Christians: A Fulfillment of Prophecy

MAGA Christians should read end-time prophecy more. Because the truth is that they are a fulfillment of prophecy—but not in the way that they think.

Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” And this is exactly what MAGA Christians have done.
Matthew 24:10-12 warns, “Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.” This describes MAGA Christians with uncomfortable accuracy!
And, Jesus cautions in Matthew 24:24, “…False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” So, those who view themselves as “the elect,” who follow the false messiah Trump and his false prophets, have been led astray.

MAGA Christians tend to love end-time prophecy. The problem is that when they read themselves into it, they’re putting themselves in the “hero” role. So, the sixth thing MAGA Christians ought to love is the prophecy they say that they believe. Instead of reading what the Left Behind novels have to say, maybe they should see what the Bible itself claims.

Are MAGA Christians Making America Great?

Instead of following the way of Jesus, MAGA Christians are pushing their religion about Jesus onto the rest of the country. They say that Satan wants us to be divided—yet they push their views so hard that they create the backlash they say they don’t want. Perhaps America would be greater if MAGA Christians acted more like Christ. If they led with love, modeled compassion and empathy, included and celebrated a diversity of people with genuine hospitality, served with humility, and cared for the environment with a sense that we are all connected—all a part of the body of Christ.

Are MAGA Christians making America great? Right now—no. But they might, if they realized their need to repent of their unchristlike lifestyle. If they followed the scripture they like to read so much, as long as it applies to “the world out there” and not to Christians themselves…

**“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Want to go a little deeper? Patreon is where I share extra practices, short audio reflections, and works-in-progress. If you’d like to support the writing, join me here: [https://www.patreon.com/cw/GregoryTSmith]

For related reading, check out my other articles:

Evangelical

Politics and Religion

Home and Religion

Challenging the Church

Make America Great Again

The sin of empathy

Trump followers

About Gregory T. Smith

I live in the beautiful Fraser Valley of British Columbia and work in northern Washington State as a behavioral health specialist with people experiencing homelessness and those who are overly involved in the criminal justice system. Before that, I spent over a quarter-century as lead pastor of several Virginia churches. My newspaper column, “Spirit and Truth” ran in Virginia newspapers for fifteen years. I am one of fourteen contributing authors of the Patheos/Quoir Publishing book “Sitting in the Shade of another Tree: What We Learn by Listening to Other Faiths.” I hold a degree in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, and also studied at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. My wife Christina and I have seven children between us, and we are still collecting grandchildren. You can read more about the author here. You can read more about the author here. You can read more about the author here.

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