Political Idolatry is becoming more common.
There’s a viral video making the rounds: a woman paints a portrait of Donald Trump in a public setting while worship music plays, hands are raised, and the atmosphere feels more like a religious revival than a political gathering.
It’s not a church service. It was filmed at the Liberty Ball, one of Trump’s inaugural celebrations, but the aesthetic is unmistakably spiritual.
The artist, Vanessa Horabuena, calls herself a ‘Christian worship artist’ and uses hashtags like #worship and #theblessing to describe her performance.
Online responses were swift and visceral. People called out the idolatry, and described the behaviour as cultish. Some suggested it was blasphemous, and many saw it as downright cringe. Others tried to defend the artist’s intentions. But the squirming discomfort shared even among self-identified conservatives, was palpable.
And so it should be.
Whatever your political leanings, something has gone deeply wrong when our public devotion to political figures begins to echo the rituals and reverence once reserved for the divine.
Political Idolatry: Worshiping Men and Not God
It’s not a uniquely American phenomenon. Some followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi literally bow and worship him, offering prayers and lighting incense before his portraits.
In Russia, the Orthodox Church has all but canonized Putin, characterizing him as the great defender of traditional Christian values.
“God put you in power so that you could perform a service of special importance and of great responsibility for the fate of the country and the people entrusted to your care,” ~Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill to Putin
Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro was baptized in the Jordan River and his supporters referred to him as ‘God’s chosen’.
Are these a handful of isolated events, or are they are symptoms of something stranger going on? The creeping replacement of religious faith with political devotion has us watching modern-day golden calves being raised, not as crude idols, but as suited saviors projected onto giant screens and worshipped with glory songs, religious slogans, outstretched hands, and candles.
Is Christianity (Or Hinduism, in the case of Modi) disappearing in these contexts? Or just being greedily co-opted and reconfigured into something new?
The Bible Warned Christians About This
It’s nothing new, it’s just coming around again. The Hebrew Bible repeatedly warns against idolatry. Not just the worship of statues but the worship of anything or anyone in place of God.
Take a look at God’s clear response when Israelites demanded a king in 1 Samuel 8.
“But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (1 Samuel 6:9)
The people wanted a strongman. They wanted someone visible and powerful. In choosing that, they turned away from the invisible God who called for justice, humility, and mercy.
This tension between trusting God and craving human power has never gone away. When temptation arrives, in a suit and a red tie, it appears difficult to resist many.
Jesus and the Temptation of Power
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is taken to a high place and offered all the kingdoms of the world by Satan. ‘if only He would bow down and worship him.’ Jesus refuses, quoting scripture: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’
The scene reminds us of the temptations of worldly power. Not just to possess it, but to revere those who do. Today, we’ve created a political theology in which leaders are no longer flawed humans serving a cause. They are now anointed messiahs, ordained by God, beyond question or critique.
This is not Christianity, and it isn’t patriotism. It’s just bare political idolatry.
Why We Keep Falling for Golden Calves
It’s easy to have a chuckle at the chants of ‘Trump is our savior,’ or images of Modi adorned in garlands.
It’s tempting to think of the worshipers as foolish and a bit cringe, but in reality, this is about desperation and hopelessness.
The West has gradually descended into chaos and disillusionment. Faith in institutions is crumbling. Inequality is rising off the scale and the world’s richest man is taking a hacksaw to healthcare and a social safety net, while somehow convincing people this is good for them. People feel powerless. Into this void steps the strongman. A father figure, a fixer, and a redeemer. The desire to believe in someone is utterly human. But when that belief crosses into worship, it warps faith and democracy.
We Need A Better Theology
If Christian leaders are afraid to preach the Sermon on the Mount because it sounds ‘too woke,’ then the problem isn’t scripture; it’s that politics has replaced discipleship. When Mariann Edgar Budde tried this, evangelicals tore her to shreds.
If churches are more comfortable talking about Trump than Jesus, then they are no longer churches. They are temples of nationalism cloaked in religious language.
Christians need a better theology rooted not in empire or nostalgia but in Christ’s radical love and humility. A theology that reminds: you shall have no other gods before me.
Not even presidents.