The Weaponization of "Christ is King"
/“Christ is King.” I believe that. One day, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But Jesus doesn’t need Christians to bully anyone into bending the knee. As Michael Jones, known in the Christian apologetics sphere as InspiringPhilosophy said, “Christianity is not a movement where the goal is earthly power, or that our enemies are of flesh (Eph. 6:12). Actually live as Christ commanded and give your life for the service of others.”
For far-rightwing extremists, “Christ is King” is a statement of faith, a demand of allegiance, and, according to political commentator Nick Fuentes, “forcing a contradiction between Christianity and Jews.” It’s what Fuentes fans chant after he professes his love for Hitler. Fuentes criticized Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing on an X (formerly Twitter) space, hosted by Lauren Chen, for not having critical voices of Israel like Candace Owens, yet allowing Ben Shapiro—who does not believe “Christ is King”—to be the company’s face. Fuentes also stated that if you are not Christian, you shouldn’t be in positions of power in the government, media, Hollywood, etc. Even working for Jews can be problematic for Fuentes (he once called Matt Walsh a “race traitor” because he “works for Jews”). Owens listened to the space and said both Fuentes and Boreing “handled themselves well” and the conversation was “super interesting.”
Ben Shapiro is a very well-known Jewish man who built The Daily Wire with Boreing, and it was not explained why Owens was fired (though Shapiro hinted in an interview with Dave Rubin that it was not about Israel’s politics). It could have been liking a tweet accusing a Jew of being drunk off Christian blood, running a positive segment on Nazi book burning, or Owens staking her entire political reputation on Brigitte Macron, the First Lady of France, being a man. Boreing and Shapiro won’t confirm. But Andrew Klavin, a host on the platform who converted from Judaism to Christianity twenty years ago, believes the perversion of “Christ is King” is one of her most heinous offenses.
“Christ is King,” is a beautiful profession of faith—and still is to Christians—but it is being used as an attack against Jews. For example, under a photo of Shapiro’s sister playing with her child, a user on X wrote, “Nice nose. Careful you don’t poke the babies eyes out. ALSO CHRIST IS KING!!!”
Candace Owens pushed back against the antisemitic label on X. “The attempt to scandalize truth is only done by those who inherently hate it. Those who inherently hate Christ are attempting to scandalize him.”
But Nick Fuentes believes he and his followers have dominated the phrase. In Lauren Chen’s space, he admitted, “I feel like everyone knew just a week ago if you heard a ‘Christ is King’ chant at a rally or a political thing, it’s groypers. It’s groypers who are doing that thing.” Fuentes doesn’t claim to completely own the phrase, but “there’s a big correlation there.” It’s about “rebellion” against Jews, atheists, and homosexuals leading the conservative movement. “Christ is King, America’s gotta be Christian.” Fuentes believes since Jesus is king, he has to be king of America.
Though “Christ is King” as a weapon predates Candace Owens’ use of it (at least on X), she is perceived by her critics to be a perpetrator.
When a viral clip of Ben Shapiro criticizing Candace Owens surfaced back in November 2023, calling her behavior “disgraceful” and accusing her of having a “faux sophistication” on matters involving Israel, she tweeted out a few Bible verses. At first, she scolded Shapiro for reading himself into the scripture, but her critics interpreted her post as a passive-aggressive jab.
Last week, she told the Breakfast Club that she “chose peace” and Shapiro decided to respond to the peace with “not peace.” She admitted posting Matthew 5:9-11 was a response to Shapiro’s comments. But those scriptures are not only about the blessed “peacemakers.” It also speaks of those being persecuted falsely for the kingdom’s sake. Not only was Owens not being persecuted for spreading the Gospel; Shapiro’s assessment was accurate. For example, Owens was mocked online after a discussion with comedian Ami Kozak. She pushed back on the idea that Israel was a “bastion of freedom” because the “Muslim quarters” reminded her of the “segregated South.” Owens later went on her show to complain about the pro-Israel lobby treating her like she was “stupid” for “asking the question,” and used it as an example of why Israel is losing support.
Owens also quoted Matthew 6:24 in the same tweet. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Then she followed it up with, “Christ is King.” Users were suspicious of why Owens highlighted a scripture about dual loyalty and money.
So, in response to Owens’ tweets, Shapiro said, “Candace, if you feel that taking money from The Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God, by all means quit.”
Owens retweeted Shapiro and said, “You are utterly out of line for suggesting that I cannot quote biblical scripture. The Bible is not about you.”
Now, the Bible is in some way about us. Is Ben Shapiro not included in “the world” God loved enough to send his Son to die on the cross for (John 3:16)? When Apostle Paul spoke of his desire for his Jewish brethren to be reconciled to Christ, to the point where he’d be willing to give up his salvation to see it come to pass (Romans 9), can we not apply that to Shapiro? The burden Apostle Paul carried for his Jewish brethren isn’t about him? What about the Old Testament? None of it?
Then, in the same thread, Owens tweeted, “Christ is King.”
It was the exclamation point used to tell off Ben Shapiro, who was emotionally charged after Israel faced the October 7 massacre. And from there, “Christ is King” became an echo of defiance against Shapiro. The accusation even became that Shapiro was angry because Owens tweeted “Christ is King,” rather than her overall comments.
When Pastor John MacArthur was on Shapiro’s Sunday special, MacArthur marveled that Shapiro allowed him to preach about Jesus uninterrupted for a considerable amount of time. MacArthur later told a story about what happened when Shapiro was asked whether he was offended by the Jesus narrative. “No, for two reasons. One, I know he believes that with all his heart. And two, I know he cares about my soul.”
I don’t know if Shapiro would have the same impression about Owens, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, and everyone else using “Christ is King” as a weapon rather than a proclamation of love from the Prince of Peace. Tate chimed in because, “As a Muslim, it warms my heart to see the resurgence of spirited Christian declarations.” Tate converted to Islam because Christianity is too tolerant, while Tate has repeatedly praised Muslims for inspiring fear and resorting to violence to defend their beliefs. Catholic apologist Trent Horn noted men like Tate were “taking the Lord’s name in vain” and “using Christianity as a prop to promote their own sinful behavior.”
Christian Apologist David Wood likened the use of “Christ is King” to the use of Black Lives Matter. “Brilliant strategy, but evil.” The founders of BLM are “trained Marxists” by their words. That’s their underlying ideology. When you questioned BLM or even the riots that broke out in 2020, you were accused of not caring about black lives. Nick Fuentes and his trolls use “Christ as King” for their antisemitism, so if someone questions them, the controversy becomes, “Oh, look! They hate Christ. All we’re doing is saying ‘Christ is King.’ What’s wrong with that?’”
When conservatives like Allie Beth Stuckey or Joel Berry point out that it is wrong to use “Christ is King” as an attack against Shapiro or other Jews, they are called faithless Christians by Fuentes’ supporters, but just because you are boastful doesn’t make you right. Just because you do things in Christ’s name doesn’t mean Jesus won’t say, “I never knew you, depart from me.” Just because you profess “Christ is King” doesn’t mean he is Lord over your heart.
Allie Beth Stuckey doesn’t want to discourage Christians from using the phrase, but she wants people who use the phrase to understand who Christ is. “If the Good News of the Gospel is not something you believe—is not something that you cling to—then you really have no business saying, ‘Christ is King’ because, one day, you will wish he weren’t.”
After the “Christ is King” debate on Lauren Chen’s space, Owens tweeted Fuentes’ recollection of events: The Daily Wire smeared him “for just asking questions about Israel,” and that they “fed him to the ADL.” Fuentes has made many racist, sexist, homophobic, and antisemitic comments over the years, and even thought the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally was “incredible.” Owens also brought up how someone in the space claimed she was also fed to the ADL by her former employers, which Boreing denied.
Indeed, people are falsely accused of antisemitism, and antisemitism is attributed falsely to words and phrases. “Just asking questions” doesn’t make you an antisemite, but repeatedly claiming that you’re “just asking questions” doesn’t absolve you of responsibility when your agenda is to lead the audience to a preconceived conclusion rather than fill the ignorant gaps in your knowledge.
“Christ is King” should not be known as an antisemitic phrase, but Christians should be aware that some very hateful people, who believe Hitler was “cool,” are trying to co-opt it. We don’t have to stop proclaiming “Christ is King,” but we should call out the wolves in poorly made sheep costumes.
You will know them by their fruits, so judge accordingly.
