If we’re not careful, ‘Christ is King’ will beco…

The question many of us have asked ourselves over the last several years: “How did a movement like ‘Black Lives Matter’ persuade an entire nation — seemingly sane, normal people — to embrace radical, destructive ideas, funnel $90 million into their cause in a single summer, wreak havoc in their own communities, and vilify anyone who refused to fall in line?”

Here’s how: 

One of the most effective political strategies of the past decade was the linguistic Trojan horse of Black Lives Matter. A phrase so self-evident that opposing it seemed absurd — but that was precisely the point. After all, who doesn’t think black people matter? 

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However, wrapped in this agreeable slogan was an agenda that had little to do with valuing black lives and everything to do with advancing radical leftist ideology.

And now, some figures on the Right — ironically, the very people who once rightfully exposed this manipulation tactic (looking at you, Candace Owens) — are using the same exact strategy. Their new slogan? Christ is King.

At face value, this is an uncontroversial, biblical truth. Of course, Christ is King. Every Christian should affirm that. But just as BLM used an innocuous phrase to smuggle in a destructive worldview — using that slogan no one would disagree with in order to promote ideals almost everyone would disagree with — certain factions on the Right are hijacking Christian language to push an agenda that has nothing to do with biblical Christianity — that the overwhelming majority of Christians, conservatives, and Americans at-large would vehemently reject.

Step 1: Hijack the language 

The first move is simple: pick a phrase that no faithful Christian would object to — “Christ is King.” Then, flood social media with it. Encourage conservatives to put it in their bios, chant it at rallies, and declare it with fervor. The phrase becomes a unifying virtue signal, a badge of belonging. If you say it, you’re on the right team — the “real” Christians, the courageous ones, the ones willing to stand against the secular tide.

But just as BLM didn’t spread organically, neither is this. BLM had Hollywood actors, musicians, athletes, and late-night talk show hosts repeating the phrase ad nauseam, pressuring people to join in or risk being labeled racist. Likewise, the new “Christ is King” movement is being pushed by famous “conservative” influencers — people like Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, Jack Posobiec, Joel Webbon, Elijah Schaffer, Andrew and Tristan Tate, Andrew Torba, and many more. 

Just as LeBron James, Billie Eilish, and every Marvel actor under the sun made it clear that chanting “Black Lives Matter” was the “right” thing to do, these right-wing influencers are now positioning themselves as gatekeepers of true Christianity. If you don’t say “Christ is King” their way — or if you question their intentions — you’re cast as weak, compromised, or even anti-Christian.

The brilliance of this tactic is that it creates an artificial sense of unity. If everyone is saying the same thing, then surely, they must all be on the same side. But what happens when the people leading the charge aren’t actually aligned with biblical truth?

Step 2: Smuggle in radical ideologies

Once the phrase is normalized, the real work begins. Just like BLM didn’t stop at “black lives matter” but went on to push Marxism, transgenderism, and anti-family rhetoric, this new movement doesn’t stop at proclaiming Christ’s kingship. Instead, they attach their own brand of radicalism:

• Fascism and authoritarianism, cloaked in Christian language.
• Rejection of constitutional government in favor of an integralist, theocratic model.
• Antisemitism, particularly in the form of conspiracy theories about broad-sweeping “Jewish influence.”
• Race-based nationalism, where Christianity is used as an ethnic identifier rather than a faith.
• Monarchism and an obsession with pre-Enlightenment, pre-Reformation political structures.

None of this is biblical Christianity. It’s an attempt to use Christian language as a vehicle for a fundamentally different political ideology. Just as BLM’s leaders admitted to being “trained Marxists,” many of these new “Christian nationalist” influencers openly reject biblical theology in favor of authoritarian political power structures.

And just as BLM was never about black lives, this isn’t about Christianity — it’s about creating an ideological faction that consolidates power under the guise of faith.

Step 3: Enforce submission through fear

But what happens when people start questioning what’s really being promoted? This is where the final step comes in — coercion through fear.

If someone resists, the response is immediate and brutal:

• Criticize the movement? You must be a Jew or a shill for the “Jewish globalists.” You must be pro-censorship. 
• Reject their fascism? You must be a weak, effeminate, homosexual liberal.
• Defend the Constitution? You must be a secret communist.
• Question the leadership? You’re obviously a traitor to the faith — never mind the glaring hypocrisy of the swarms repeating this phrase perpetually like a pack of mindless drones. 

Just like BLM weaponized accusations of racism to silence dissent, this movement weaponizes accusations of heresy, cowardice, or complicity in “Zionist” conspiracies. The goal is the same — force people into submission or intimidate them into silence.

And just like in 2020, when every late-night host and ESPN commentator would sneer, “Oh, you don’t support BLM? Guess you hate black people,” now we see the same thing from these influencers: “Oh, you don’t chant Christ is King the way we do? Guess you hate Christ.”

It’s the same strategy in compelled speech. Just a different slogan. 

The hypocrisy of the grift

If “Christ is King” were truly about Christ, you’d expect its loudest champions to reflect His character. Instead, we see the same hypocrisy that defined Black Lives Matter. BLM’s founders claimed to fight for black communities while hoarding millions for themselves — buying luxury mansions, funneling money to their friends, and leaving the people they claimed to represent with nothing.

Now, we’re watching the same sham play out on the Right.

Candace Owens, one of the biggest promoters of “Christ is King,” is simultaneously propping up Andrew Tate — a serial pimp, abuser, and pornographer — while claiming to be anti-pornography. Meanwhile, she’s slapping “Christ is King” on water bottles to sell to her followers. These people aren’t leading a spiritual revival. They’re running a business.

Just like BLM turned righteous anger into a profit machine, these so-called Christian influencers are using faith and political resentment as a marketing gimmick — leveraging Christ’s name, not to glorify Him, but to glorify themselves.

Matthew 15:8: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

Why this matters

The Church should have learned from the past decade of leftist manipulation. We saw how a movement used an agreeable phrase to dupe millions into supporting destructive ideas. And yet, many on the Right are falling for the same trap, just wrapped in different rhetoric.

The phrase “Christ is King” should be a proclamation of genuine faith — not a blasphemous rallying cry for internet grifters, power-hungry opportunists, or those seeking to revive failed, morally bankrupt political models. The Church’s mission is to preach the Gospel, disciple the nations, and proclaim Christ’s rule through spiritual transformation, not force.

We can’t let another movement hijack Christian language to manipulate well-meaning believers. If we don’t learn from the past, we’ll fall for the same deceptions — just repackaged for a different audience.