Christ Or Caesar

What if God truly looks like Jesus—and nothing unlike Him? We follow that daring claim to its consequences for justice, power, and public life, challenging a culture discipled by outrage and a church tempted to trade the cross for the sword. From early church witness to modern culture wars, we uncover how a Christ-shaped vision dismantles coercion and reclaims love as the most disruptive force on earth.

We walk through the hot-button issues without the partisan fog. Abortion becomes a call to protect unborn life and uphold women’s dignity with real support, not slogans. The death penalty collides with the crucified Lord who forgives His executioners, pushing us toward restoration rather than revenge. War, often wrapped in patriotic language, is exposed as tragedy that the church cannot bless if we’re serious about the Sermon on the Mount. Along the way we revisit Revelation’s searing symbols—the beast of empire and the whore of compromised religion—to reveal how faith loses its voice when it rides on state power.

This conversation lands where discipleship gets costly: repent of mixed allegiances, resist the algorithm’s discipling and applause for sanctified contempt, and recenter life on the Lamb who already reigns. We reflect on a national moment of grief that showcased both enemy-forgiving mercy and enemy-hating bravado from the same stage, and we ask what it means to multiply “little Christs” instead of culture warriors. If the church is the bride, not empire’s mascot, then our future is clear—embody a peacemaking, generous, resilient community that looks like Jesus in public.

If this resonated, share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a review. Tell us: where do you see empire trying to wear a halo, and how can we help one another live a clearer Christ?

Transcript

What Does God Look Like

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Let me start with a question. What does God look like to you? I want you to think about it. When you close your eyes and imagine God, what image comes to mind? For some, God looks like raw power, a mighty throne surrounded by blazing fire, armies lined up on every side, lightning flashing as he flexes divine muscle to keep everyone in line. And for others, God looks like a judge with a gavel, angry, impatient, sitting high above with a list of wrongs, just waiting for you to step out of line so he can hammer down the verdict. And let's be honest, a lot of us were taught to see God that way. A little afraid, a little suspicious, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But here's the question that changes everything. Do we actually believe God looks like Jesus?

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Welcome to the Mark Casto program, where we challenge the old systems, tear down chaos, and build with kingdom clarity. Here, we equip a generation of wise messengers like you to turn God-given wisdom into lasting impact and real wealth. Let's dive in.

Tragedy, Politicization, And Empire

CTA: Turn Your Message Into Movement

Christological God Versus Idol Of Empire

Justice Reframed: Abortion, Death Penalty, War

The Church As A Third Way

Support The Mission: Donate

Defining And Debunking Christian Nationalism

Revelation’s Beast And The Whore

The Alternative Community Of Jesus

Funeral Whiplash: Lamb And Lion

Repent, Resist, Recenter

Final Call: Choose Christ Over Caesar

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Not as a slogan, not as a bumper sticker, not as, well, yes, of course, but deep down, do we really believe that when we see Jesus, we are seeing the Father? Because if God truly looks like Jesus, if Jesus is not just one revelation among many, but the full and final revelation of who God is, then it rewrites everything. It rewrites how we see justice, it rewrites how we see violence, it rewrites how we see politics, society, even the nation itself. And let me say it clearly: most of us, even inside the church, have been discipled more by empire, more by propaganda, more by partisan narratives, and more by cultural habits of coercion than we have by the Sermon on the Mountain. So today I want to take us into a conversation that isn't about left versus right. It isn't about Republican versus Democrat. It isn't about who's winning the culture wars. This is about something far deeper. It's whether our view of God is Christological, centered on the crucified and risen Jesus, or whether it's idolatrous, projecting the face of empire onto the Father. And let me be very clear right from the beginning. I'm not here to attack individuals. I'm not here to throw stones at anyone. Just pondering things since September, looking at Charlie Kirk's recent tragic death, I know that it shook many people. And I admire things about Charlie. Obviously, I've prayed for his family, for Erica, for those who loved him. I would never speak ill of him. But I do need to address what followed. Because what we saw in the days after his passing was sobering. It was a vivid display of how quickly tragedy, like tragedy in itself, can be politicized. How easily the name of Jesus can be co-opted by state power. How tempting it is, friend, for us as Christians to seek safety in movements rather than in Christ Himself. And guys, as I sit there, and again, it's been a while since I've podcasted. I've been taking a break. We did a trip to California with our family, and we also have been working a lot behind the scenes on our business, and we'll talk about more uh later on that. But I've had a lot of time to reflect um after watching Charlie's funeral, and we saw the Secretary of War stand at the pulpit and sanctify state violence in religious language. Another speaker went so far as to claim the U.S. War Department was initiated and ordained by God, which is nothing more than twisting Romans 13 into a justification for empire. And I just want to say this boldly, friends, that's not Christianity. That's Constantinianism. I can't even say it. That's the idea of Constantine, okay? That's empire. And friend, for those of us that understand the gospel, that type of thinking is terrifying. Now, let me just say this. This episode isn't about Charlie. It's about the line we must draw. Not between left and right, not between red and blue, but between Christ and Caesar, between the cross and the sword, between the God revealed in Jesus, restorative, merciful, forgiving, and the idol of retribution, coercion, and empire that we often mistake for God. Now, before I take you deeper into this, let me pause for a moment and just say, because you guys know I talk about this every episode, what if the message burning inside you could become more than just content? What if it became a movement? Right now, I'm teaching everyday people how to turn their message into a movement and that movement into income and impact without a big audience, fancy tech, or years of experience. And guys, I've got a free on-demand training that's going to show you the exact framework that I use to go from zero followers to building a six-figure digital product business that's rooted in purpose. So if you know that you are made for more than the nine to five grind, go watch it right now. All you have to do is click the link in the description of this podcast below. It's funnels.wisbuilders.co backslash watch dash A. I know that's a lot, that's a mouthful. So go click the link in the description below. Because the world, friend, doesn't need more noise, but it does need your wisdom. Okay? Now let's jump into this episode. If we say that God looks like Jesus, that claim has radical consequences. It reshapes everything that we think about justice and violence and politics and society. But first, let's slow down and unpack what it actually means. Because it's easy to nod at God looks like Jesus and still hold an idolatrous view of God in practice. Guys, so what does it mean when we say do we hold a Christological view of God? Okay. It means that Jesus is not a mask that God put on for 33 years. He's not plan B. He's not a temporary phase. Colossians 1.15 says, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Okay. He's the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of his being. That's Hebrews 1.3. John 14, verse 9, Jesus says, If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. That means the Father does not look different from Jesus. There is no hidden God behind Jesus waiting to show his true colors later. The Father looks like the Son. The Spirit looks like the Son. I'm going to say something here. God is Christ-like, and in him there is no unchrist-likeness at all. And if that's true, then God's justice is restorative, not retributive. Jesus doesn't come to condemn, but to save. Even his harshest rebukes aim to restore, not destroy. Guys, the atonement is nonviolent. The cross was not divine child abuse. Jesus did not placate the Father's wrath. He absorbed the world's violence, exposed it, and forgave. The Father was in Christ reconciling the world at the cross, not standing against him. And guys, the cross is not a transaction to keep God happy. It is the demonstration of who God has always been. Self-giving, enemy-forgiving love. And see, guys, this view collides with how the world works because the world runs on coercion. Empire thrives on violence. Religion often thrives on fear. But the Christological God dismantles all of that by laying down his life. Now, let's look at the idolatrous view that I'm talking about, contrasting the idolatrous view of God. This is the God many of us actually worship, even if we don't admit it. It's the God of empire, the God of retribution, the God of coercion. It means God as a bigger, meaner version of our rulers, a cosmic Caesar, a heavenly general, the one who blesses our wars, anoints our armies, swings the gavel in perfect alignment with our retributive instincts. This God always looks suspiciously like us, like our tribe, our politics, our nation. And that's how you know it's an idol. See, the way of Christ and the way of the world are not parallel paths leading to the same place. They are fundamentally different roads. The world says justice is evening the scales. Christ says justice is finding the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son. See, the world says peace comes by dominating your enemies. Christ says peace comes by loving your enemies. Religion says sacrifice is what keeps God happy. Christ says God desires mercy, not sacrifice. See, the world's logic is coercion. Christ's logic is love. And see, the early church fathers knew this. Athanasius said Christ became what we are so that we might become what he is, not punished, but transformed. Tortullian said Christians could not serve in the military because you cannot carry both the sword and the cross. See, the pre-Constantinian church was marked by nonviolence, by distinction from the empire, by radical allegiance to Jesus above Caesar. And it was it was precisely this allegiance that Rome called treason. So when we say God looks like Jesus, we are not just stating a doctrine. We are literally saying no to the idols of empire, vengeance, and coercion. And once you embrace this Christological vision, it begins colliding with every category you thought was safe, left and right, conservative and progressive, religious and secular, because the kingdom of Christ does not fit inside our boxes. It's foolishness to the world. It is a scandal to religion, and yet it is the wisdom and power of God. So let's bring this down from theology to the street level. Okay. If God looks like Jesus, if his justice is restorative and not retributive, then what does that mean for the hot button issues tearing our society apart? Because it means we can't keep playing the left versus the right game. We can't keep parroting the talking points of cable news. Suddenly, abortion isn't a left issue, capital punishment isn't a right issue, war isn't a patriotic issue. They're all kingdom issues. And the question is not what does my side say, but what does Jesus look like in this? So let's start with the hot button of abortion. See, few words ignite the culture wars faster. The left frames it as compassion, a woman's right to choose, autonomy, healthcare. The right frames it as morality, protecting the unborn, valuing life, stopping murder. And see, both sides reduce a complex, painful reality to just slogans. And when slogans rule, people get crushed in the middle. See, a Christological view refuses to flatten. It just simply refuses to flatten the issue. It says, every life matters, unborn and born. Jesus welcomed children, blessed them, lifted them up as the greatest in the kingdom. So to discard life in the womb violates the sacredness of creation. But the same Jesus who blessed children also restored the dignity of women. He defended the woman caught in adultery. He broke taboos to speak with the Samaritan woman at the well. He welcomed Mary of Bethany to set at his feet as a disciple, something that was literally unthinkable for a woman in his day. So kingdom justice doesn't pit unborn life against women's dignity. It honors both. It doesn't just legislate morality and wash its hands, it builds communities of mercy where women are supported, children are nurtured, and no one feels forced into desperation. But see, empire says pass laws, call it done. But Christ says embody love, create alternatives, and walk with people in their pain. Now let's talk about capital punishment. The right often calls it justice, an eye for an eye. The left often calls it inhumane. But what does the cross say? The cross was capital punishment. State sanctioned execution. Rome crucified Jesus to maintain justice and order. And what did Jesus do? He absorbed it. He forgave. He broke the silent cycle of violence with his last breath. Father, forgive them. So tell me, how can followers of a crucified Lord cheer for the death penalty? How can we align ourselves with the very machinery that murdered our king? And see, if we take Jesus seriously, we have to admit retribution is not the justice of the kingdom. Restoration is, even for the guilty. And then there's war. The right often sanctifies war with patriotism. The left critiques war, but often supports humanitarian interventions that still rain down bombs. Both justify violence just with different packaging. But see, Jesus never blessed empires' wars. He didn't tell his disciples to pick up arms against Rome. He rebuked Peter's sword in Gethsemane. He said, Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. And see, the early Christians understood this. For the first three centuries, Christians refused to fight in Rome's armies. They knew their kingdom was not of this world. It wasn't until Constantine blurred the lines that Christians started killing in Jesus' name. A Christological vision says war is always a tragedy, never a triumph. It leaves widows and orphans and refugees and trauma. It devastates the poor while enriching the powerful. And it is always the innocent who pay the highest price. See, empire says peace through superior firepower. But Christ said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. And see, this is where it cuts deeper. Walking this way feels impractical. Grace feels naive. Mercy feels weak. Forgiveness feels foolish. Law is neat. Retribution feels satisfying. Punishment feels like control. But Paul said the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. The law condemns but cannot transform. Grace, as messy as it looks, changes people. Mercy births new beginnings. Forgiveness breaks chains. The law throws a stone. Grace writes in the dirt and says, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. And if we're honest, most of us still trust law more than grace. But the kingdom forces us to walk in practically by grace, to live as though Jesus really meant what he said about 70 times seven type of forgiveness, about turning the other cheek and about loving our enemies. So let me be blunt here. The left cannot claim compassion while discarding unborn life. The right cannot claim morality while blessing executions and cheering for war. See, guys, both sides fall short because both sides operate on empire's logic coercion, violence, retribution. But the Christological vision, it cuts through all of that. It's grace over law, cross over sword, restoration over retribution. And yes, it feels foolish, but so but but this is what the apostle Paul said the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. And guys, this is why the church must, like literally, the church must rise as a third way. Not the left way, not the right way, the Jesus way. Guys, we did it. Can I tell you, we did it. Okay? I'm gonna take a break here just for a second from the podcast to say we did it. Together with your support, we have built long past studios. Cameras are rolling, microphones are on, the message is spreading, but now the mission shifts. It's no longer about raising funds, it's just about putting the message out there and bringing awareness to what we're doing. So every episode of the Mark Casto program is designed to call this generation back to wisdom, to awaken voices that refuse to bow to culture and to build a movement that puts Jesus and the gospel at the center of every sphere of society. So if this podcast has stirred something in you, would you consider helping us take it further? Your gift of any amount helps us amplify this message, reach new listeners, and keep these conversations alive. Guys, all you have to do is go to marccasto.co backslash donate. Again, that's markcasto.co backslash donate because what we're building isn't just media. This is a movement. Okay, so if this is what Jesus justice looks like, what happens when we try to merge his name with empire? What happens when we confuse Christ's kingdom with Caesar's kingdom? And that's what we need to talk about. Okay? This is what we need to talk about today, Christian nationalism. Okay. What happens when the church decides Jesus needs a little help from Caesar? What happens when the cross feels too weak, so we reach for the sword? That, my friends, is the danger of Christian nationalism. Now, let's be careful here, okay? Christian nationalism is one of those phrases that gets weaponized, okay? Some people here and think it just means loving your country. Others here and think it means voting values or praying for leaders. So let me be clear. That is not what I mean. Gratitude for your country is not idolatry. Praying for your leaders is biblical. Wanting righteousness in public life is good. Christian nationalism is when faith fuses with state power, when the flag and the cross become indistinguishable, when we confuse loyalty to Christ with loyalty to the nation, when we baptize our politics as if they were the gospel, that's when it becomes idolatry. And history, guys, we can go through history time and time again, it proves the danger. In the fourth century, Constantine legalized Christianity. Sounds good, right? No more persecution, but it birthed the Constantinian compromise. Suddenly bishops sat in emperor courts, soldiers were baptized in mass, Christianity became the chaplain of empire, and the cross was draped in a flag. In the Crusades, guys, popes blessed armies to slaughter under the banner of Christ. Christians killed Jews and Muslims and even other Christians in the name of Christ. In Nazi Germany, the German Christian movement baptized Hitler's empire. Sermons declared him ordained by God, and the church was complicit in Auschwitz. Guys, every time the church weds empire, it loses its prophetic voice every single time. Now, someone will say, but doesn't Romans 13 say that government is God ordained? Yes, it does. But read it carefully. Paul says government exists as a restraint against chaos. It bears the sword. But never once does Paul tell the church to pick up that sword. In fact, Romans 12, the chapter just before, commands us do not repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 13 is descriptive, not prescriptive. It describes what government does, but it doesn't sanctify it. It never gives Christians permission to baptize state violence. And here's where the binary thinking kills us, okay? Rejecting Christian nationalism doesn't make you a leftist. Resisting empire doesn't mean you've bowed out of the public square. Saying Christ is Lord doesn't mean you've joined the Democrats. The truth is more nuanced. Christians should be a force for morality, wisdom, justice in the town square, but we do so without selling our soul to Caesar. We resist injustice, yes, but we do so nonviolently in the way of the cross. And see, the greatest danger of Christian nationalism is that it co-opts Jesus. It uses his name to bless policies and wars and leaders who often look nothing like him. It turns the lamb into a lion of empire. It demands we serve two masters, Christ and the nation. And Jesus already told us you cannot serve two masters. And when the church baptizes the state's coercive power, it compromises the gospel. It trades the kingdom for empire. It replaces the cross with the sword. And this is what I call the Constantinian error. It feels safe, it feels practical, it feels effective, but it is a betrayal. Because the moment the church fuses with the state, it loses the ability to stand against the state. Instead of being prophetic, it becomes a mascot. Instead of embodying the Sermon on the Mount, it parrots Caesar's talking points. And history shows it, guys, every time the church nationalizes faith, Jesus gets taken from the center and put on the sideline. So what really happens when empire and religion join hands? Well, Scripture actually pulls back the curtain. Revelation names them as the beast and the whore. And it warns us, beware when the church rides on the back of empire. So that's where we're going to go next. See, the book of Revelation is probably one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. People treat it like a code book for the end times, a map for predicting barcodes and microchips and secret conspiracies. But John's apocalypse isn't about cracking codes, it's about unveiling the true nature of the powers at work in the world. And it's about naming what's behind the curtain of empire. And it gives us two unforgettable images, the beast and the whore. And then I want to just add this here at the very end. Ultimately, the book of Revelation is a revelation about the person of Jesus. So just saying that, let's dive into these two unforgettable images, the beast and the whore. See, the beast is the state, empire in its violent, coercive form. John's riffin on Daniel 7, where beasts rise out of the sea, each one representing kingdoms. We're talking Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, all of them beastly. Why? Because they devour, they dominate, they crush. Rome was the beast in John's day. Its legions marched across the earth. Its taxes crushed the poor. Its crucifixions terrorized dissenters. On the outside, Rome looked glorious. Pax Romana. Order. Prosperity. But John pulls back the veil. It's beastly, it's devouring. And here's the thing, guys. The beast keeps rising, empire after empire, nation after nation. Whenever a government builds its power on coercion, intimidation, violence, domination, it wears the mask of the beast. And then we add on top of that the whore. Revelation 17 describes her clothed in purple and scarlet. She's dripping with jewels, intoxicated, drunk on the blood of the saints. Guys, it's shocking imagery. But this is not about female sexuality. It's about covenant, covenant betrayal. See, throughout the prophets, unfaithful religion is described as harlotry. Isaiah, verses like Isaiah 121, Jerusalem, the quote unquote faithful city, has become a prostitute. Jeremiah 3, Israel played the whore with many lovers. Ezekiel 16, Hosea's marriage to Gomer. The pattern, guys, is always consistent. When God's people compromise with idols, they're described as adulterous. So in Revelation, the whore is religion that is sold out. It's the temple that partners with empire. It's the priest blessing Caesar's sword. It's the church trading prophetic witness for access to power. But this is where it gets terrifying. Revelation shows the whore riding the beast. That's right. Religion enthroned on empire. It's the image of religion legitimizing violence, blessing conquest, cheering for domination. See, when preachers play pray blessing over bombs, that's the whore riding the beast. When pulpits declare one party as God's chosen instrument, that's the whore riding the beast. When the church baptizes national destiny as kingdom destiny, that's the whore riding the beast. It looks powerful, it feels unstoppable, but it is idolatry. So let me bring this into the present. See, when Nazi Germany's Germany, um, their the German Christian movement declared Hitler God's instrument, that was the whore riding the beast. When American preachers defended slavery with Bible verses, that was the whore riding the beast. When pastors today wave political banners from the pulpit and claim their party's agenda is God's will, that's the whore riding the beast. See, guys, revelation is not about microchips. It's about unmasking this uh this unholy union of empire and religion. And John doesn't just describe it, he warns the beast eventually devours the whore. Empire uses religion as long as it serves its purposes, then discards it. Rome used temple elites to keep control until it didn't need them. Hitler used the church to legitimize himself. Until it no longer served his power. Empire always consumes its religious mystery mistress in the end. Guys, and that's why Revelation 18 rings out with urgency. Come out of her, my people, so you will not share in her sins. The church cannot ride the beast. The church cannot sell itself to empire because the church is not the whore. She's the bride. So if the beast is empire and the whore is religion gone corrupt, then who is the church called to be? And that's what's gonna that's what we're gonna talk about when we talk about the alternative community of Jesus. See, the church is not called to mimic empire. We are not called to baptize Caesar. We are called to be something entirely different, an alternative community. Paul says in Philippians 3.20 that our citizenship is in the heavenly realm. That wasn't a pious slogan, it was a direct challenge to Rome. Philippi was a Roman colony. Its citizens were proud of their status. And Paul says, even though you're proud, that's great, but you belong to a higher kingdom. And that same allegiance must mark us today. Not America first, not any nation first, Christ first. So what does that look like? It looks like a people whose life together is visibly different. See, where empire coerces, we persuade with love. Where culture divides, we reconcile. Where the world hoards, we share. Where politics weaponize enemies, we forgive. Where the state heals, we heal. And this is why the Sermon on the Mount isn't optional. It's the constitution of the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the peacemakers, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, not as abstract ideals as the actual ethic of the church. And see, guys, the early church lived this out. In the second and third centuries during plagues, Romans fled the cities while Christians stayed to care for the sick, even those who hated them. Historians say this is one of the reasons why Christianity spread so fast, because people saw love embodied. Christians rescued infants left to die from exposure. The ancient equivalent of abortion, not because a law required it, but because love compelled it. The world called them fools. Rome called them traitors, but their cruciform witness shook the empire. And this is why violence in the name of Christ is absolute idolatry. Whether abortion, the death penalty, or war, to call it God's will is to betray the cross. See, the cross doesn't wield violence, it unmasks it. The church, as the body of Christ, is called to do the same. But look around at our culture wars, whether it's abortion, sexuality, guns, immigration, free speech, these are real issues. But they are also symptoms. They reveal a deeper brokenness, a society that's been fractured by fear and shame and alienation and greed. A society discipled more by outrage than by Christ. The kingdom, though, doesn't ignore these issues, but it addresses the root, which is the human heart. And change, friend, begins there. And when hearts change, relationships heal. Communities transform. Laws can shift, but the church never confuses Caesar's law with Christ's kingdom. The kingdom advances not through coercion, but through relationships, through shared meals, through forgiveness, through generosity. I want you to think of the early church in Acts 2. The scripture literally says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. They sold possessions to care for one another. They embodied a new way of life right in plain sight, and the world couldn't ignore it. And that's what it means to be an alternative community, to live in such a way that people say, I don't understand them, but I can't deny their love. Guys, let me pause here for just a second. If you want to walk this out with me, go beyond the podcast. I'd love to send you my weekly email. Every week I share stories and insights and strategies for living and leading with wisdom in a world that sometimes feels like it's gone mad. All you have to do is go visit me at markcasto.co. Again, that's markcasto.co. Scroll to the bottom of that page, sign up for the email. You'll be glad you did. Guys, let's kind of shift gears here. And before I do, just let me close this thought. So the beast devours, the whore betrays, but the bride, the bride bears witness. She's the alternative. She doesn't play Caesar's game. She doesn't bow to partisan banners. She doesn't trade the cross for the sword. She looks like Jesus. She lives like Jesus. She loves like Jesus. And that brings us right into our current cultural moment. Going back to Charlie Kirk's funeral, the frenzy around it, and what it reveals about the soul of the American church. And before I say anything else, let me begin here. Charlie Kirk's death is a tragedy. He was a husband, a son, a brother, a friend. He bore the image of God. And there are people right now grieving, still grieving deeply. And they don't need hot takes. They don't need their loved one turned into a talking point. They need comfort, presence, and compassion. So I'm not going to speak ill of Charlie. I admire many things about him. I may have disagreed with him on certain points, but disagreement does not erase dignity. And it certainly does not erase the grief that his friends, family, and organization feel today. But what followed his funeral has become a defining moment for the American church. Guys, it was it was Super Bowl scale. Okay. And when you see numbers like that, it tells you something. This is bigger than politics. Charlie's death has exposed the fractures in American Christianity. Guys, I watched most of the service. Some of it overlapped with some other things that I was watching, but what I saw left me with mixed emotions. There were moments that were beautiful and moving. The site of a stadium filled with worship songs. Guys, it was amazing to see. For a moment, I thought, what if all this zeal were poured into the gospel of the kingdom? But I will be honest, I also felt uneasy because I knew that for many sincere Bible-believing Christians, the service wasn't a symbol of hope at all. They love Jesus, they hold Scripture as authoritative, they are spiritually mature, but for them, the event looked less like gospel and more like empire. And here's the hard truth. We are not all remembering the same Charlie Kirk. For some, Charlie was a hero. Calm, articulate, respectful under pressure, unflinching in his defense of Christian values. They saw a devoted husband, a man of conviction, even a martyr. Their grief carries pride and even hope that his death will spark a movement of what they said is little Charlie's rising up. And for others, their memory, Charlie was a threat. His rhetoric stung. His nationalism blurred the line between Caesar and Christ. And for them, the talk of little Charlie's sounds less like hope and more like a nightmare. So how can the same man evoke such opposite memories? Well, guys, part of it is worldview, the lens that we already wear. Part of it's a media diet, the voices that shape us, and part of it is algorithms, the invisible curation that ensures we live inside of echo chambers. And let's be honest, we all have an algorithm. We all live with blind spots. We all see in part. So when tragedy strikes, the temptation is to flatten somebody into a caricature, hero or villain, villain, saint or threat. See, that's the simplicity bias. It makes us feel safe, but friend, it robs us of truth. Two moments at the funeral that I want to talk about that really revealed the fracture most clearly is the first came when Charlie's widow Erica stood through tears and forgave her husband's killer. Her words rang with grief, but also with the resonance of the cross. Because the answer to hate is not to hate, the answer is love. Love for our enemies, love for those who persecute us. And of course, you saw that powerful moment where she said, I forgive him. Guys, 80,000 people rose to their feet, tears streaming, applause thunderous. That was the Lamb. That was Jesus. That was the spirit echoing through a stadium. But then came another moment where our president stood at the same pulpit and declared, I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them. And again, the stadium erupted, cheering, applauding, shouting, laughing. Guys, that was the lion without the lamb. That was empire. That was hatred baptized in faith's language. And the whiplash between those two moments was jarring. One moment, the lamb of forgiveness, the next, the lion of vengeance, and both cheered by the same crowd. See, the Bible uses both lion and lamb to describe the Messiah. I think that's pretty clear. One symbolizes strength and authority, the other, innocence and sacrifice. So when Jesus came, everybody wanted the lion. They wanted a Messiah to crush Rome, to wield power, to restore the nation by force. Instead, Jesus came as a lamb. He had the lion's strength, but he chose to lay it down. See, friend, that's meekness, not weakness. Meekness is power under restraint. The lion's might cloaked in the lamb sacrifice. And here's the test of true discipleship. It is not the lion pretending to be a lamb that reflects Jesus. It is the lion choosing to become the lamb. See, when the same crowd can cheer forgiveness in one breath and hatred in the next, it reveals the war within us all. Two Charlies, two natures, one capable of lamb-like mercy, the other seduced by lion-like power. And that's why I say we don't need millions of little charlies. We need millions of Jesus'. That's literally what the word Christian means, is little Christ. Guys, this was a statement that began as a slur in the early church days, but it became our identity, not culture warriors, not empire loyalists, but lamb-shaped disciples of a crucified and yet resurrected king. So what if instead of multiplying pundits, the church multiplied peacemakers? What if instead of little Charlies, we raised little Christ, enemy-loving, cross-carrying, self-sacrificing disciples who know Jesus already reigns, whether Washington acknowledges it or not? So the question is, where do we go from here? Well, let me offer you three words. Number one, anytime we're dealing with kingdom conversations, we should get familiar with the word repent. And I'm not talking about crying and snotting up the altar. I'm not talking about just repenting from bad behavior, but a true changing the way that we think as it relates to misplaced allegiance. See, repentance isn't about feeling sorry, it's about changing kings. It's about the ability to stop giving our heart to parties and pundits and lay down our allegiance to Caesar plus Jesus and just give it to Christ alone. Another word here I would say is resist. But not the other side. Resist the bait of outrage. Resist the temptation to clap when leaders preach hate. Resist the algorithms discipling you into echo chambers. Say no to empire's false urgency. And yes, listen to this language, and saying yes to the slow work of love. And I'm gonna offer you one more word. Recenter. I want you to anchor your identity in the crucified Lamb. Remember, you don't fight for victory, you live from it. Jesus already reigns. The question isn't if he reigns, it's whether you will live as though he does. And see, guys, empire thrives on sides. It needs enemies, it demands us versus them. But the kingdom asks a deeper question, not whose side are you on, but whose king are you under? And here's the tragedy of our moment. Many Christians think we are fighting for the soul of our nation, but the greater danger is the soul of the church. Both political parties are spending billions to disciple you into their empire. Friend, they don't deserve your allegiance, only Jesus does. So, yes, Charlie Kirk's death is a tragedy. But even more tragic would be if the church uses it to baptize empire instead of embodying Christ. We don't need the lion's roar of empire. We need the lamb's witness of the cross. We don't need millions of little Charlies. We need millions of little Jesuses. And that brings me to the close of this episode. Okay. The choice that's always before us Christ or Caesar, cross or sword, lamb or lion. So let's step back just real quick. We started with a simple but seismic question. What does God look like? And we've walked through the answer. God looks like Jesus. Jesus shows us that God's justice restores, not destroys. Jesus shows us that the cross unmasks violence, not enacts it. Jesus reframes every hot button issue, whether it's abortion, capital punishment, or war, away from left versus right and into kingdom versus empire. See, Jesus warns us through history and revelation, beware when religion itself sells itself to empire. When you see the whore riding the beast, Jesus calls his church to be an alternative community, not a mirror of the world. And Jesus forces us to face our current moment where Charlie Kirk's death revealed both the lamb's forgiveness and the lion's vengeance, both cheered by the same crowd. So the question now is not, do you agree with this analysis? The question is, what will you do? Because the choice is not left or right. It's not conservative or progressive. It is not Republican or Democrat. The choice is Christ or Caesar, cross or sword, grace or law, lamb or lion. And you cannot serve two masters. You cannot wave two flags from the same pole. You cannot baptize empire and claim to be faithful to the lamb who was slain. Yes, some of you are listening to me, and you may think that this looks foolish or sounds foolish. Grace always looks foolish. Mercy always feels weak. Forgiveness always feels naive. The law is neat. Retribution feels satisfying. Violence feels effective, but Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1 25, it's the foolishness of God that is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So God's grace looks weak until it transforms a heart. Mercy looks foolish until it restores an enemy. And forgiveness looks naive until it heals a community. See, friend, the kingdom is not built on Caesar's sword. It is built on Christ's cross. So let me speak plainly. If you've confused loyalty to Christ with loyalty to a party, repent. If you found yourself cheering hatred while also singing worship, repent. If you've allowed empires to seduce you into believing the kingdom comes by force, repent. And remember, repentance is not just about saying sorry. It's about shifting allegiance, changing kings, choosing Christ alone. And then resist. Not resist the other side. Resist the bait of outrage. Resist the temptation to clap when leaders preach hate. Resist the endless discipleship of cable news and algorithmic feeds. Resist the lie that empire's urgency is your calling. Resist the false saviors of politics. And then recenter. Anchor your identity in the crucified and risen lamb. Live not as though Jesus might reign one day, but as though he reigns now because he does. Guys, we don't fight for victory. We live from it. The Lion of Judah has conquered by becoming the lamb that was slain. So, church, let's wake up. We are not called to restore empire. We are not called to baptize Caesar. We are not called to win culture wars. We are called to embody Christ, to look like Jesus, to live like Jesus, to love like Jesus. Guys, because the church is not the whore. She's the bride, not the chaplain of empire. She is the alternative, not the mascot of Caesar. She is the prophetic witness of the Lamb. And here's the good news, guys. Caesar's empires always fall. Rome fell, Hitler fell, every empire that exalts itself against the kingdom collapses. But the Lamb's kingdom has no end. His reign is eternal. His love is unshakable. His justice is unstoppable. So the real question is not whether Jesus will reign, he always does. The question is, will you live as though he does? So may we be a people who repent of misplaced allegiances, resist the seductions of empire, and recenter our lives on the lamb who was slain. May we stop multiplying little Charlies and start multiplying little Christ. May we choose grace over law, cross over sword, lamb over lion, because the world does not need a stronger Caesar. It needs a clearer Christ, and his kingdom will never fail. Guys, that's all for today's episode of the Mark Casto program. I want to thank you for pulling up a seat, opening up your heart, and wrestling through these deep waters with me. Guys, if this episode stirred you, share it, leave a review, spread the word, and remember, the choice is before us every single day. Christ or Caesar. I pray we choose Christ.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Thanks for joining us on today's episode. If this spoke to you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend, leave a review, and make sure you subscribe so you never miss the wisdom that's shifting lives and systems. Until next time, keep building with clarity and fire.