A Better Allegiance EP4: Are We Choosing Barabbas Again?

In this powerful and deeply convicting episode of A Better Allegiance, Robert tackles one of the most difficult conversations the Church must face right now: what happens when political loyalty begins to resemble spiritual devotion?

Using recent events—including the controversy surrounding an AI-generated image depicting the president in Christ-like imagery, escalating tensions with Iran, and the growing use of end-times prophecy to justify political conflict—this episode asks a hard but necessary question:

Are we choosing Barabbas again?

Drawing from Revelation 13, 2 Thessalonians 2, Matthew 24, and the Gospel account of Barabbas, Robert challenges believers to examine whether allegiance to power, party, and personality has begun to replace allegiance to Jesus Christ.

This episode also revisits one of the foundational themes of A Better Allegiance: the importance of the separation of church and state, and why the erosion of that boundary is spiritually dangerous for the witness of the Church.

This is not an episode about telling you how to vote.

It is an episode about asking who truly sits on the throne of your heart.

If faith is being used to sanctify power, justify war, or rush toward prophecy, then the Church must pause and ask whether we are following Christ—or simply defending the version of power we have made peace with.

A bold conversation on idolatry, discernment, prophecy, peacemaking, and what it means to remain faithful in a divided age.

Christ alone is King.

Transcript

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Hello, welcome back to a Better Allegiance podcast. I'm Robert Uribi. Normally you're hearing me on Fridays when these episodes drop. However, I just could not ignore what has happened this weekend in the crazy media cycle of what's going on in politics. Again, I apologize for not having an episode the last two weeks. I've been really busy going back and forth from DC, but I'm here to bring you one early right now today. Again, just could not ignore what's happening in the media cycle right now, especially the stuff our president is posting, and I'm here to address it. So let's dive right into this, shall we? Today's episode is going to be one of the hardest conversations we've had on this podcast. Not because it's political, but because it's spiritual. And if I'm being honest, this may be the most direct I have ever been. Look, enough is enough. Last night we saw something that should deeply trouble every Christian. After publicly attacking the Pope, the president posted an AI generated image depicting himself in a Christ-like posture, clothed in white and red robes, laying his hands on a sick man with light radiating from his hands as though he's performing a miracle. Let that settle in for a second. A political leader placing himself in imagery that belongs to Jesus. Guys, this is not just a social media post. This is not just an AI post or AI depicted image that just accidentally got up there. It's not a joke. This isn't funny. There's no excuse for this. He posted it. He hit post. He hit send. He made the decision consciously himself. This is what happens when the line between church and state begins to collapse. I pointed this out back in episode one of A Better Allegiance. We talked about why the separation of church and state matters. Once political power begins borrowing the language, symbols, and authority of faith, the church is no longer protected from becoming a tool of power. That is what is clearly happening. It was meant to protect the church from political corruption and protect the government from becoming a religious authority. That principle matters because history shows us what happens when those lines blur. The state begins to use faith as a weapon. Leaders begin to cloak themselves in spiritual language. See, this is all happening right now. Right in front of our eyes. People begin to confuse loyalty to country, party, and personality with loyalty to Christ. And once that happens, devotion becomes dangerous. We talked about this all back in episode one. You can go back and listen to it. See what we're seeing right here, what's happening in real time, is exactly why the separation is so sacred. When the president can publicly attack spiritual authority one moment and then visually place himself in the role of Christ in the next, we are witnessing that separation of church and state line is being eroded in real time. Now to my believers, I need to talk to you directly. This is bigger than one image. This image is a symptom. This is a deeper issue. It's a pattern. This is not the first warning sign, guys. We have seen this rhetoric before. We have seen the comparisons before. We have seen the movement towards sacred political imagery before. When leaders begin to accept Messiac language, when followers begin to defend imagery that should disturb the spirit, when politics start borrowing the symbols of Christ. Those are all warning signs. Mayday, Mayday, red flags going off. You you want biblical warning? Here we go. Revelations 13 warns us about the power that seeks authority, that draws devotion. Second Theologians chapter 2, verses 9 and 10 warns us about deception and those who are misled because they no longer love the truth. Matthew 24 says, See that no one leads you astray. Church, hear me. I'm not here to label anyone. I'm here to ask you whether you still recognize spiritual danger when you see it. Some of us have become so committed to defending power that no longer recognizes when something has crossed a line. And now let's let's just bring it right into Iran, right? For many believers, this war is not simply being discussed for foreign policy, it is being interpreted as prophecy. And that should concern us too. If this war is ultimately about forcing a new deal that ends up looking similar to the same type of diplomic framework that the once criticized Obama pursued, then we have to ask the difficult question, was the war really necessary? Or have we become so committed to the narrative and power that we justify conflict only to arrive at the same destination? But what troubles me even more is watching some Christians support the war almost as if conflict itself is spiritual. But what troubles me even more is watching some Christians support this war almost as if conflict itself is spiritually desirable. Almost as if war becomes welcome because it appears to align with someone's readings of Revelation. Almost as if bloodshed and instability are being embraced because they seem more to move us closer to end time prophecy and the rapture. Church, we need to be really careful here. Scripture was never given to us so we could manufacture chaos in hopes of forcing prophecy. Revelation is a warning to remain faithful, not a blueprint to justify war. Our calling is not to rush towards destruction so prophecy feels closer. Our calling is to be peacemakers, Jesus said. Blessed are the peacemakers. So I need to ask directly, are we supporting war because it is just? Or are we supporting the war because it fits the theological storyline we have already decided must happen? Again, once prophecy starts being used to excuse bloodshed, we may no longer be reading scripture for discernment. We may be using it now for justification. Here's the real question I want all believers to sit with. When you saw that image, what did it stir up in you? If anything. Did it grieve you? Did it disturb you? Or did you immediately begin explaining it away? It was just a joke. It was just AI. You're making too much of this. But what if the first instinct to defend is itself a warning sign? What if the issue is not simply the image? What if the issue is what the image exposes in us? Idolatry does not always look like a golden statue. Sometimes it looks like unquestioned loyalty. Sometimes it looks like political devotion. Sometimes it looks like a leader who's become spiritually untouchable. And church, that alone should make us uncomfortable. Because Jesus never asked us to defend any man the way we defended him. Christ alone is king. Church, let's just bring up the right wing media. You got people like Megan Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Cannis Owen, they're all jumping ship on this man. Yet the believers, the church, wants to double down. I don't understand it. Make it make sense to me. I want to leave you with this one final thought. This is not the first time people have chosen power over purity. Even in the time of Jesus, the spotless lamb, the sinless son of God, the one sent to save the world, the people still made a clear choice. Give us Barabbas. They chose Barabbas, a man of violence, a man of rebellion, a man who represented the king of power that they thought they wanted, and they rejected Jesus. Let that sink in. Even with truth standing right in front of them, they still chose what felt stronger, louder, and more aligned with their expectations. Church, that story is not just history. It is a warning. Sometimes we convince ourselves we would have stood with Jesus. But would we have? Or would we too choose a version of power that feels safer, stronger, more familiar? This is why our allegiance matters. Because the crowd once cried out for Barabbas while the Savior stood before them. And if we're not careful, history has a way of repeating itself. So I leave you with this one question. Are we choosing Christ today? Or are we choosing the version of power we made peace with? A better allegiance calls us back to Jesus. Christ alone is King. I'll see you next episode.