Of worship warfare, theocracy and a weekend with Sean Feucht

This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on October 30, 2024.

Is the United States on the verge of becoming a theocracy? After covering Sean Feucht’s “Kingdom to the Capitol” event in Raleigh two weeks ago — during which Feucht embraced the term “Christian nationalism” and another pastor admitted, “We deny the right of any other kingdom to prosper in North Carolina” — I decided to drive up to Washington, D.C., to learn more at the grand finale of Feucht’s 50-state capitol tour.

“We find ourselves standing on the National Mall on the precipice of what will be the most hotly contested election of our lifetime, still with this simple belief: that if the people of God will stand in worship and in prayer, that God would partner with their obedience for the righting of the history of nations,” pastor Russell Johnson declared on the National Mall while wearing his “God Save America” T-shirt.

Social media publicity image for Russell Johnson and a campus of his church.

Johnson, pastor of the multi-campus Pursuit NW Church, is a frequent guest at Feucht’s rallies and events.

On this day, he declared: “Let me remind you, friend, the kingdom of God is not a democracy. It’s a theocracy.”

Even for a “Let Us Worship” event, it was notable to a number of the journalists standing together to hear the word “theocracy” invoked so clearly from the stage. After all, Christian nationalists tend to deny promoting a theocracy. And Feucht himself wrote on Substack earlier this year, “I do not want to see America turn into a theocracy, even a Christian one. Religious freedom is in America’s DNA; the two cannot be separated.”

“Johnson attempted to draw a distinction between a theocracy and a Democratic Republic controlled by conservative Christians.”

Despite using the term from the stage in the heat of worship warfare, Johnson told me privately after the event that he doesn’t believe the U.S. should be a theocracy. After defending his use of ‘theocracy,’ Johnson attempted to draw a distinction between a theocracy and a Democratic Republic controlled by conservative Christians.

Here is a portion of our conversation.

Rick Pidcock: Why do you guys strategically enact what you believe to be God’s views of morality through pushing specific policies and politicians? It seems to me to be a straight line from your theology to your politics, while still holding to your theology if the election goes the other way. It’s God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven, so to speak.

Russell Johnson: Yes, theology impacts politics. That isn’t a Christian nationalist talking point. That’s common sense.

RP: So do you not like Feucht’s embrace of the term ‘Christian nationalist’?

RJ: Worldview frames in how every individual interacts within the public square of civic engagement.

RP: How would you differentiate between a theocracy that legislates against gay marriage and a democracy where Christians do the same thing?

RJ: How would you differentiate between a theocracy that legislates for gay marriage and a democracy where Christians do the same thing? The idea that you have been able to discover common policy positions between conservative Christians and conservative politicians is not breaking news.

RP: Sure, but Christian nationalists defend their policies by referencing their theology and talking about how we were founded as a Christian nation.

RJ: Yes. Christians traditionally appeal to a Christological worldview in order to establish their convictions. Again, this isn’t a new phenomenon.

RP: Should non-Christians in America have to live by that? Or progressive Christians for that matter?

“Your framing is off. I don’t think I can help you understand this.”

RJ: All public policy is an enforcement of someone’s worldview, whether they be conservative or progressive.

RP: So are we all pursuing a theocracy in your mind?

RJ: No. We live in a Democratic Republic that adopts laws and elects leaders by a plurality of those who are represented. You apparently buy into the myth of secular neutrality. I don’t. The idea that morality is codified into our laws and legislation by virtue of people who vote from a place of conviction (that is grounded in a coherent worldview) is not theocratic. Again, your commitment to this narrative blinds you to accurately reporting on events like we had on the National Mall.

RP: Why can’t we have a society where Christians are free to worship in their own way and LGBTQ people are free to live as they desire?

RJ: Your framing is off. I don’t think I can help you understand this.

Russell Johnson praying with Sean Feucht wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at the National Press Club. (BNG photo by Rick Pidcock)

More context on Johnson’s use of ‘theocracy’

According to Johnson, conservative Christians should be able to enforce their worldview and codify their morality into our laws and legislation while talking about the kingdom being a theocracy. And somehow, that’s totally different from a theocracy.

Going back to his speech at the National Mall immediately following his use of the word “theocracy,” Johnson continued: “There is one God who sits upon a golden throne in front of a glassy sea. He is worshiped by angels and elders who cry out day and night, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who was and is and is to come.’ And let me remind you that one believer who stands with God is in the majority. I am still foolish enough to believe that when men and women add their faith together for prayer, there is a God in heaven who responds to the agreement of his people on earth. We are taking a stand on the National Mall to believe that God would intervene in the affairs of the nation of America and in doing so, turn a nation back to its righteous roots.”

But what does this mean specifically for the United States?

Matthew Taylor

To explore these questions further, I spoke with Matthew D. Taylor, author of The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. Taylor also was present at the National Mall on Saturday.

“In a technical sense, a theocracy is where God rules directly or through religious leader proxies,” he said. “I’m not sure what to call the end state they are seeking, because I’m not sure if they know what it is. They want to ‘disciple nations,’ ‘conquer spiritual territory,’ etc. But when you try to pin them down on the path that gets you there, they’re very slippery.”

“When the rubber meets the road, their actual policy aims are pretty meager and easily mollified with rhetoric and bombast.”

Then Taylor added, “I suspect this is why they’re such useful allies to Trump. They propagandize him with theology and prophecy, but when the rubber meets the road, their actual policy aims are pretty meager and easily mollified with rhetoric and bombast.”

Worship warfare

The weekend kicked off with a worship service in the Hart Senate Office Building on Friday morning, during which Feucht prayed that the U.S. Senate would be flipped in favor of the Republicans.

With a room full of supporters blowing shofars, cheering and singing, “We declare, yes!” Feucht read from Isaiah 9, saying, “The government shall be upon his shoulder” and “Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.”

When the group moved over to the U.S. Capitol building, the persecution began, according to Feucht.

Continue reading at Baptist News Global.