Something poisonous has crept into the heart of American Christianity. It’s not just that many Christians today are angry, reactionary, or judgmental. It’s that many have come to believe that cruelty itself is a sign of faithfulness—that drawing hard lines, casting people out, and calling down judgment on others is not just allowed, but required.
But beneath all this rage is something even darker: a fundamental rejection of the Gospel.
Cruel Christianity is not just politically dangerous or socially corrosive—it is the fruit of a theology that has lost all contact with grace.
And here’s the irony: the people who preach this gospel of cruelty are often the ones who talk most loudly about sin. They’re obsessed with policing the boundaries of who’s “in” and who’s “out,” who’s pure enough to belong, and who needs to be rebuked or exiled. But if you press beneath the surface, what you’ll find is not holiness. It’s fear. It’s self-righteousness. And it’s a profound inability to accept the grace of God—not just for others, but for themselves.
The Fear Behind the Cruelty
This is why so many modern-day Pharisees react with fury when they see God’s grace extended to people they don’t think deserve it. They’ve built their identity on being “the righteous ones.” The holy remnant. The ones who still follow the rules. And when they see someone they despise welcomed into the fold without punishment, it feels like an attack on their worth.
But this isn’t a new problem. In fact, it’s at the heart of the Gospel story.
When Jesus said that “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31), he wasn’t talking to the Romans or the pagans. He was talking to the religious leaders. The ones who believed they had secured their place with God through correct beliefs, moral discipline, and social respectability.
They couldn’t accept that grace might be freely given to people they had spent their lives condemning.
And in truth, they couldn’t accept grace at all.
You Cannot Give What You Haven’t Received
“And that’s why grace is the beating heart of Christian faith. Not because sin doesn’t matter. But because we are all equally in need of mercy.”
This is the central tragedy of the gospel of cruelty. The people who live by it are often blind to the fact that they need grace just as much as the people they’re condemning.
Jesus said plainly, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). But in many Christian circles today, that command is immediately followed by a thousand exceptions: “Well, we’re just judging righteously. We’re holding people accountable.”
But if you spend any real time with the Christian doctrine of sin, you come to a startling truth: there is no judgment that isn’t hypocritical. Because we are all sinners. We are all guilty.
Jesus said that looking at someone with lust makes you an adulterer (Matthew 5:28). That harboring anger in your heart makes you a murderer (Matthew 5:21–22). The standard is not “better than them.” The standard is perfection (Matthew 5:48). And none of us meets it.
That’s why we don’t get to be the judge. That’s why Jesus warns us that the measure we use will be measured back to us (Matthew 7:2). And that’s why grace is the beating heart of Christian faith. Not because sin doesn’t matter. But because we are all equally in need of mercy.
The Dangerous Comfort of a Works-Based Identity
“That’s the scandal of grace. It’s not just that it’s unfair. It’s that it refuses to validate our spiritual pride.”
But for many Christians today, that’s a hard pill to swallow. Because a life built on self-righteousness needs someone else to be worse. It needs contrast. It needs “those people” to point at.
And when that righteousness is threatened—when grace starts flowing too freely, when forgiveness is offered without punishment, when love crosses the boundaries they’ve drawn—the response isn’t joy. It’s rage.
This is why Jesus tells the story of the workers in the vineyard who are all paid the same, no matter how long they worked (Matthew 20:1–16). The ones who labored all day are furious. “You’ve made them equal to us,” they say. And the master replies, “Are you envious because I am generous?”
That’s the scandal of grace. It’s not just that it’s unfair. It’s that it refuses to validate our spiritual pride.
And to those who cannot accept that, cruelty feels more comforting than grace. Condemnation feels safer than forgiveness. Judgment feels like control.
But it is a false gospel. And it leads nowhere but death.
Grace Is Still the Only Way
“But the truth has not changed: the gate is narrow not because the standard is high, but because pride cannot fit through it.”
The message of Jesus was never “be better than others.” It was “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It was “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
And it was this message—not one of moral laxity, but of divine mercy—that got him killed.
The religious elites couldn’t stand it then, and they can’t stand it now.
But the truth has not changed: the gate is narrow not because the standard is high, but because pride cannot fit through it.
To enter the kingdom of God, you must be willing to kneel. You must be willing to admit your need. You must be willing to receive grace—and extend it to others.
And until American Christianity remembers that, it will continue preaching a gospel of cruelty in the name of the One who died to end it.
Jason Chukwuma (@truthispeaking) is the creator of TRUTH IS SPEAKING on YouTube and the TRUTH SPEAKS newsletter on Substack, delivering sharp commentary on politics, news, and culture. His work reaches audiences across Instagram, Twitter (never X), Medium, and more, and has been featured on MSNBC and The Daily Beast, establishing him as a rising voice on politics and culture. He is a student at Harvard Law School and a graduate of Harvard College.
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I stand amazed as I watch all this play out in front of me where the so-called great Commission at the end of Matthew 28 takes priority over seeing Jesus face-to-face at the end of Matthew 25 in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison - as brought out in this Fundamentalist midweek service starting at around 58:30 for only a minute or so - https://www.youtube.com/live/FQnVbCPb0EA?si=Z1sF07YPxmcdvedH- Perhaps while Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 Initially apply to meat eaters and vegetarians,(In an Early Church of conscience provoked believers responding to idols) perhaps these verses could also be applied to politics (?), as one of the greatest unspoken miracles of Jesus is having both an ex-tax collector and ex-Zealot as two of his 12 disciples in-fellowship at the same table. As such, while I am not a MAGA meat-eating idolator, (as somehow they have the stomach to take it), perhaps that is also the log in my eye as a Political Vegetarian (Do the ana-baptist Amish even vote? - Not that I am one, but perhaps where my sentiments lie) Where somehow “Fellowship-in-Jesus” with these meat-eating MAGA-believers must take precedence over my even attempting to take any perceived spec out of their eye - as 1 Corinthians 8:1 … we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up - and Romans 14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. I believe it was the late Pastor Tim Keller, who once said to always be able to vocalize the other persons perspective back to them, and to have the person clarify back to you that you indeed understand their perspective correctly before presenting your own - But isn’t this also what Law School is supposed to train? To be able to argue the other side, even if you don’t believe in it(!) in order to win them over?Anyway, thank you for your insights and best wishes on your continued presentations, but loving our common enemy isn’t always about showing how they are wrong, especially if they claim to be fellow believers, as that is exactly their tactic as well to those who don’t believe as they do(!)