In 2022, I sensed that the shaking in America was not over. In fact, it seemed to be intensifying. Whatever could be shaken was being shaken—our democracy, our institutions, our understanding of truth, our conversations about race, our politics, and even the way many people talked about faith.
Hebrews 12 reminds us that shaking reveals what is temporary and what is eternal. When God allows shaking, it is not always to destroy; sometimes it is to expose foundations. It reveals what people have been trusting in, what systems have become idols, and what voices have been louder than the voice of God.
One of the dangers of this hour is not only political division, but the way human ideology can begin to take the place of God’s Word. Right-wing populism, often described as a blend of right-wing politics and populist rhetoric, appeals to frustration with elites, opposition to the establishment, and the desire to speak for “ordinary people.” But when any political movement—left or right—becomes the lens through which believers read Scripture, something dangerous has happened.
The concern is not simply that people hold political opinions. The concern is when political identity becomes more powerful than biblical identity. It is when the Word of God is distorted, ignored, or replaced by nationalism, fear, resentment, racial superiority, cultural anger, or the desire for power. When that happens, people may still use the language of faith, but the spirit behind it no longer reflects the heart of Christ.
Romans 1:18–19 warns about suppressing the truth. Paul describes a condition where people reject what God has made plain and substitute other ideas in the place of true knowledge of Him. This rejection does not leave a spiritual vacuum; something else always moves in. When people turn away from God’s truth, they often replace it with man-made versions of “god” that fit their politics, fears, prejudices, and ambitions.
Fast forward to today, and we can see the chaos in politics, race, and religion. Many people are shouting, but fewer are listening. Many are claiming God, but not always submitting to His Word. Many are defending a cause, a party, a tribe, or an ideology while neglecting the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The church must be careful. We cannot allow any human ideology to disciple us more deeply than Jesus. We cannot let media voices, political personalities, cultural rage, or fear-based movements shape our hearts more than Scripture. If our faith makes us more angry than compassionate, more suspicious than prayerful, more loyal to a political tribe than to the kingdom of God, then we need to stop and examine what altar we are bowing before.
But even in the shaking, there is mercy. God allows false foundations to be exposed so that His people can return to what cannot be shaken. The answer is not despair. The answer is repentance, discernment, humility, and a fresh commitment to the truth of God’s Word. Jesus Christ—not nationalism, not populism, not political power, not racial pride, not cultural fear—is the firm foundation.
This is the time for believers to test every voice by Scripture, including the voices we like. It is the hour to ask whether our convictions are producing the character of Christ. It is the hour to reject every distortion of God’s Word and return to the God of the Bible. America may be shaking, but the kingdom of God is not. And those who build their lives on Christ will be able to stand when everything else is being exposed.
Minister A Francine Green I June 2026