Hijacked Christianity: Restoring the Gospel's True Identity

Christian faith faces a crisis when identity and practice diverge. The text confronts the church for practicing the same favoritism and hierarchy that the surrounding culture endorses, showing honor to wealth and dismissing the poor. A clear analogy to identity theft exposes how Jesus’ name gets repurposed to defend systems of oppression—colonialism, slavery, crusades, segregation—turning the gospel into a badge for power rather than a call to sacrificial love. The ancient situation in James becomes a mirror: a congregation that claims the cross yet treats humans as ranked commodities reveals a distorted theology that elevates status over image-bearing worth.

The argument moves from diagnosis to moral correction. Favoritism does not simply reflect economic bias; it reveals how people see others through conditions—wealth, race, nationality, sexuality, marital status—instead of seeing shared humanity. The story of the train encounter crystallizes this: disgust at outward condition blinds the ability to recognize God’s image and to receive unexpected grace. James insists the cure lies not in policing others but in transforming vision—loving the neighbor as oneself changes perception before it changes behavior.

The gospel supplies both indictment and remedy. The cross demonstrates unconditional presence amid brokenness: Christ died without demanding improved status, placing everyone on common ground before God. Examples like the thief on the cross affirm that guilt and consequence do not erase inherent worth. The sermon calls for Christians to stop acting as gatekeepers of divine judgment and to be faithful embodiments of a gospel that refuses hierarchies of human value. The final summons asks for vigilant self-examination: how do congregations and individuals enact Christ’s love in daily life, at work, at home, and in public policy? The church must protect the identity of Christ from being hijacked, practicing a faith that restores dignity, resists dehumanization, and centers the cross as the model for neighborly love.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christianity hijacked by distorted identity Many invoke Jesus while endorsing policies that contradict his ethic of mercy and justice. This distortion turns the gospel into cultural cover for domination rather than a call to vulnerability and service. Recognizing this theft requires naming historical abuses and refusing any theology that dehumanizes. Transformation begins by reclaiming Christ’s identity as sacrificial love rather than a mascot for power. [184:53]
• 2. No hierarchy of human value Scripture frames value by divine love, not social standing, wealth, or pedigree. Treating people as more or less worthy contradicts the cross, which levels all at Calvary and rejects VIP spirituality. A community shaped by that truth must dismantle practices that honor status over intrinsic dignity. Moral faith shows itself in who receives welcome, care, and respect. [194:17]
• 3. See humanity before their condition Labels and visible condition often obscure the image of God in another person, prompting avoidance or contempt. True neighbor-love trains the eye to look past dirt, status, or political difference and to meet the human being beneath. That shift changes encounters from transactional charity to mutual recognition and vulnerability. Small acts of seeing dismantle systemic indifference. [204:18]
• 4. Love neighbor transforms the heart Loving others as oneself alters perception first, then behavior; it refuses to manage people and instead reforms motives. The royal law points back to the cross, where love reached the undeserving and erased spiritual ranking. Accountability and justice still matter, but they must spring from a posture that preserves human worth. Practicing this love protects Christianity from being hijacked. [206:47]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [176:12] - Taste and See: God Is Good
• [177:06] - Prayer for Presence and Renewal
• [179:27] - Reading: James 2:1–9
• [181:38] - Declaring “Hijacked Christianity”
• [182:11] - Identity Theft Analogy Explained
• [185:54] - History of Misused Christianity
• [190:12] - James Confronts Church Partiality
• [199:23] - Train Encounter: Seeing Humanity
• [206:47] - Love Your Neighbor as Antidote
• [211:01] - Thief on the Cross: Worthiness
• [213:19] - Call to Represent Christ’s Love

Bible reading
James 2:1–9 (ESV)
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

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Observation questions

1. According to James 2:1–4, what specific actions demonstrate favoritism in the church assembly?
2. What reasons does James give in verses 5–7 for why showing partiality to the rich and dishonoring the poor is contrary to God’s values?
3. How does James connect the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” with the sin of showing favoritism (v. 8–9)?
4. The sermon described a moment on a train where someone’s outward condition initially prevented another from seeing their humanity [19:23]. What was the turning point in that encounter?

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Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think James uses the example of rich and poor specifically to address favoritism, rather than other kinds of differences?
2. James says that showing favoritism makes us “judges with evil thoughts.” What might be the “evil thoughts” he is referring to?
3. The sermon stated, “The biggest enemy of Christianity is not non-Christians… it’s people who carry Jesus’ name but not his nature” [06:55]. How does this idea relate to James’ warning to those who “hold the faith” yet show partiality?
4. How does the royal law—“love your neighbor as yourself”—serve as both an indictment and a solution to the problem of favoritism?

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Application questions

1. In what subtle ways do we sometimes show more honor or attention to people based on their status, appearance, or background, even in church settings?
2. The sermon asked, “How are you treating people who don’t look like you? How are you treating those who think opposite of you?” [33:19]. What is one relationship in your life where this question challenges you?
3. What would it look like this week to consciously “see the humanity before the condition” in someone you might normally overlook or avoid?
4. How can we actively “protect Christianity from being hijacked” by prejudice or partiality in our everyday interactions?
5. The cross shows that Christ loved us without waiting for us to improve [29:14]. How can that truth reshape the way we offer grace and dignity to people still facing consequences for their actions?
6. Where in your life—at home, work, or in public—are you most tempted to assign value to people based on external factors rather than their inherent worth as image-bearers of God?