Revelation pulls no punches in unveiling how empire works against God’s kingdom. The dragon’s chosen servants are not only soldiers and governors, but storytellers—mouthpieces who shape the imagination of the world. Revelation 13 portrays the beast rising from the sea, armed not only with power but with propaganda:
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:5–6 (ESV)
Here we learn something critical: empire’s greatest weapon is not its armies, but its lies. It reshapes God into its own image and invites the world to worship the counterfeit.
Blasphemy is not merely swearing or mockery—it is the slander of God’s character, the peddling of false testimony about who He is and what He desires. It is the beast taking the holy name of God upon its lips and twisting it into a justification for its violence, its greed, its lust for power. And this, Revelation insists, is not an ancient relic but an enduring temptation for every age. The beast still speaks.
Our present moment in America is no exception. We are living in a season when political power cloaks itself in religious garments, and the name of God is invoked to sanctify partisan agendas. The current administration has leaned heavily into Christian imagery: the president sharing memes about being “on a mission from God,” official White House communicators declaring his presidency was “ordained,” and cabinet members staging highly publicized acts of prayer as official state functions. To many onlookers, these gestures may appear as bold faith in the public square. But Revelation bids us ask a harder questions: What god is being invoked? Which kingdom is being announced?
The non-Christian world has noticed. For many observers, such public fusions of political authority and Christian language have not highlighted God’s holiness but have instead fueled perceptions of Christian nationalism—a worldview that equates loyalty to God with loyalty to the state. The risk here is not theoretical. When political leaders claim to act in God’s name, their actions inevitably shape how God Himself is perceived. If policies appear to prioritize wealth over compassion, or power over justice, then God is imagined as endorsing those very distortions. In Biblical terms, this becomes a form of blasphemy: slandering God’s name by presenting a false picture of His nature.
This creates a profound challenge for the church. Scripture insists that God’s people bear witness to His character in truth, not distortion. Jesus taught His disciples that their love for one another would mark them as His followers (John 13:35). Paul exhorted believers to conduct themselves in such a way that “the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled” (1 Tim. 6:1). Revelation itself frames the church’s role as faithful witness in the face of beastly propaganda. If political leaders—whether sincerely or cynically—associate themselves with divine authority while misrepresenting God’s character, then the church must not remain silent. To do so risks complicity in blasphemy.
The temptation, of course, is to justify or excuse false witness in the name of political gain. Yet the call of Revelation runs counter to such compromise. The church must resist the easy path of aligning God with worldly agendas, no matter how beneficial they may seem in the moment. Instead, Christians are summoned to counter the beast’s blasphemy with a truthful testimony of God: a God whose kingdom does not mimic earthly empires, a God whose priorities are mercy, justice, and sacrificial love, not dominance or self-interest.
The question before us is not whether politicians will continue to invoke God. They always have, and they always will. The question is whether the church will have the courage to answer with a clearer word: This is not God. This is not His kingdom. This is not His justice. Only then will the world see the true Lord, the Lamb who was slain, who rules not by domination but by sacrifice, not by propaganda but by truth.
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