After Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He stayed there for 40 days, eating nothing and facing temptation from the Devil himself.
What did the Devil spout at Jesus to tempt him? Among other things, scripture!
The Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, placed Him on the highest point of the temple, and taunted Him to jump off.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down, for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
The Devil was quoting Psalm 91:11-16, which Christ had certainly memorized.
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The Devil used the truth for deceitful and wicked purposes.
The Origins of the “Christ is King” Controversy
On Oct. 7, 2023, the world watched in horror as the Jewish people faced the worst attack perpetrated against them since the Holocaust. Babies were beheaded, tourists attending a music festival were slaughtered, women were raped, and children were tortured in front of their parents and vice versa. In total, over 1,400 were killed, according to the Associated Press.
The biggest news of the year had hit, and conservative commentators began lending their perspectives as they do with all major news stories.
Do you support Israel’s right to exist?
The history of Israeli-Palestinian relations made it clear who had the moral high ground — Israel.
Yet, even after watching the attempted genocide roll out in real-time, Candace Owens had some questions. Despite being clearly uninformed on Israeli policy and Middle East relations and the history of the conflict, Owens began asking these questions out loud on the air, per National Review.
She began implying that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza (again, look at the history — the Israelis have done everything they can to prevent unnecessary loss of life). Then, she suggested that Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter was a ghetto where the Muslim population was forced to live (a hilarious notion — like saying New Orleans’ French Quarter is a ghetto for the French). She’s compared Israel — the lone bastion of Western freedom in the Middle East — to the “segregated South.”
Owens began leaning into anti-Jewish conspiracy theories (à la the Jews run the media and pervert it to further their aims as a group).
These were just some among a long list of ignorant thoughts spouted out by Owens on the Daily Wire platform, prompting Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro to call them out.
In the face of Shapiro’s well-informed criticism, Owens quoted scripture, Matthew 5:9-11 and Matthew 6:24 to be precise.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against…
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 14, 2023
Then, in a follow-up post, came this.
Christ is King.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 14, 2023
Here’s the order of events: Candance Owens had a series of incredibly ignorant, uninformed opinions about Israel. She was then called out for her ignorance. Then, in her defense, she quoted scripture and tweeted “Christ is King.”
But why invoke that passage? Why proclaim “Christ is King”?
She wasn’t being targeted for being a Christian. Rather, she was being called out for being an ignoramus.
But by hiding behind Christ’s name, by quoting scripture back at Shapiro, by proclaiming “Christ is King” in the face of criticism, Owens reframed the debate as a powerful Jew’s persecution of an obedient Christian.
She painted Shapiro to be a powerful, anti-free speech oppressor loyal to the Jews coming after her for merely sharing her Christian beliefs.
Just as the Devil quoted scripture at Jesus to further his manipulative purposes, Owens quoted scripture to manipulate her own situation.
It’s as simple as that.
Owens’ Firing
As the months went by, Owens continued to spout uninformed nonsense and continued to be called out for it.
Finally, this past week, enough was enough. On Friday, Owens and the Daily Wire chose to part ways. Their differences on this fundamental topic of truth seemed irreconcilable.
How did Owens react? By again hiding behind the name of Jesus Christ and framing herself as the victim of Jewish-led, anti-Christian discrimination.
Christian history has been wiped from textbooks.
The Bible has been removed from classrooms.
The result is madness everywhere.The attempt by the media to equate biblical scripture with white supremacy must be our red line.
It is always appropriate, in every scenario to…
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) March 23, 2024
Again, Owens was not fired for being a faithful Christian. She was not fired for opposing the U.S. sending funding to Israel. After all, Matt Walsh remains with the Daily Wire despite passionately holding that position.
I rarely ever talk about Israel and when I do it’s only to say that they should be left to sort out their own problems without our money or involvement. If that counts as “shilling for Israel” than the phrase apparently has no meaning. https://t.co/Pfsb2vSEos
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 26, 2024
She was let go for being decidedly un-Christian, for spouting out ridiculous, uninformed conspiracies about the Jewish people and then claiming she was doing so in the name of Christ.
Owens, Klavan and the “Christ Is King” Controversy
On Friday, Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan devoted much of the latest episode of his show to addressing the controversy.
Among many other things, Klavan called out Owens for hiding behind the phrase “Christ is King.”
That portion of his incredibly long monologue was taken out of context and posted on X.
Klavan, who before now was almost always described as a Christian Daily Wire host, was all-of-a-sudden framed as a Jew (Klavan is ethnically Jewish) who opposed Owens’ worship of Christ.
Throughout the episode of his show, Klavan made clear his devotion of Christ and his faithfulness as a Christian. And yet, in the clips and criticisms posted on X, all that mattered to many was his ethnic heritage.
He was treated like a Christian-hating Jew for opposing Owens’ anti-Christian behavior.
Jewish Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan justifies Candace Owens’ firing, bashes her coverage of the Nazis burning LGBT books as a “dog whistle” and her opposition to “unholy rabbis” as “lunacy.”
Klavan then claims that those who side with her “hate the Jews.”
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/LT0iEzXyPr
— AF Post (@AFpost) March 23, 2024
What resulted was an absolute social media firestorm. “Christ is King” went viral, and conservatives of all stripes began to feud on X.
Many came to the defense of Klavan, calling out Owens’ ignorance and manipulative use of scripture. Others defended Owens, in many cases because they agreed with her anti-Israel stance.
Many anti-Semitic accounts posted in support of Owens on X, too, gleefully spouting “Christ is King” at dissenters while insinuating they were in bed with “the Jews.”
Other seemingly faithful Christians began spamming “Christ is King” as well, apparently unaware of the context. Many of these accounts seemed to think someone was telling them not to proclaim Christ’s authority over all (which was never the case — Klavan’s full podcast episode is called “Because Christ Really Is King”).
All of this hate and dissent was started by one woman’s uninformed opinions and her decision to hide behind the name of Christ when faced with criticism of them.
By framing it that way, Owens turned “Christ is King” from a statement of biblical faith into a rallying cry against supposed Jewish-imposed oppression.
“Christ Is King” and Anti-Semitism
Is that anti-Semitism, or ignorance? Perhaps it’s a bit of both, but that’s not for this writer to say.
Upon hearing about the controversy, many conservatives and Christians balked at the idea that the phrase “Christ is King” could ever be anti-Semitic or immoral.
But as was the case with the Devil quoting scripture — beautiful truths can be manipulated for evil purposes.
When it comes to this whole controversy, in this writer’s opinion, Pastor Douglas Wilson summed it up best.
I chose to quote Wilson specifically because he’s been at the forefront of the current movement to introduce Christian values overtly into politics (many would call this “Christian Nationalism”).
All that is to say, Wilson was saying “Christ is King” before it became cool two minutes ago.
Firstly, in an X thread published Tuesday, Wilson addressed the use of “Christ is King” and where it can go wrong.
There are those for whom it is synonymous with “Christ is Lord,” and they would confess it because they believe it to be true, and the truth upon which all other truths depend. So indeed, Christ is King. 2/5
— Douglas Wilson (@douglaswils) March 26, 2024
Then there are those who use it as an antisemitic taunt, thus placing themselves in the same category as the second group—unbelievers, but now with an oak veneer of hypocrisy. But precisely because Christ is king, He will judge all those who called Him “Lord, Lord,” but continued…
— Douglas Wilson (@douglaswils) March 26, 2024
After acknowledging it can be a faithful statement used by faithful Christians, Wilson asserted that Klavan was right — it is a term that some bad actors have weaponized.
“Then there are those who use it as an antisemitic taunt … But precisely because Christ is king, He will judge all those who called Him ‘Lord, Lord,’ but continued to do things their own way,” Wilson wrote.
“So if anyone asks me if Christ is king, I will reply that of course He is. I will also say that in the day of His wrath He will consign all liars and hypocrites to the outer darkness. A number of Christ-is-kingers need to repent. They need to be born again. Forgiveness awaits.”
Furthermore, in a video posted Monday, Wilson addressed the anti-biblical nature of the anti-Semitism being espoused by many in Owens’ corner.
Wilson began by noting that the Jewish people are a high-performing group and have done many great goods along with many great ills.
Sure, George Soros, many Hollywood producers and even pornographers are Jewish, but so are many of the most influential businessmen and technological innovators that have made our lives much better.
Many anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists seem to only focus on the worst of the bunch. Wilson’s point is that, if extended the same judgment, no group would fair well.
“Now, in my clashes with the anti-Semites, which have been, for some reason, increasing in frequency of late, I’ve noticed that they’re particularly obtuse on this point, and it is not a trifle because they will be judged with the judgment they’re extending. That’s not good news for them,” Wilson said.
“One of their complaints against the Jews is that they refuse to follow Christ, unlike these anti-Semites who nobly pretend to follow Christ. What did Christ tell us to do? ‘And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?’ Luke 6:46.”
“Do not apply to any group a standard of judgment, or a line of reasoning, or a set of arguments, that you would chafe under if someone just changed all the nouns and evaluated you and yours with that same approach. If, when it is applied to you and your people, you see the fallacy immediately, then you have a moral obligation to see the fallacy when it is being done to somebody else.”
Owens has seen this double standard applied to someone else.
It is the “white privilege” narrative she has called out so vociferously throughout her career. It is the white supremacy argument that has been used against her people by racists throughout history.
And yet, that very same sin, when applied to the Jewish people, she is blind to.
As Christians, we would do well to remember that we Gentiles have been grafted onto the promise God made to His people, the Israelites.
He did not abandon them, as many of those quick to spout out “Christ is King” at every Jewish person they see seem to suggest.
As Paul wrote in Romans 11:25-29 — “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved … for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
