I felt compelled to amplify this Facebook post by Ben Cremer.

I’ve been sitting with a heartbreaking theological tragedy. Many people have been unquestionably loyal to the president, never calling him out, defending him at all costs, all until he posts a picture of himself as Jesus.

This “blasphemy” was the line.

I’m genuinely grateful that some are beginning to speak up and draw lines. That matters. It really does. Whenever truth is spoken, it should be applauded. Thank you.

But I gently want to ask, should that have been “the line?”

What about all the other lines since the beginning?

The line was housing discrimination against Black people in the 80s.

The line was the Central Park 5.

The line was the Access Hollywood tape.

The line was mocking a disabled reporter.

The line was saying “there are fine people on both sides” about a white nationalist rally clashing with protesters.

The line was January 6th.

The line was the Epstein files.

The line was misogyny and abuse of women.

The line was lying that the 2020 election was stolen.

The line was denying public health guidelines during COVID.

The line was making his own Bible to sell for financial gain.

The line was demonizing immigrants and spreading racist lies about them eating pets.

The line was ripping immigrant families apart, denying due process, and cutting funding to unaccompanied immigrant children, so they had to represent themselves in court.

The line was Renèe Good and Alex Pretti.

The line was Alligator Alcatraz.

The line was gutting USAID, causing needless deaths worldwide.

The line was cutting healthcare and food assistance for millions of people.

The line was voter suppression.

There were so many lines where the very people Jesus called us to love and serve were harmed.

People Matthew 25:31-46 tells us to treat the same way we would treat Jesus. People we are called to see Jesus in them.

That should have always been the line for us.

But the line was when the president depicted himself as Jesus. White Jesus. Americanized Jesus. Militarized Jesus.

The difficult truth I think we need to sit with is that many felt as outraged and offended about an AI image as they needed to have been feeling all along about all those being harmed by the president and his policies.

If we Christians find ourselves getting more outraged by the president depicting himself as Jesus than we are about all those we are called to treat as Jesus being harmed, we’ve got a lot of soul searching to do.

“‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” -Jesus (Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭40‬)