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I didn’t even need to open today’s newspaper, The Kansas City Star, to see the bold front page (above-the-fold) headline: Hamilton Vows ‘Different Kind of Christianity.’ 

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 4 ESV)

In the days when Jude wrote his letter, there was the incursion of a ‘different kind of Christianity.’ It walked like a duck and quacked like a duck, but it was a rhinoceros trying to pawn himself off as a duck. Therefore, Jude was inspired by the Holy Spirit to warn the church away from falling for this phony. Stay with the original, he says. Stay with the faith, once for all, delivered to the saints. 

Let me back up a half-step and explain who “Hamilton” is. He is the Rev. Adam Hamilton, the pastor of a mega church (6 sites) in the wealthier districts of Kansas City, Kansas. In fact, the newspaper claims that he is the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church (UMC) in the United States! His congregation boasts over 24,000 active members. 

(NB: the second largest congregation in Dallas, Texas, just voted to leave the UMC)

The different Christianity is a reaction to an ailment that the Senator describes thus: 

“Sometimes in Washington, D.C., you see Christian nationalists and other kinds of Christianity that aren’t kind or caring.”

That is it. He opposes Christian nationalism and uncaring/unkind people who claim the Christian faith. Let’s take these on one at a time.

Christian nationalism.

Roughly defined by this PBS piece, Christian nationalism is identified with Caucasians who are/form:

… a political and cultural ideology that seeks to merge Christian identity with national identity, asserting that a nation (most notably the United States) has a fundamentally Christian heritage that must be preserved, restored, or legally enforced.

The Reverand Adam Hamilton is white. He is a pastor in the UMC denomination. The UMC denomination, on its own website, has articles of faith and belief that touch and concern every avenue of US politics and law. Here are just a few:

They believe abortion at any point of the baby’s gestation is a sad thing, yet should be legal. They believe that women can be married to women, and men to men. They believe in protecting the environment, food sources, and space. They decry "environmental racism." They have taken a specific stance on social justice and have opposed war in any circumstance.  They have taken official stances in regard to immigration and advocate for native Americans to own their own nation, separate from the US. All of these stances have economic impacts and strategies. They have associated political policies and laws at the national level.

In other words, it is a comprehensive national legal identity forged in their understanding of “different Christianity.”

It is, by definition, Chistian nationalism. 

And all of this from a wealthy pastor of an enormously wealthy church in an ultra-wealthy suburb of Kansas City. Google tells me this about Leawood, KS:

Leawood, Kansas is significantly wealthier than the rest of the Kansas City metropolitan area, boasting a median household income more than double the metro average. According to 2020–2024 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Leawood’s median household income is $185,625, compared to $83,785 for the overall Kansas City metro area and $69,166 for Kansas City, Missouri. (citing Census Bureau statistics)

Compare Hamilton’s vague stance on Christian nationalism with the Southern Baptist Convention’s stance on the issue:

WHEREAS, Our Christian witness is better preserved by the separation of church and state, and Scripture and history have shown that true revival comes through the Spirit of God by means of fervent prayer, gospel evangelism, and biblical discipleship; (2024 resolution entitled, “On Defending Religious Liberty”)

And

In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth. (Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Article XV)

There is a saying that goes this way: “Well, isn’t that the kettle calling the pot black!” 

First, it would be nice if Hamilton could tell us which lawmaker is a Christian nationalist in Washington D.C., instead of making an unsubstantiated blanket (and careless) statement like he did. Afterall, isn’t calling someone a name unkind? Uncaring? Divisive? What about "justice?" Shouldn't that person(s) have an opportunity to be notified of his/her accusation and be given an opportunity to defend their particular stance on an issue or set of issues?

Second, he needs to look at the beliefs of the UMC on the Social Order and compare them with the simplicity of the SBC. He will be shocked at how much of a “different Christian nationalist” he actually is. 

Yet, he is robed in niceness. I will be honest; it is hard to listen to Hamilton without being wooed by his honest appeal to parts of the Scriptures – even his claim that he lifts his hands, prays, and reads his New Testament every day. I am sure he is a nice fella, but biblically, it was the Pharisees who made a public showing of their religiosity and prayer life. Jesus said, instead, to pray in private. (Matthew 6:5-6)

I challenge Rev. Hamilton to lay his privilege aside and come down here to a small church in North St Joseph, MO, and live among those who he says we should be advocating for. Not visit here – try living here, serving here, getting to know some people who are strung out, mentally challenged, disabled, broken, poor, lost, desperate, stricken, and dying. 

Be like Michael W. Smith’s role in the movie “The Second Chance.”

Real people are desperate for real Christianity, not “different Christianity.”

Kind and Caring.

Apparently, there exists someone in Washington, D.C. who claims the Christian faith and who is not kind and caring. There may be more than one. I wonder how many of his 24,000 parishioners he would find to be lacking in kindness and care, especially if he saw their social media posts, or if he saw them at a "No Kings" rally. Before you throw out orthodox historic Christianity in favor of a new religion, maybe he should refuse to engage in hasty generalizations or pointing a finger when more than one is pointing back at the pointer.

Let’s be clear. Everyone who claims Christ as their Lord should display the fruits of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)

Not every Christian has arrived at that station. We all should be on the road of being transformed by the Words of the New Testament that Hamilton carries around in his pocket. 

But notice this. Before Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit, he lists things the Christian should avoid:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 ESV)

Context matters. It appears that Hamilton leans heavily on the singular fruit of the Spirit, “kindness,” but ignores all of the things we should not be (except being unkind). 

What about sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality. The UMC openly endorses adulterous lifestyles (any sex outside the marriage of one man and one woman). 

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 4 ESV)

What about idolatry and sorcery? The UMC openly endorses non-biblical aspects of native American religion. 

What about dissensions, divisions, and envy? How many folks who voted for him are part of a deep personal/political divide that is wrecking the fabric of our country’s unity?

What about drunkenness? If you have spent more than a day in Washington, D.C., you will find that politics are plied with the free and abundant flow of sweet mind-numbing alcohol. 

What if a historically orthodox lawmaker quoted Galatians 5:19-21 in open dialogue? Would he be labeled as unkind? Hateful? Bigoted? Unloving?

Since when is kindness and love unhitched from the true understandings of sin and God’s holy standards revealed in the Bible?

Thus goes the dictates of “different Christianity.” 

The headline of the KC Star apparently intended to give the reader a warm introduction to the faith of Kansas’ newest senator. Instead, it stands as a stark reminder that Christianity has long been hounded by knockoffs and imposters. Not often, however, are their proponents willing to admit that they are different from the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. 

Hamilton isn’t afraid to admit that. His denomination agrees. 

Let the headline serve as a warning sign, not a lure. 

Epilogue: 

From the time the newspaper was printed to the time the article appeared online, the headline changed to: “Adam Hamilton’s church welcomed him back as senator-elect. Here’s what he said” I suppose the Star was a bit too honest in raising the issue of a different kind of Christianity to their public, writ large, above the fold in their print edition.

Too late. The boldness of his divergent faith claim is already in print headlines.