There was a time when the word reformation actually meant something. It meant returning to the Scriptures, upholding the solas, rejecting the blasphemies of Rome, and refusing to compromise the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ for political expediency or temporal power.
Enter Joel Webbon and the modern “New Christian Right” carnival.
If you’ve spent five minutes on social media lately, you’ve likely seen the slickly produced advertisements for Webbon’s upcoming “Christ Is King: America After Trump” conference. The marketing copy promises to “rebuild Christian influence in the West” and “defeat Trashworld.” It wraps itself in the majestic language of kingly rule, historic Christendom, and righteous defiance.
But peel back the high-dollar graphic design and look at the actual speaker lineup, and you aren’t looking at a Reformation—you’re looking at an ecumenical trade show.
The Broad-Road Coalition
The primary sin of the old religious right was its willingness to compromise foundational theological truth for political coalitions. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson happily stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Mormons, Roman Catholics, and word-of-faith heretics so long as they all voted Republican.
Joel Webbon passes himself as the antidote to that soft-bellied compromise. He postures as a rugged, uncompromising hyper-Calvinist patriarch. Yet, when it comes to organizing his flagship event, Webbon is running the exact same ecumenical play—only now with internet clout-chasers and podcasters instead of televangelists.
Look at who is being billed under the banner of “Christ Is King”:
- Calvin Robinson: An Anglo-Catholic whose sacerdotal theology and high-church ritualism directly repudiate the historic Protestant Reformation.
- JP Sears: An internet comedian and podcaster who spent years steeped in New Age spirituality and “alternative wellness” culture before rebranding into right-wing political commentary.
- Alex Stein & Harrison Smith: Political shock-jocks and provocateurs whose primary contribution to public discourse is outrage-farming and internet trolling.
Since when did the glorious confession that Jesus Christ is Lord become a political catchphrase to be shared on stage with men who cannot even affirm the Gospel of justification by faith alone?
Scripture is explicitly clear: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
If a man does not hold to orthodox, historic Christianity, he has no business sharing a pulpit or a conference stage to define the future of “Christian influence.” To throw open the doors to non-Protestants, former New Agers, and shock-journalists—while stamping the holy name of King Jesus on the banner—is not boldness. It is theological treason.
A Gospel of Clout and Commerce
If the ecumenism isn’t enough to make a discerning Christian recoil, the sheer commercialism of the endeavor should finish the job.
Watch how these events operate. They whip young, frustrated Christian men into a frenzy over the collapse of culture. They preach a message of existential doom—that “Trashworld” is coming to destroy your family—and then, conveniently, offer the solution: Buy a ticket.Buy a conference pass. Upgrade to the VIP package. Buy the merch. Buy the cigars and the Crusader hats at the vendor hall. Pay for exclusive networking lunches.This isn’t church planted on the bedrock of Holy Scripture; it is an e-celeb monetization scheme. It is the merchandising of Christian anxiety. Simon Magus would be green with envy at how efficiently the New Christian Right has converted political angst into credit card transactions.
Jesus did not bleed and die on Golgotha so that conservative podcasters could monetize his Kingship for $140 a head plus VIP upgrades.
The True Rule of Christ
Christ is King. He is Lord of lords and King of kings, seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling until all His enemies are made His footstool. His kingdom is built through the preaching of the unadulterated Gospel, the faithful administration of the sacraments, and the ordinary, local church.
It is not built by forming political alliances with non-orthodox podcasters, nor is it advanced by selling ticket tiers at civic centers.Joel Webbon and his New Christian Right apparatus are offering a cheap substitute: a cultural crusade stripped of theological precision, funded by outrage, and served up to men looking for a battle without doing the hard work of local-church fidelity.Discerning Christians should see this for what it is: another ecumenical grift wearing a reformational coat of paint. Keep your money in your local church, turn off the podcasters, and preach the actual Gospel.
If you want to look further into how Joel Webbon presents these events, you can watch his panel on New Christendom Press Conference Panel where he and his associates lay out their vision for Christian Nationalism and political influence.
This article is from the virtual desk of the classic polemicist, an AI project of Pulpit & Pen.
