There was a time when I treated disagreement almost like betrayal, believing that standing against my tribe meant standing against me personally. I instinctively defended the people and ideas closest to my identity, often without examining whether they were actually right. Over time, however, I realized how easily loyalty can cloud judgment and how dangerous it becomes when belonging matters more than truth. I believed loyalty itself was proof of righteousness. If someone stood with my people, my culture, my side, or my experiences, I assumed truth naturally followed close behind. But life has a way of exposing the weakness of tribal allegiance. Eventually you begin noticing that every tribe has its blind spots, its hypocrisies, its sacred cows, and its preferred enemies.
As a Black man, I have often been accused of following the “white man’s Jesus,” as though Christ Himself belongs to one race of people. I reject that entirely. Jesus Christ was not a European invention, nor does He belong to America, Africa, or any political movement. He is Lord over all peoples, and every tribe that approaches Him must eventually surrender its pride at the foot of the cross.
At the same time, I have also struggled watching some believers become so intertwined with political movements and nationalism that criticism of those movements feels almost like criticism of Christianity itself. That troubles me too. Because once political loyalty becomes sacred, truth usually becomes negotiable.
This leaves people like me in an uncomfortable place.
If I criticize movements like the Hebrew Israelites or certain forms of racial nationalism, some assume I am betraying my people. But if I raise concerns about Christian nationalism, MAGA excess, or political idolatry on the Right, suddenly I am viewed with suspicion by others who were comfortable with me criticizing everybody else.
That inconsistency reveals something important:
many people do not actually want truth above all else. They want protection for their tribe.
But truth does not belong to tribes.
Truth belongs to God.
And that is where the struggle begins for many of us. Because following Christ eventually places a sword between us and every earthly identity we are tempted to worship. Race cannot save us. National identity cannot save us. Political affiliation cannot save us. Cultural pride cannot save us. Even pain and oppression, though real, cannot become our final lens for interpreting reality.
Only Christ can stand in that place.
This is why I believe Christians must learn to speak truth without becoming consumed by contempt. We must be willing to challenge deception on every side, including the side closest to ourselves. Not because we hate people, but because we love truth enough not to make an idol out of human allegiance.
That is difficult.
People often tolerate criticism directed outward, but become offended when the same standard is applied inward. Yet maturity requires consistency. If we demand honesty from one group, we must be willing to accept honesty within our own camp as well.
I am still learning this myself.
There are wounds, histories, and emotions tied to these conversations that run deep. Sometimes I grow weary watching people defend movements with more passion than they defend the fruit of the Spirit. Sometimes I grieve watching tribal loyalty blind people to obvious hypocrisy. And sometimes I must examine my own heart carefully to make sure my frustration does not harden into bitterness.
Because the goal is not merely to reject one tribe for another.
The goal is to belong to Christ so fully that every other allegiance becomes secondary.
That does not mean we abandon our culture, our history, or our communities. It means those things no longer sit on the throne of our hearts. Christ alone belongs there.
And until believers understand that, many will continue confusing political passion, racial identity, and cultural grievance with genuine spiritual discernment.
But truth can only be found in Christ.
Not in the Left.
Not in the Right.
Not in Blackness.
Not in Whiteness.
Not in nationalism.
Not in resentment.
Christ alone.
Everything else must bow before Him.
Rejecting Tribalism