What Is the Christian Left, and How Do We Build It?

"The most radical thing we can do isn’t flipping tables—it’s setting a bigger one."

The Christian Left—if such a thing can be called a single movement—has long been more of a current than an institution. We are the misfits, the monks, the liberation theologians, the activists who actually took Jesus seriously when he said, blessed are the poor. But in America—where Christian nationalism has hijacked the faith—we need more than scattered voices. We need a movement.

The Problem

Too often, the Christian Left is reactive—lamenting, protesting, and deconstructing without building. Meanwhile, the Christian Right has spent decades organizing. They’ve taken over school boards, built media empires, and embedded themselves in communities. They’re not winning because they have better theology. They’re winning because they organized for power.

What We Need to Do

1. Build Infrastructure for Liberation

We can’t just yell about injustice. We need to:

Create networks of material support—housing, food, childcare, mental health care, legal aid.
Foster worker co-ops, land trusts, and mutual aid.
Center solidarity, not charity.

2. Organize From Within, Not Just Without

Leaving broken churches cedes ground to empire. Instead:

Reform institutions from the inside.
Stay, speak up, and act.
Build coalitions across race, class, gender, and denomination.

“These churches belong to us too.”

3. Resacralize What Empire Has Profaned

To resist empire, we must reclaim the sacred:

The Earth: The first temple was the ground beneath our feet.
The Body: The Incarnation declares our flesh holy.
The Feminine: Wisdom is Sophia. The Spirit is Ruach. Women were the first preachers of resurrection.

4. Put People First—Not Policy or Theology

Don’t start with theological debates. Start with feeding people.
The Right sells identity and community. We need to offer the same, rooted in justice.
If your church is welcoming but no one knows it, it’s not really welcoming.

"We won’t out-argue Christian nationalism. We have to outlive it."

5. Learn From History (and Latin America)

The Underground Railroad freed people before asking permission.
Liberation theologians in Latin America resisted dictatorship with scripture.
ACT UP, labor unions, and abolitionists succeeded by building power—not begging for it.

6. Let Feminist and Queer Theology Lead

The Christian Left must tear down patriarchy.
Too many still try to tweak the system instead of dismantling it.
We need to center the voices patriarchy has silenced—not as tokens, but as our core.

7. Embrace Revolutionary Spirituality

This isn’t just political—it’s sacred.

Contemplation must fuel resistance.
Liturgy and prayer matter when they support action.
Christianity was never meant to be a religion of power. It began as a revolution of love.

Practical Next Steps

Start a reading group on liberation theology.
Host mutual aid potlucks.
Talk to your pastor.
Refuse to be quiet in your congregation.
Form alliances with organizers outside the church.
Reimagine the table—and set it wider.

Call to Action

This is not about winning arguments. It’s about building something beautiful enough that empire has no claim on it.

So let’s stop mourning—and organize.

“The Kingdom of God is not built with votes, laws, or borders. It is built in whispers, in communion, in wild spaces where empire cannot reach.”

Let’s remember how to live it.

How You Can Help:

Share this document.
Host a conversation about it in your community.
Add your voice. Build your piece of the movement.
Join the Christ Against Empire discord server and lets start hashing this out: https://discord.gg/etnh98kU

[More to come soon — including a place for collective dialogue, stories, and strategy. Stay tuned.]

Written and curated by @yourbrotherdavid (David Beale - dbealejr@proton.me)

A recovering Church of Christ kid. Anarcho-Mennonite-Lutheran. Rooted in resistance. Reclaimed by grace.