John Howard tackled a Sunday night sermon series at Second Baptist Church of Marion on the objections people raise to Christianity. This is an excerpt from his response to the statement: “Doesn’t Christianity oppress people?”
This question may not be one you’ve grappled much with yourself, but you will eventually hear some form of this accusation: “Christianity has done more harm than good.”
We don’t need to get defensive, because Jesus himself confronted corrupt religion. He confronted people who used God’s name to oppress, manipulate, control others. And he wasn’t vague.
These texts show that Christianity does not oppress people—sinful people misuse Christianity. But the gospel itself always brings freedom.
Luke says Jesus stood up in his hometown synagogue, opened the scroll of Isaiah and read his own mission statement. Jesus’ liberation is first and foremost spiritual. He frees not just from external chains, but from sin, guilt, and false religion. Our ultimate freedom is rooted in the covenantal work of Christ, not human systems.
Liberation is not something we manufacture by activism or social progress; it is something God produces when his Spirit breaks the chains of sin and awakens the heart to Christ.
Because of the Fall, every human structure carries the risk of oppression—even the church. That’s why correct theology emphasizes church accountability, church discipline, and Christ-centered authority—so that sinful hearts cannot twist God’s truth for personal gain.
When Christianity is misused, it’s not Christianity that’s on display—it’s sin wearing a religious mask. But the gospel unmasks the pretender. The gospel shines light on corruption. The gospel refuses to join hands with oppression. This is where we need clarity today.
Across evangelicalism there is intense debate about justice, race, power dynamics, and what many label “wokeness.” Some argue if we talk about human dignity or structural injustice we are compromising the gospel; others argue unless the church adopts the full language and categories of modern cultural activism we are failing the gospel.
But here is the truth Scripture gives: the gospel is liberating, not oppressive—but our understanding of oppression and liberation must be shaped by the Bible, not by secular ideologies.
We do not need to pick between culture-war outrage and culture-
driven activism. We need to be a people whose moral vision is formed by Christ, whose justice is defined by Scripture, and whose understanding of human dignity flows from the image of God and the cross of Christ—not from the ideological pressures of the moment.
Gal. 3:28 is revolutionary—not because it erases human distinctions, but because it removes the spiritual hierarchy between people. It makes sense only because of union with Christ. In Adam we were divided, competing, alienated; in Christ we share one covenant standing, one righteousness, one acceptance before the Father.
So Paul isn’t flattening creation distinctions—he’s announcing covenantal equality flowing from our union with Christ. Ancient society was built on ethnic superiority: Jews saw Gentiles as unclean. Gentiles saw Jews as strange.
But at the cross, all stand equal. In Christ, dividing walls come down.
Paul’s statement is theological, not just sociological. We are united in Christ’s covenant, bearing the Spirit, sharing the inheritance, and participating in his righteousness.
Billy Graham famously put it like this: “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.” Where the world is divided, Christ unites. Where culture ranked value, Christ grants equal worth. Where sin created hierarchy, Christ creates family.
This is why Christ’s church, even amid flawed cultural norms, is called to lead by example. Our commitment to justice flows from sanctified hearts, not from worldly pressure or political ideology: “for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Yes, Christianity has been misused. But what happens when Christians actually obey Scripture?
Hospitals appear. Schools appear. Human rights appear. Abolition movements rise. Care for widows and orphans expands.
The dignity of women is elevated. Slavery collapses. Literacy spreads. Mercy ministries flourish. Laws change. Nations transform.
Let me offer a needed clarification: this is not liberation theology. We don’t preach salvation by activism. We preach salvation by Christ, and that salvation bears fruit in many ways, including justice, mercy, and neighbor love.
When Christ reigns in a person’s life, oppression cannot. When Christ reigns in a church, control cannot. When Christ reigns in a nation, injustice cannot.
Jesus came to free the broken, lift the oppressed, destroy the works of the devil, form a new people—equal in worth, united in love, liberated by grace. And he is still doing it today.