On a quiet October night in San Antonio, two churches were vandalized with graffiti reading “Jesus wants Trump gone” and “No king but God.” The attack happened in connection with the No Kings protests. It wasn’t random—it was targeted. And to me, it was yet another sign of something much deeper going on in America today. (CBN report)
Interestingly, one of those graffiti messages said, “No kings but God.” And here’s the irony: I actually agree with that statement. They meant it as a protest slogan—likely aimed at Christian conservatives—but biblically, they stumbled into truth. There is no king but God. Not a politician. Not a party. Not a movement. God alone is King. The tragedy is that the same people declaring this on church walls don’t actually want to submit to His kingship. They’re willing to use His name as a symbol, but not bow to His authority.
I’ve watched this trend grow over the years, and it’s no longer just political unrest or activism. What I see playing out in the streets—in the vandalism, the protests, the riots—stems from something spiritual: a growing Loss of Faith in God.
When faith in God fades, chaos grows. A culture’s Loss of Faith removes moral restraint and multiplies unrest.
A Pattern We Can’t Ignore
The Texas church incident isn’t isolated. It fits into a pattern that’s become increasingly clear in recent years:
— George Floyd protests (2020): While many were peaceful, riots and looting caused massive damage across American cities.
— Antifa violence: Cities like Portland and Seattle have seen years of anarchist unrest.
— The Covenant School shooting (2023): A transgender-identified shooter targeted a Christian school in Nashville, killing six.
— After Dobbs (2022): Churches and pregnancy centers were vandalized or firebombed following the Supreme Court decision.
— No Kings protests (2025): Anti-Christian slogans and targeted hostility toward churches are becoming more brazen.
These aren’t just random acts of rebellion. They reflect what happens culturally when a nation turns from God. (For how believers should respond when culture targets biblical conviction, see my post: Christianity & Cancel Culture: How Should Believers Respond?)
What Happens When People Lose Hope Beyond This Life
Just this week in my men’s Bible study group, I shared what’s been weighing on me. I told them that when I look at the chaos in the streets, I don’t just see politics. I see fear.
When people don’t believe there’s anything after this life, every injustice, every political outcome, every cultural battle feels ultimate. This is all they have. So they cling to it with clenched fists. They protest harder. They rage louder. They live with chaos inside, and it spills out into the world around them.
But when your hope is in Christ, eternity changes how you live. This life becomes a blip on the screen of eternity. You don’t have to panic. You don’t have to live in fear. You can live with peace, even in a broken world, because you know something far better awaits.
“For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” — Hebrews 13:14
Loss of Faith Always Brings Cultural Chaos
Scripture tells us what happens when a nation drifts away from God:
— “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.” — Proverbs 29:18
— “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” — Proverbs 9:10
— “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” — Judges 21:25
When faith fades—when there’s a Loss of Faith in the living God—chaos grows. And we’re watching that unfold in real time.
The Numbers Confirm the Spiritual Decline
I’m a data person. I like to look at trends, not just feelings. And the numbers paint a clear picture of secularization in America—especially in one political camp. As summarized by national surveys (see Pew Research):
— Democrats identifying as Christian have declined notably over the past decade, while the religiously unaffiliated have grown sharply.
— Church membership among Democrats has fallen much faster than among Republicans.
— Republicans show a smaller decline in Christian identity and higher rates of church involvement.
So purely in terms of scale, one side of our culture now has a much larger pool of people without biblical faith, and it shows in the unrest we see around us. (On how Christians should thoughtfully engage public life amid this divide, see my piece: Faith in Politics: Should Christians Be Involved?)
A Larger Pool Creates More Chaos
I often explain this with a simple sales analogy. If you send your message to 100,000 people instead of 20,000, statistically, you’ll get more responses.
In the same way, when a larger segment of society doesn’t believe in God—when it has no shared moral anchor or eternal hope—the chaos scales up.
— Faith says: “I won’t do this because it’s wrong before God.”
— Secularism says: “I’ll do this if it feels justified.”
This doesn’t mean every unbeliever is violent. It simply means the absence of faith removes moral restraint. And as that base grows, so does the cultural disorder.
This Is Not Just a Political Divide—It’s a Spiritual One
Even though this shows up along political lines, the real issue isn’t ultimately partisan. It’s belief versus unbelief.
One side still has a higher concentration of professing Christians. The other has moved rapidly toward secularism. And that divide has consequences. When faith fades, chaos grows.
But the good news is that this isn’t the end of the story. As Christians, we don’t have to join the fear. We can live as people of peace, anchored to eternity.
A Call to Stand Firm in Hope
The chaos we see on the streets is a reflection of hearts untethered from hope. People are searching for meaning, fighting for control, and living as if this world is all they have. But it isn’t.
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
Now more than ever, Christians must stand firm—not with panic, but with peace. Not with hatred, but with clarity. We must point people not to ourselves, but to Jesus Christ, the only One who can anchor a restless world.
Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid
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