The Bystander Church: When Cowards Call Themselves Conservatives

I remember driving that old $300 Astro van through the pitch-black Montana back roads.

Headlights barely worked. Duct tape holding it all together. My wife had to hold a flashlight so I could see the road.

That’s how I feel reading Christian Twitter lately.

Like I’m behind the wheel of something barely functional, barely moving—but still pushing forward because there’s nowhere else to go.

The world is burning.

The truth is screaming.

And the church is too scared to roll the window down.

In 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York.

Dozens of people reportedly heard her screams.

No one helped.

No one even called the police.

That moment birthed the term “bystander effect.”

And a generation had to ask:

What kind of people hear screams… and do nothing?

Fast forward.

Look around.

Most churches are Kitty’s apartment building now.

The gospel’s being gutted in real time—and the people of God are staring out the window.

They post verses. Share memes. Talk “strategy.”

But when it’s time to speak up, they go silent.

They don’t want the heat.

They don’t want to lose the platform.

They’d rather be liked than be light.

This week, I had a little back and forth with a Catholic influencer.

She cursed publicly. Called her former church a “f***ing cult.”

When I called out the fruit, she mocked me. Mocked the writing. Said I was “embarrassing.”

But I wasn’t the one promoting polluted wells with piety filters slapped on top.

Some of y’all are drinking poison and calling it tradition.

And the ones brave enough to say it taste the backlash.

Then there’s the Woke Right—the new Pharisees dressed in patriot cosplay.

They say they hate identity politics, then build their entire worldview on it.

They trade Scripture for scapegoats.

They trade truth for rage.

“They healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jer. 6:14)

They’re not fighting evil.

They’re just branding it differently.

And the church?

Mostly silent.

Pastors cower behind staff meetings.

Leaders craft statements with PR teams.

And the pulpit has been replaced by a content calendar.

If that’s what we call faithfulness now, no wonder the world’s tuning out.

Jesus said the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to go after the 1.

Today’s church won’t even get up off the pew.

But we still pretend we’re the resistance.

We still think reposting a Spurgeon quote counts as boldness.

Meanwhile, the culture is screaming.

The truth is bleeding.

And the Bystander Church is still watching.

Let me be real:

If we don’t open our mouths now—if we don’t sound the trumpet, call out the rot, name the wolves—then we’re not the remnant.

We’re the reason judgment falls.

“If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8)

This isn’t about “them.”

It’s about us.

No more silence.

No more shrinking.

No more pretending the war isn’t at our doorstep.

Own your voice.

Preach the truth.

And if the wolves come howling—good.

It means you finally said something worth tearing down.

#SlayStupidity #BystanderChurch #WokeRight #ChristIsKing