When Culture Overrules Christ: What the Virginia Election Reveals About the Black Church

By Dr. Eric M. Wallace

The recent Virginia gubernatorial election exposed a profound spiritual crisis within American Christianity — particularly in the Black Church. Even when a candidate stood firmly for biblical values, openly professed faith in Christ, and reflected the lived experience of Black believers, the majority of Black voters overwhelmingly rejected her in favor of a white progressive whose positions contradict historic Christian teaching on life, family, and religious liberty.

The implications are sobering: Many in the Church no longer vote their professed values — even when those values are on the ballot.

According to exit poll reporting summarized by The Washington Post, Black voters supported the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate by approximately 85% to 15%, consistent with longstanding national trends. Even with a candidate who openly professed Christian faith and articulated positions aligned with biblical teaching, the vast majority of Black voters cast ballots for the opponent.

This is not primarily a political failure. It is a theological one.

In my book, The Heart of Apostasy, I describe this growing confusion in the Black Church as a crisis of divided loyalty — a departure from biblical authority in favor of cultural identity. As I write: “We are not fully free if we must conform to the opinions and expectations of any particular group.”— The Heart of Apostasy, p. 13

This warning was on full display in Virginia. Despite two candidates who could not be more different in their relationship to Scripture, Black voters chose overwhelmingly along cultural and partisan lines — not spiritual ones.

This reveals what I call the divided heart: a heart that still claims Christ but whose allegiance is shaped more by political identity than by biblical conviction.

Many are unaware of the ideological forces that have subtly reshaped the Church’s priorities. As I note in the book: “Voices… competing for influence… have divided our loyalties, reshaped our worldview, and weakened our witness.”— p. 13

These forces include progressive identity politics, Critical Race Theory, and partisan messaging from the left that has displaced Scripture as the final authority in moral reasoning. As I also write: “Too frequently, the Black Church prioritizes cultural solidarity over Kingdom loyalty.”— p. 13

The tragedy here is not that the culture rejects biblical truth — that is expected. The tragedy is that the Church is rejecting biblical truth in order to remain in good standing with the culture.

The result is predictable: When biblical priorities collide with political ones, many choose politics.

How did we reach this point? Because too many pulpits have grown uncertain. The Word of God has not changed — but our willingness to preach it has.

When pastors refuse to speak on moral issues because those issues are considered “political, they unintentionally disciple their congregations to follow the world’s wisdom rather than God’s Word. Silence becomes endorsement. And when biblical clarity is absent, cultural voices fill the void: “These competing messages have displaced the voice of God’s Word.”— p. 13

The Virginia election revealed the fruit of that displacement.

A candidate who aligned closely with biblical ethics on life, family, and religious liberty lost by enormous margins among Christians who publicly profess belief in those same values.
This disconnect is not accidental. It is the fruit of silence.

This crisis requires more than political commentary — it calls for repentance. As I emphasize: “This is not simply an academic exercise, but a plea to the Church to reclaim its prophetic voice.”— p. 11

We must return to the authority of Scripture over every area of life — including civic engagement. A biblical worldview cannot be something we affirm on Sunday but abandon on Tuesday.

The Church must remember that Christ is not merely Lord of our salvation —He is Lord of our public witness, our moral judgments, and our allegiance.

Every vote is a confession of what we genuinely believe about God and the world He made. As I write: “…the condition of the Black Church and the witness of the entire Church in America depends on how we hear and respond to the Word of God.”— p. 11

The Virginia election was a mirror. It revealed a painful truth: that many in the Church are discipled more by political forces than by Scripture.

The way forward is not partisan loyalty — it is repentance.
We must:

• Return to the Word
• Disciple believers holistically
• Expose competing ideologies
• Lift Christ above culture, race, and party
• 
  

Only then will we reclaim our prophetic voice and bear fruit that stands the test of time.
The choice remains the same as it has always been: Will we serve culture — or Christ?

It is time for the Church to decide.

Dr. Eric M. Wallace, author of the new book, The Heart of Apostasy: How The Black Church Abandoned Biblical Authority for Political Ideology--And How to Reclaim It,  is a trailblazing scholar, dynamic speaker, and passionate advocate for faith-based conservatism. With a distinguished academic background and an unwavering commitment to biblical truth, Wallace has become a leading voice challenging cultural and political narratives that conflict with a biblical worldview.

Wallace holds postgraduate degrees in biblical studies (M.A., ThM, Ph.D.), Wallace is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Union-PSCE (now Union Presbyterian Seminary). His scholarship and ministry experience equip him to address today’s most pressing sociopolitical issues through the lens of faith, reason, and historical accuracy.