Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1082 ｜ Pastors Invoke Toxic Empathy to Endorse Harris

00:00:00.760 Nashville pastor Ray Ortlund endorses Kamala Harris.

00:00:04.820 Is there ever a reason for a Christian to vote for Harris?

00:00:10.160 But other pastors are giving their congregations what they need, biblical clarity on this election.

00:00:17.820 And so we are going to be talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly in the evangelical 0.99

00:00:22.920 world when it comes to this election and politics on today's episode of Relatable.

00:00:27.800 It's brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.

00:00:29.620 Go to GoodRanchers.com.

00:00:30.840 Use code Allie at checkout. 1.00

00:00:31.960 That's GoodRanchers.com, code Allie.

00:00:42.920 Hey, guys.

00:00:43.740 Welcome to Relatable.

00:00:44.800 Happy Monday.

00:00:45.840 Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far.

00:00:49.080 Tomorrow is the day.

00:00:51.260 It is the day that Toxic Empathy is out.

00:00:55.620 Of course, you can go ahead and pre-order right now.

00:00:58.140 That makes sure that your copy gets there as soon as possible.

00:01:03.100 Toxic Empathy, How Progressives Exploit, Christian Compassion.

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00:01:51.160 We'll be talking a little bit more about Toxic Empathy today as we get into the pastor response to the election

00:01:59.280 and how they are shepherding their congregations in this season.

00:02:04.640 Also, if you love this podcast, if you appreciate it,

00:02:07.280 if you could please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, I would be so grateful for that.

00:02:14.520 All right, we've got a lot to get into, so let's go ahead and get into it.

00:02:17.720 I've been meaning to talk about this story, this post that I saw a couple weeks ago for a while,

00:02:22.780 but you guys know how it is.

00:02:24.320 There's always so much competing for our attention,

00:02:26.900 but I also know you guys really appreciate it when we talk about pastors

00:02:31.820 and pastors who are taking a stand one way or another publicly, particularly when it comes to politics.

00:02:39.360 We really reside in that intersection.

00:02:41.980 So it's always of interest to me when we've got an evangelical pastor who is making a political statement.

00:02:49.040 This time we've got Ray Ortlund.

00:02:51.420 He is an author and pastor of a church outside of Nashville or in Nashville,

00:02:57.300 and he recently posted an endorsement of Vice President Harris,

00:03:01.140 and he also said that he would never vote for Donald Trump,

00:03:06.360 then it seemed like he was supporting his position by saying that he believes in Jesus.

00:03:11.960 So he posted this.

00:03:13.080 I originally thought it was on X and I couldn't find it,

00:03:15.940 so I thought, okay, maybe it's photoshopped, but it was on threads.

00:03:19.880 I'm not on threads, but I saw this screenshot circulating.

00:03:23.220 It has been confirmed that this was really him.

00:03:25.420 He really posted this.

00:03:26.700 So we'll put the picture up.

00:03:28.160 It says, never Trump, this time Harris, always Jesus.

00:03:33.420 And then, of course, David French responded to this post and said, this is the way.

00:03:41.600 So a little bit more about Ray Ortlund, because some people might be thinking,

00:03:47.240 okay, I've never heard of this guy.

00:03:48.720 Maybe he's just a far-left progressive, one of these churches that's waving the pride flag, 1.00

00:03:54.900 but that's not who Ray Ortlund is.

00:03:57.400 That's not what his church is.

00:03:59.560 However, also, if you've been paying attention to the things that he's been saying over the years,

00:04:04.080 particularly since 2020, this doesn't come as that much of a surprise.

00:04:11.800 So he's the president of Renewal Ministries and a council member of the Gospel Coalition.

00:04:17.480 We've talked about what I believe to be a leftward drift of the Gospel Coalition a few times.

00:04:22.920 Doesn't mean every author, every piece there should be dismissed outright by any means,

00:04:28.840 but certainly the direction that it tends to lean, especially when it comes to political and cultural issues,

00:04:35.700 is certainly to the left.

00:04:37.380 He founded Emanuel Church in Nashville.

00:04:40.180 He now calls himself a pastor to pastors, Ray Ortlund, and other staff members include Russell Moore.

00:04:48.260 He's a minister-in-residence at the church, Gavin Ortlund.

00:04:52.020 He is a theologian-in-residence.

00:04:55.340 On September 29th is when Ortlund posted his fateful statement.

00:05:01.900 Never Trump.

00:05:03.460 This time, Harris.

00:05:05.760 Always Biden.

00:05:07.840 And I assume also that Ray Ortlund probably voted for Joe Biden back in 2020.

00:05:15.440 Forgive me if I'm wrong, but based on statements he made about BLM racism at the time,

00:05:23.560 I would say that's probably a safe bet.

00:05:26.880 He posted this.

00:05:28.200 I don't really totally understand it.

00:05:30.200 But right after George Floyd died under the kneeling pressure of the police officer,

00:05:42.360 he posted this along with the picture of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin.

00:05:46.220 He said,

00:05:46.420 Dear racist, why do you keep treating me well?

00:05:49.600 Don't you understand yet that I identify with the man on the pavement, not the man in power? 0.95

00:05:55.640 So if you're going to keep behaving in your racist ways, then come after me too.

00:06:00.680 I demand it.

00:06:01.760 I too am the man you hate, but God loves.

00:06:06.940 And his caption was,

00:06:08.600 If we all take our stand together, well, they can't kill us all.

00:06:13.120 We'll still be here when racism's power is exhausted and spent forever.

00:06:18.980 God with us.

00:06:19.840 Now, I will remind you that there is no evidence whatsoever that there was

00:06:25.080 any racial prejudice when it comes to the death of George Floyd.

00:06:30.720 Now, you can say that maybe the tactic of Derek Chauvin wasn't really one that you agree with.

00:06:37.120 You can talk about maybe the policies of police forces in America.

00:06:43.520 That's fine.

00:06:44.120 We can have that conversation.

00:06:45.340 But there is no evidence whatsoever that there was racial animus involved in the death of George Floyd.

00:06:51.520 And of course, much has come out since the death of George Floyd that has made this a much more controversial situation.

00:07:00.100 Now, it's always sad when an image bearer of God dies, but there are many factors at play in this situation.

00:07:07.540 And to immediately say that this was caused by systemic racism, systemic discrimination.

00:07:16.060 Well, that is not a discerning judgment because Christians are called not just to relate to someone,

00:07:25.660 but to be rooted and grounded in love, which is inextricably intertwined with truth.

00:07:31.520 As 1 Corinthians 13, 6 says, love rejoices with the truth.

00:07:37.560 And this is a really great example, actually, of toxic empathy, because when we feel how someone feels,

00:07:45.360 he says, I am the man.

00:07:46.820 I identify with the man on the pavement.

00:07:49.380 Well, when it comes to justice, when it comes to policy, when it comes to these big statements

00:07:55.140 that can inform policy, that has an effect on people's lives, it really doesn't matter whom

00:08:01.080 we identify with.

00:08:02.920 What matters is what is true.

00:08:05.740 And Christians who are supposed to love justice and mercy have to define justice as God defines

00:08:11.760 justice.

00:08:12.860 And one of the key qualities, qualifications of justice that we see throughout Scripture,

00:08:18.520 from the law giving to Israel all the way through the New Testament, is impartiality.

00:08:23.540 We don't show partiality to someone because they're rich, because they're poor, because

00:08:28.420 they're influential, because they have no influence, white or black, because we perceive that they

00:08:34.960 are on the side of the oppressed, or we perceive that they're on the side of the oppressor.

00:08:39.800 That is not the truthful, proportionate, and impartial justice that God doles out and that

00:08:46.120 he also calls us to.

00:08:47.960 That's the problem with toxic empathy, is that when we feel how someone feels so strongly,

00:08:55.840 we become blinded to both reality and morality, and we no longer are able to make right judgments.

00:09:04.520 We can't test objective reality, and therefore we can't actually be judicious in the things

00:09:10.980 that we say and the things that we decide.

00:09:12.620 I have an entire chapter dedicated to social justice.

00:09:16.860 It was one of the most difficult to write because I understand this is a tricky subject,

00:09:22.060 and there is some gray and some nuance in this conversation.

00:09:26.640 And yet, how many evangelicals approached the issue of race, approached the issue of justice

00:09:33.200 in 2020 was just flat out unbiblical, wrong, and I think damaging and maliciously divisive.

00:09:41.780 I'm not saying necessarily that every single person who said something like Ray Ortlund was

00:09:46.860 deliberately malicious, but there ended up being a lot of malintended actors, I would say,

00:09:57.220 who kind of exploited Christian compassion for their own personal political gain.

00:10:02.660 So the fifth lie that we dissect in toxic empathy is social justice is justice.

00:10:09.460 First is abortion is health care. 0.95

00:10:11.240 These are all lies. 0.68

00:10:12.500 Trans women are women. 0.90

00:10:13.420 Love is love.

00:10:14.120 No human is illegal.

00:10:15.420 And we take you through the gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching stories that would make you

00:10:20.280 believe that these statements are true, but then we zoom out and we say, what is the moral

00:10:25.140 and human cost on the other side of this calculation, on the other side of this problem?

00:10:31.820 And then we ask the most important question, not, okay, who gets us to feel a certain way,

00:10:37.460 but what is actually true, what is factually true, what is logically true, and what is biblically

00:10:42.300 true?

00:10:42.580 And we do it with all the most controversial subjects, and social justice is really the

00:10:48.060 one that I see tripping Christians up the most. 1.00

00:10:51.120 And as I explain in the book, I completely understand that because I've been there before.

00:10:56.100 So let's get into a little bit more about Ray Ortlund and his politics and kind of the

00:11:02.060 context of this.

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00:12:02.180 In April of 2021, Ray Ortlund said this, and this got a lot of blowback.

00:12:08.400 I rejoiced at the decline of Bible Belt religion. 1.00

00:12:10.700 It made bad people worse in the name of Jesus.

00:12:14.480 Now, may we actually believe in him so that our churches stand out with both the truth

00:12:19.400 of gospel doctrine and the beauty of gospel culture.

00:12:21.900 To that end, I gladly devote my life.

00:12:25.760 Now, here's the thing.

00:12:27.700 I mean, I agree in some ways that Christianity can thrive on the margins.

00:12:33.320 It can thrive in the darkness, just like a candle seems to shine brightly when it is dark.

00:12:38.600 But the goal of the candle is to illuminate, right?

00:12:42.060 And you want enough candles so that a room can be navigated clearly.

00:12:47.160 A space can be navigated so it's no longer dark and people are no longer fumbling around,

00:12:53.100 tripping over themselves, but they can actually see rightly.

00:12:56.120 And so the goal of Christianity is to infuse, one of the goals of Christianity is to infuse 0.94

00:13:04.340 goodness and rightness and truth and beauty in every space and sphere that we occupy.

00:13:11.240 Would it not be better if more people believed in God's ways?

00:13:16.000 Would it not be better if more people believed that God's truth is the best basis on which

00:13:23.480 we should build our lives?

00:13:25.500 And so the Bible Belt got its name because of the proliferation of churches, the availability

00:13:31.420 of the Bible, just kind of like the background Christian culture.

00:13:35.980 And yes, there are goods and bads to that.

00:13:38.920 I could see in some ways what he means that it can create or allow for nominal Christians

00:13:45.100 that you're just kind of someone who says they're a Christian because everyone is a Christian

00:13:48.980 and you never feel conviction to dig into your faith because it's convenient and comfortable,

00:13:53.600 whereas it's not convenient and comfortable to be a Christian in, say, Los Angeles.

00:13:58.200 And so for you to say you're a Christian, you have to really believe it. 1.00

00:14:01.820 I understand that.

00:14:03.300 But there are great benefits to having a generally Christian culture.

00:14:07.620 There are great benefits to our school system.

00:14:10.480 There's a great benefit to how we conduct our lives and the policies that we influence or

00:14:17.060 that we vote for, because if we believe God's ways are better, there's no way that we can

00:14:22.240 check that belief at the door before we vote, before we engage in culture.

00:14:27.960 It just doesn't make sense to believe that God is the creator and the authority over all

00:14:32.420 things.

00:14:32.820 But we only believe that in this compartment over there, and then we don't try to infuse that

00:14:38.240 reality into every space that we enter in every sphere that we occupy, including the public

00:14:45.100 school system, including our job, including our worldview and how we vote.

00:14:51.180 And if that's the case, like if we are champions of God's authority and his ways and his rightness,

00:14:57.420 then it should be seen as a good thing when the culture becomes more Christian.

00:15:02.560 There are great benefits to a generally Christian culture and how our country orders its lives

00:15:09.740 and orders its priorities and the laws that are passed that better protect children and

00:15:16.740 that don't incentivize things like homelessness and drug use and public sexual degeneracy, the

00:15:26.680 breakdown of the family, having a background of a Christian ethos, which in many ways the

00:15:33.280 Bible Belt does, is a great benefit to people no matter what your faith is.

00:15:39.480 And it's really only when you live in the Bible Belt that you can take that kind of thing 0.82

00:15:45.320 for granted and you can kind of say, oh no, I'm celebrating Christianity going to the margins. 0.95

00:15:50.860 You should never celebrate Christianity going to the margins. 0.92

00:15:53.800 Sure, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

00:15:57.080 God is going to protect his people, shepherd his flock well, and we will be able to preach

00:16:01.660 the gospel no matter what.

00:16:03.600 But you lose a lot when you lose the Christian worldview as the main, as the keystone of a

00:16:10.840 society.

00:16:11.500 You lose human rights.

00:16:13.380 Human rights is a distinctly Christian idea. 0.79

00:16:15.960 Charity is a distinctly Christian idea, at least at its foundations.

00:16:20.280 So when you lose Christianity, you lose all of that. 0.89

00:16:24.060 And I just don't think that people do a good enough job of connecting so much of what protects

00:16:30.640 the most vulnerable in the United States to our Christian culture and to our Christian

00:16:36.540 foundations.

00:16:37.140 And so I would just say he's wrong about that, but it makes a lot of sense that he would join

00:16:42.540 ranks with this organization called the After Party.

00:16:45.600 And you've heard about the After Party from Megan Basham.

00:16:50.060 She wrote the book Shepherds for Sale, and she talks about the history of the After Party.

00:16:56.500 It's an initiative of Redeeming Babel. 0.96

00:16:58.660 It's a nonprofit that says that they aim to address the underlying theological problems,

00:17:04.480 driving chaos and confusion in our current world.

00:17:10.240 And it basically has an approach that says, you know what, I'm neither Republican or Democrat,

00:17:17.160 but we are outside of that dichotomy, and we're going to be confusing to both sides, so

00:17:24.040 they say a lot of times.

00:17:26.760 And we're going to basically transcend party politics and talk about how Christians should

00:17:31.400 vote.

00:17:31.840 But I don't think it's a coincidence that virtually every person that seems to represent the After

00:17:36.640 Party hates Donald Trump and may tickle left, but definitely punches right.

00:17:43.220 And I think David French and Russell Moore are great examples of that.

00:17:47.600 In May of 2022, the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, very left-wing organization, announced

00:17:56.440 that the After Party would be one of the 32 beneficiaries of their new pluralist project, which was investing

00:18:02.260 $10 million to, quote-unquote, address divisive forces.

00:18:07.680 And this is what Megan Basham said.

00:18:09.260 By the way, Shepherds for Sale was a New York Times bestseller.

00:18:13.560 Go, girl. 0.85

00:18:14.540 She said, Ray Ortlund participating in an event with the After Party, a political Bible study

00:18:20.100 program exclusively funded by hard-left secular foundations that also promote abortion and

00:18:26.580 transgender treatments on kids.

00:18:27.820 She's not saying the After Party does, but where they're getting their funding from, the foundations

00:18:34.420 that support them do support those things, those issues.

00:18:40.000 She says, this is a curriculum that implies white conservative Christians lack sympathy and

00:18:44.800 sensitivity for others.

00:18:46.160 And one of its creators, David French, admitted in an interview that the After Party's purpose

00:18:50.340 is to take on MAGA.

00:18:51.940 Uh, she said, this is an incredibly political project designed to influence election outcomes,

00:18:58.420 which is why the secular left is funding it.

00:19:00.800 And she posted a screenshot of a picture of something the After Party says.

00:19:04.880 It says, wondering how you can shepherd your flock this election year.

00:19:08.860 Pastor Ray Ortlund has some thoughts.

00:19:10.640 And so he kind of falls in line with much of what the, um, the After Party said.

00:19:19.320 And again, that makes sense.

00:19:21.500 He was very supportive.

00:19:22.700 You look at his Instagram of Black Lives Matter and there, maybe he feels differently about Black

00:19:29.800 Lives Matter now.

00:19:31.880 Um, I think a lot of evangelical leaders do.

00:19:35.820 I think that they have realized just the ugly underbelly of Black Lives Matter ideology 1.00

00:19:41.300 and activism.

00:19:44.040 Um, I think that they realize that critical race theory wasn't just this boogeyman, but

00:19:49.580 that it actually is intertwined and even a lot of, uh, professing Christians ideas about

00:19:56.680 justice and race.

00:19:58.200 But I really wish more of them would be public about that and would say, you know, I got this

00:20:03.280 wrong and I caused a lot of unfair guilt among people with a lower melanin count and a lot

00:20:10.480 of unjustified resentment and grievance among people with a higher melanin count.

00:20:17.440 And I, you know, that was a betrayal of the biblical definitions of justice and, and gospel

00:20:23.600 unity.

00:20:24.540 Um, I'm not sure that we should be holding our breath on that, but I do wish that there

00:20:31.200 would be some pastors who supported BLM then who would stand up and say, you know, I, I

00:20:38.400 got that wrong.

00:20:39.180 And thankfully there are pastors who are bold.

00:20:41.720 We're going to get to those in just a second and who are extremely courageous and standing

00:20:46.140 up for what is right.

00:20:47.140 And I think guiding their flocks in a way that is, uh, extremely discerning and I think

00:20:53.040 very compassionate too.

00:20:54.600 But I've got one more thing to say about this, uh, this Ray Ortlund post.

00:20:59.520 And of course it's my actual response to what he said in just a second, but let me go ahead

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00:22:34.400 Okay.

00:22:35.000 So Ray Orland says that he is voting for Kamala Harris.

00:22:38.300 Let's think for a second about who Kamala Harris is.

00:22:40.900 And if you listen to my show, you know very well who Kamala Harris is.

00:22:44.720 She is a far-left, lawfare-waging foot soldier of the most radically progressive organizations

00:22:57.500 and billionaires in the world.

00:23:00.780 That's who she is.

00:23:01.760 That's who she's been.

00:23:03.380 Since she was in politics in California, I wish that were hyperbole. 0.98

00:23:08.440 I wish that weren't an accurate description of her.

00:23:12.500 But it is.

00:23:13.820 All you have to do is look at her history in her political career, and you can see that

00:23:19.680 she is a power-hungry, bloodthirsty woman who will stop at nothing to protect two things, 1.00

00:23:27.700 and that is abortion funded by the taxpayer through all nine months and institutionalized 0.93

00:23:34.560 sexual degeneracy and gender confusion.

00:23:37.540 That's who funds her.

00:23:40.160 That is what she probably personally, ideologically really believes, and that's what her political

00:23:45.640 history shows us.

00:23:47.220 If we go all the way back to when she was in her 20s, of course, she had an affair with

00:23:52.820 a married man who had three children, Willie Brown, to get into power.

00:23:58.920 And look, I know Trump's got his personal stuff too.

00:24:01.600 So I'm just trying to say that, look, she has her personal sexual past as well that 0.80

00:24:09.220 people seem to just brush over. 0.62

00:24:11.720 I hear a lot that, oh yeah, Trump's policies are fine, but his character is terrible.

00:24:16.240 And I hear Christians say this, and the left's policies might not be great, but at least their 0.99

00:24:20.300 personal integrity and character is better.

00:24:23.660 That's simply not true.

00:24:25.700 You've got two people whose pasts are riddled with all kinds of sexual scandals, all kinds

00:24:32.380 of blatant, well-documented immorality.

00:24:35.840 You've got Kamala Harris, who right now is married to a man who has just been accused, and we've

00:24:44.080 got corroborating witnesses who are substantiating these claims, has just been accused of abusing

00:24:50.360 his ex-girlfriend.

00:24:51.640 Of course, he got his children's nanny pregnant while he was married to his wife. 0.88

00:24:58.520 We don't know exactly what happened to that baby.

00:25:01.640 Apparently, there was some kind of mysterious miscarriage that went on there.

00:25:07.340 So we already have that in the White House with Vice President Harris and then her husband,

00:25:13.080 who would be, I guess, the first gentleman if she won.

00:25:17.000 And she has her own past that is riddled with absolute corruption and immorality.

00:25:23.880 When she was district attorney of San Francisco, when she was attorney general of California,

00:25:30.760 she went after people's constitutional rights if they either got in the way of funding. 0.94

00:25:37.380 So, for example, there is a story that was published a few years ago by the Huffington

00:25:42.080 Post about this poor mother that was punished, that was prosecuted because of Kamala Harris's 0.96

00:25:51.760 truancy policies, anti-truancy policies in the state of California.

00:25:57.160 Her poor daughter was stuck in the hospital because she had sickle cell anemia, and so she

00:26:02.400 missed many days of school.

00:26:04.320 But this mother, of course, tried to get an exception when it came to the attendance rules 1.00

00:26:10.240 at the school.

00:26:11.320 But because Kamala Harris found out that the state was losing like over a billion dollars 0.99

00:26:16.700 because parents weren't sending their kids to school faithfully enough, she cracked down

00:26:22.040 hard on what she saw as truancy, including on this poor mother who was just trying to take 0.97

00:26:29.020 care of her child.

00:26:29.920 And she is still, this mother is still dealing with the effects of being prosecuted because

00:26:35.360 she couldn't send her child to school while she was in the hospital dealing with the effects

00:26:40.940 of sickle cell anemia.

00:26:43.500 And so we'll put the link in the description.

00:26:46.980 That's who Kamala Harris is.

00:26:48.440 That's who she always has been.

00:26:51.220 Of course, she tried to force pregnancy centers in the state of California through the FACT Act 1.00

00:26:57.100 to advertise prominently for abortion.

00:27:00.620 The FACT Act was overturned because it was overturned by the Supreme Court because it's

00:27:05.820 such a clear violation of the First Amendment.

00:27:07.880 She tried to compel the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers, many of them led by Christians,

00:27:12.860 of course, to advertise for abortion and abortion clinics.

00:27:18.400 Thank the Lord for the Supreme Court.

00:27:20.080 Thank the Lord for the First Amendment, which Kamala Harris clearly doesn't care about. 1.00

00:27:23.540 She is the only attorney general that I know of, you can correct me if I'm wrong, to prosecute

00:27:29.240 a journalist.

00:27:30.280 A journalist, David Daleiden, pro-lifer, who went undercover investigating Planned Parenthood,

00:27:36.280 seems to have uncovered an alleged pay-for-play scheme where they were selling baby potty parts

00:27:41.760 for profit at Planned Parenthood.

00:27:43.620 Did Kamala Harris investigate Planned Parenthood just to see if there was any illegal activity? 1.00

00:27:49.220 No, she investigated David Daleiden.

00:27:51.520 Authorities raided his home on her order, and he is still, nine years later, dealing

00:27:56.720 with the repercussions of that.

00:27:58.500 He is still dealing with the lawfare.

00:28:00.580 That's who she is.

00:28:01.540 Of course, under the Harris-Biden administration, we have multiple pro-lifers who have been placed

00:28:06.820 in prison because of the obscure law that is very rarely actually executed.

00:28:12.320 It's very rarely implemented.

00:28:14.760 The consequences of violating these laws are very rarely implemented, and that is the FACE

00:28:20.800 Act.

00:28:22.140 And so under the Harris-Biden DOJ, there have been multiple pro-lifers, including 74-year-old

00:28:28.000 Joan Bell, imprisoned because they blocked an entrance to an abortion clinic.

00:28:32.440 Now, you know you live in a Romans 1 upside-down culture, a good-is-evil, evil-is-good culture 1.00

00:28:40.900 when abortion clinics have the full support of our government, are not investigated for

00:28:48.220 wrongdoing, are actually supported fully by the people in power, but those who are trying

00:28:54.180 to stop the vicious slaughter of babies are put in prison.

00:28:57.860 That is the country that we currently live in.

00:28:59.960 And I'm not painting you some future possible dystopian picture.

00:29:03.780 I am painting you the picture of what it is like right now for Christian pro-lifers who

00:29:10.520 take a stand under the Harris-Biden administration and under Harris's power in California.

00:29:16.720 I just don't see how voting for Harris just this time is what a Christian has to do to save

00:29:24.420 democracy.

00:29:25.040 Like, in what world is Kamala Harris a champion of democracy?

00:29:29.860 Because the only thing I see is her trampling upon people's First Amendment rights because 1.00

00:29:35.720 they don't support abortion.

00:29:38.060 Again, that is who she is. 0.71

00:29:39.700 Of course, she signed off on the Equality Act, which thankfully has not passed Congress,

00:29:44.460 but if it does pass Congress, she will be very quick to sign it.

00:29:46.980 The Equality Act tramples on your freedom as a Christian individual, certainly a Christian 0.98

00:29:52.620 business owner, certainly a Christian doctor or nurse, a Christian employee, a Christian

00:29:58.640 church, even a synagogue or even a mosque that has natural marriage definitions between a man

00:30:10.200 and a woman, the definition of gender as male and female. 0.71

00:30:14.160 The Equality Act violates your rights, your rights to exercise in accordance with your beliefs

00:30:22.380 about gender and marriage, to speak in a way that actually exemplifies what we believe about

00:30:32.780 male and female.

00:30:33.980 Well, I have seen no evidence whatsoever that Kamala Harris cares about the Constitution at

00:30:39.080 all.

00:30:40.080 And again, she voted against the Born Alive Infant Survivors Protection Act in 2019 that

00:30:44.780 just guaranteed babies who survived abortion a right to life.

00:30:47.620 She voted against that as the furthest left senator in the Senate. 0.93

00:30:51.460 You're telling me that Christians have an obligation to vote for that woman? 0.98

00:30:56.320 Because what?

00:30:57.760 Because of January 6th?

00:31:00.200 No.

00:31:00.640 You're going to have to make a better case.

00:31:02.880 You're going to have to make a more solid case than that.

00:31:06.460 I think there is a better case, even though I don't agree with this and I would never encourage

00:31:09.900 someone to do this, there's a much better case for not voting or voting third party or

00:31:13.980 voting for a right-in candidate than voting for Kamala Harris.

00:31:17.740 Now, again, I don't think that case is compelling enough.

00:31:21.020 You're still giving half your vote to Kamala Harris. 0.97

00:31:22.980 But I would say this, even if you are just voting against Kamala Harris, it is worth it.

00:31:31.280 For all of the reasons I listed in Moore, she's anti-fracking, which would be absolutely

00:31:36.080 devastating to our economy.

00:31:37.980 She has been in the White House for the past three and a half years.

00:31:42.120 She has overseen the economic policies that have exacerbated inflation so much, made it so

00:31:47.640 hard for us to live.

00:31:48.620 She is ideologically far left when it comes to immigration policy.

00:31:53.460 She has said many times over the years, as we have played on this podcast, that crossing

00:31:58.900 the border in itself is not a crime.

00:32:01.760 That means she doesn't believe in the deportation of illegal aliens.

00:32:06.100 And that is why Laken Riley, as one example, was murdered under her border czar watch.

00:32:13.780 She was also ahead of the border, in charge of the border of California in 2015 when Kate

00:32:21.820 Steinle was murdered by an illegal alien because she has always supported sanctuary city policies.

00:32:27.840 She has allowed this open borders chaos that has resulted in, for example, the raping of 1.00

00:32:34.080 children in Nantucket.

00:32:35.980 All of that is avoidable.

00:32:37.660 And all she had to do was enforce the law.

00:32:43.080 All she had to do was ensure that the law was enforced.

00:32:46.360 Instead, under her direction, we have seen the Biden administration remove any efforts,

00:32:52.440 any mitigation tactics, buoys, barbed wire that Texas has put in place.

00:32:58.660 And right now, under the Harris-Biden administration, the DOJ is suing states that are throwing non-citizens

00:33:07.760 off of their voter rolls.

00:33:10.000 One example is Virginia.

00:33:11.940 The Commonwealth of Virginia is actually sounding an alarm about this, that they are currently

00:33:16.700 getting sued by our Department of Justice under the direction of the Harris-Biden administration

00:33:22.540 for not allowing non-citizens to vote.

00:33:25.320 In Harris's state of California, it is now illegal to require a voter, or not just a voter

00:33:31.700 ID, but any photo ID to vote.

00:33:35.740 That is purposeful. 0.94

00:33:37.960 Kamala Harris hates you. 0.99

00:33:39.860 I mean, I don't know how else to interpret her actions and her policy history except to

00:33:44.660 say that she hates this country.

00:33:47.000 She doesn't care at all about our sovereignty.

00:33:49.600 She doesn't care at all about our borders. 0.93

00:33:52.000 She doesn't care at all about your rights as a citizen.

00:33:55.320 She cannot define woman.

00:33:58.200 She has voted for every measure to expand abortion through all nine months. 0.99

00:34:03.240 And even afterward, she is a liar. 1.00

00:34:07.580 She is corrupt to the core. 1.00

00:34:11.640 And I just hear so, I hear so many pastors, many of them well-meaning. 0.93

00:34:17.060 And these are like pastors that would say that they're conservative.

00:34:20.560 Say, you know, both sides are imperfect.

00:34:25.060 Yeah, this side over here on the left, they've got really bad policies.

00:34:29.860 But, you know, Trump personally is just, just stop.

00:34:34.260 Just stop.

00:34:35.940 Okay?

00:34:36.520 They're not the same.

00:34:38.160 It is not your obligation as a pastor to say both sides are bad.

00:34:43.960 Okay?

00:34:45.940 Your responsibility as a pastor is to properly exegete the word of God, to, you know, shepherd

00:34:52.340 your flock well, all of those things.

00:34:54.320 You know that.

00:34:55.180 But it's also to tell the truth.

00:34:57.420 It's to tell the truth.

00:34:58.300 And I'm not saying that a pastor has to explicitly endorse a candidate.

00:35:02.200 I'm not saying that you have to shape your sermons based on the news cycle.

00:35:08.820 I'm not saying that.

00:35:09.760 I don't expect a pastor to talk about politics as much as a political commentator does or

00:35:14.680 as much as I do.

00:35:16.260 But I do expect you to preach the word of God and what scripture says on the issues that

00:35:21.380 are on the ballot.

00:35:23.560 Because for us, these are theological issues.

00:35:26.340 Abortion, gender, marriage, even justice, even to an extent, immigration.

00:35:31.420 These are biblical issues.

00:35:33.440 Immigration in the sense that God is a God of order. 0.61

00:35:37.000 He gave us nations.

00:35:37.920 He gave us governments.

00:35:38.740 He gave us laws.

00:35:39.740 He gave us cultures.

00:35:41.160 We have languages, all of these things, for order, for goodness, in the same way that

00:35:45.520 we have marriage.

00:35:46.220 We have the definition of gender.

00:35:48.560 We have human rights that flow from the idea that we are made in the image of God.

00:35:52.800 All of these things are for human flourishing.

00:35:54.860 They are gifts of common grace that Christians have to steward.

00:36:00.160 We have to represent them.

00:36:01.840 We have to champion them.

00:36:02.840 We have to be ambassadors of these things because we love our neighbors.

00:36:06.860 So, no, I am not going to vote for the candidate that believes in unmitigated abortion through

00:36:12.320 all nine months.

00:36:13.120 And, yes, Republicans are not where I want them to be on that.

00:36:15.800 But I also don't have to, like, shut my brain down and convince myself that both sides are

00:36:20.720 the same on abortion just because Republicans aren't as pro-life as I want them to be.

00:36:25.200 The two sides are not the same.

00:36:27.120 One side is worse. 0.51

00:36:28.040 And, no, it's not just Democrats have bad policies, but Donald Trump is really bad as 0.98

00:36:32.880 a person.

00:36:33.540 They both have really bad pasts.

00:36:35.520 But you know what?

00:36:36.520 Donald Trump has children and grandchildren that love him and admire him very much.

00:36:41.100 If I want to look at, okay, whose life looks more orderly and looks more like what God intended

00:36:50.320 when you look at their family setup, when you look at the legacy that they're leaving, it's

00:36:57.460 not really a complicated answer.

00:37:00.060 It's pretty obvious.

00:37:02.300 Her life, her politics are characterized by disorder, by chaos.

00:37:08.500 Chaos and lawlessness, according to scripture, is bad.

00:37:12.220 So I think that we should be voting for the candidate whose set of policies best mitigates

00:37:20.340 evil, best protects the vulnerable, best creates order and peace, and it's not even close.

00:37:27.760 It's the Republican Party.

00:37:30.300 Pastors, it is not godly to say both sides are bad and leave it at that.

00:37:35.860 You can say that.

00:37:37.260 It's true that neither side is salvific.

00:37:40.040 That is absolutely true.

00:37:41.460 But every election is a choice between the lesser of two evils.

00:37:46.440 It always has been.

00:37:48.020 And Republicans and their candidates have almost always been too pro-choice, okay?

00:37:53.040 And everyone has a past that is sorted to some degree.

00:37:58.620 Trump and Kamala, maybe more than others.

00:38:01.660 But let's speak very clearly about the policies that are very clearly theological.

00:38:07.200 And I'm just asking you to help your congregants clearly navigate those.

00:38:14.420 Because if not, they're going to go somewhere, okay?

00:38:17.720 I know that pastors think, well, I'm just going to preach the Bible and avoid the political

00:38:22.800 topics and hope that my audience can deduce that.

00:38:26.120 They're listening to podcasts, they're going on TikTok, they're going on Instagram.

00:38:32.260 But if you want to help shape your congregation's worldview, which I think that you should, then

00:38:37.000 you need to be really clear on abortion, on gender, on marriage, on justice, on these issues

00:38:43.480 that the Bible is really, really clear on.

00:38:46.140 And thankfully, there are some pastors that are being really clear about that, and I'm

00:38:50.060 so grateful for that.

00:38:51.220 So I'm going to highlight them because I love highlighting courage in just one second.

00:38:55.360 But let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor.

00:38:57.560 And speaking of courage, y'all, I absolutely love this organization.

00:39:01.200 It's First Liberty.

00:39:03.760 And right now, the future of the Supreme Court is on the ballot.

00:39:07.080 We have heard progressive activists, we've heard progressive politicians say that they want

00:39:12.120 to pack the Supreme Court.

00:39:13.180 That means expanding the Supreme Court, filling it with left-wing activists, because they don't

00:39:18.200 like the check and balance of the Supreme Court.

00:39:20.220 They believe every branch of government and every bureaucrat and ultimately every person

00:39:25.360 in the populace has to agree with them.

00:39:27.120 These are the people that claim to be the guardians of democracy.

00:39:31.120 Even President Biden has gotten into the act by making, reforming the court one of his final

00:39:37.280 priorities before he leaves office.

00:39:39.340 But it obviously does not need to be reformed.

00:39:42.520 At First Liberty, they call this assault on the court what it really is, a Supreme Court

00:39:47.700 coup.

00:39:48.840 And that's why they're sounding the alarm about this.

00:39:51.540 First Liberty protects their clients' First Amendment rights, and they are so good at it.

00:39:58.380 They protected those who didn't want to get the vaccine because of religious reasons.

00:40:03.200 They protect your First Amendment rights.

00:40:05.740 And they are championing the constitutional rights of the people who need it most.

00:40:11.600 So go to SupremeCoup.com slash Stuckey to see how you can help stop the radical lefts take

00:40:18.680 over the Supreme Court.

00:40:19.800 That's SupremeCoup.com slash Stuckey.

00:40:24.920 SupremeCoup.com slash Stuckey.

00:40:26.780 Also, one more thing on that, because I forgot I put this tweet out that made a lot of people

00:40:35.100 mad, a lot of so-called progressive Christians mad, because I said, you know, the least of 0.79

00:40:42.920 these people say that they're voting Democrat to protect the least of these.

00:40:46.820 And that, of course, is a reference to Matthew when Jesus says, you know, whoever serves the 0.89

00:40:57.100 least of these, whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me.

00:41:02.980 And that is very, it's a very misinterpreted passage.

00:41:07.720 And it's taken to mean by many people, the poor in general, that the least of these is the

00:41:14.580 world's poor, and people justify that to vote Democrat.

00:41:17.900 Well, first of all, even if that is what least of these was referring to, voting Democrat

00:41:24.280 doesn't help the poor.

00:41:26.280 Unconditional welfare doesn't help the poor.

00:41:29.980 Show me how Democrats have helped the poor, not how they've intended to help the poor, but

00:41:34.360 how they have consequentially helped the poor.

00:41:38.520 Show me that.

00:41:40.040 A lot of people vote Democrat based on the stated intentions of the Democrat Party, which

00:41:44.480 is to care for the poor and the marginalized.

00:41:46.820 But show me the outcomes.

00:41:47.880 You don't get to judge a policy by its stated intentions.

00:41:50.620 You judge a policy by its outcomes.

00:41:53.660 And the outcomes of progressive policy are chaos.

00:41:56.460 They're craziness.

00:41:58.020 But that's actually not what the passage means.

00:42:00.820 The passage is actually talking specifically about persecuted and suffering Christians.

00:42:08.020 I said this on Acts, and people got really mad.

00:42:10.760 People were like, oh my God, the worst interpretation ever.

00:42:13.720 And I think that it is really interesting how almost everyone who said that has pronouns in

00:42:19.560 their profile.

00:42:20.560 So you think that I'm interpreting Matthew 25 incorrectly, but you couldn't even interpret

00:42:30.320 Genesis 127 correctly.

00:42:32.560 Like that's in the first chapter, y'all.

00:42:34.560 First chapter of the first book of the Bible.

00:42:36.440 And you think that stating your pronouns as if gender is something to be declared rather

00:42:41.660 than something that is just biologically observed.

00:42:44.680 You think that you have the authority to criticize my interpretation of the passage.

00:42:50.160 But I happen to be right about this.

00:42:51.900 That it's, and it's not me.

00:42:53.900 Of course, I didn't come up with this interpretation on my own.

00:42:57.360 This is a very mainstream interpretation that least of these is primarily speaking at least

00:43:03.780 of persecuted and suffering and suffering Christians.

00:43:09.300 And so it would be much more accurate to say that Jack Phillips is a part of the least

00:43:14.560 of these, that Lori Smith is a part of the least of these.

00:43:17.380 These are Christians who decided not to violate their sincerely held beliefs about the definition

00:43:24.180 of gender and marriage when it came to the products that they would create.

00:43:28.540 And progressive activists, in Jack Phillips's case, an attorney, waged lawfare against them.

00:43:35.840 And for Jack Phillips, it has been over a decade with Alliance Defending Freedom supporting him

00:43:42.080 and defending him all the way up to the Supreme Court.

00:43:44.460 But every time they would win, another activist would try to sue him.

00:43:48.660 But thankfully, the Colorado court vote, or they decided in his favor.

00:43:54.500 And so that battle is done.

00:43:55.920 But he has sacrificed a lot standing up for his faith.

00:43:59.860 I mean, the guy wouldn't even make Halloween cakes.

00:44:02.600 These are sincerely held beliefs.

00:44:04.100 But because the left genuinely, in general, does not care about the First Amendment, does

00:44:09.280 not care about any freedom other than abortion and sexual immorality, they tried to 0.94

00:44:14.380 ruin his life.

00:44:15.620 Jack Phillips is much more the least of these than the world's poor is, because that's not

00:44:22.840 who Jesus is referring to.

00:44:25.260 And I said that, and I actually had never read, before I tweeted that, about Jack Phillips.

00:44:29.920 I never read Denny Burke's article on this, and I'll link it in the description.

00:44:34.700 But Denny Burke made that exact argument several years ago, not only just about the least of these

00:44:41.120 an interpretation, which I'll get into, but that Jack Phillips is actually a better example of that.

00:44:45.720 And so he was way ahead of me on that.

00:44:47.840 But here's how he argues it in his article.

00:44:51.780 He says,

00:44:52.040 Matthew 25, 40 is not talking generically about our obligation to care for the poor and needy.

00:44:56.600 We know this because the terms least of these and my brothers appear elsewhere in Matthew's

00:45:01.020 gospel.

00:45:01.760 And in each case, the terms specifically refer to Jesus's disciples who have been sent out

00:45:06.780 into the world to preach the gospel.

00:45:08.880 For example, do you remember what Jesus said when his mother and brothers came to visit him?

00:45:13.880 Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

00:45:15.720 And stretching out his hand towards his disciples, he said,

00:45:17.940 Behold, my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven,

00:45:22.200 he is my brother and sister and mother.

00:45:25.740 There's a lot that we could unpack there, but we'll keep going.

00:45:29.060 In this text, brothers is not a generic description of people created in the image of God.

00:45:33.700 Jesus reserves the term brothers for those who are his disciples,

00:45:37.560 those who believe and obey his word.

00:45:39.580 And what are these brothers doing?

00:45:40.980 They're preaching Jesus's message.

00:45:42.880 In Matthew 10, 7, Jesus sends his disciples out to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.

00:45:48.420 They are supposed to preach from house to house.

00:45:51.460 They are supposed to give a greeting of peace to anyone who receives them.

00:45:56.120 People who, when people receive Jesus's messengers, it's a sign that they are receiving Jesus's

00:46:01.420 message.

00:46:03.060 He who receives you receives me, Jesus says, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.

00:46:09.880 And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold

00:46:15.660 water to drink, so truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

00:46:20.640 This is the same phrase as the least of these.

00:46:25.080 And so when Jesus is talking in Matthew 25, when he says the least of these, my brothers,

00:46:30.720 he is actually talking about Christians, his followers who are suffering.

00:46:36.600 Now, Christians are to care for the poor. 1.00

00:46:38.760 However, the Bible does give us direction on that, but here's where the left really gets

00:46:46.600 it wrong.

00:46:47.160 And this is another example of toxic empathy.

00:46:51.380 Though we are supposed to care for the poor, that's Galatians 2.10, we are not supposed to

00:46:57.640 outsource our compassion to the government.

00:47:00.480 So voting Democrat in the name of helping the poor is not altruistic.

00:47:05.260 You will literally go to jail if you don't pay taxes.

00:47:08.080 That's not a cheerful giver.

00:47:10.300 We are called to give not under compulsion, but through a generous and happy heart.

00:47:14.920 That's 2 Corinthians 9.7.

00:47:16.800 That doesn't mean we don't pay taxes.

00:47:18.860 That doesn't mean that you can't vote for someone who vows to channel our taxes towards

00:47:25.240 something that you believe in.

00:47:27.160 There is a role of the government, but that doesn't get to count as your charity.

00:47:32.320 That doesn't get to count as your compassion.

00:47:34.140 That doesn't count as you serving the poor.

00:47:35.820 The early church is not a picture of communism because communism is forced.

00:47:42.280 It is forcing you to give up your stuff or else you die.

00:47:45.660 The early church gave each other what they needed out of generosity and a compelling of

00:47:51.760 the Holy Spirit.

00:47:52.960 And these are the same people, by the way, who say, oh, we need to vote Democrat to care

00:47:56.860 for the least of these who say you can't use a Bible verse to justify your vote because

00:48:03.000 that's Christian nationalism.

00:48:04.560 Which one is it?

00:48:06.100 The truth is that Christian nationalism is a manipulation tactic to get you and you only 0.96

00:48:11.400 conservative Christian to compartmentalize your faith before you vote.

00:48:17.040 Everyone has a worldview.

00:48:18.340 A worldview, by definition, is all-encompassing.

00:48:21.880 The progressive so-called Christian, the progressive atheist, the Muslim, any kind of person is bringing

00:48:30.560 the entirety of their belief system into the voting booth.

00:48:34.100 And that's okay.

00:48:34.960 May the best idea win.

00:48:37.200 But Christians, you are obligated to do that as well. 0.98

00:48:40.040 And some pastors really understand that.

00:48:42.640 And I saw two pastors over the past couple weeks give sermons that I saw circulating on

00:48:49.160 Instagram that were just so strong and so clear on this subject.

00:48:54.900 First, I saw Johnny Ardavanis.

00:48:57.280 I think that's how you pronounce his name.

00:48:59.200 Sorry if I got that wrong.

00:49:00.720 From Stonebridge Bible Church.

00:49:02.760 This is in Franklin, Tennessee.

00:49:05.080 And he gave an awesome sermon.

00:49:08.060 And I wish I could play the whole thing, but I'm just going to play part of it.

00:49:12.120 And he just, he appears to be so humble and so kind, but tells it exactly like it is.

00:49:18.620 Here's that one.

00:49:20.060 I'm not a political commentator.

00:49:22.380 I am a preacher of the Bible, but certain things politically are more theological than

00:49:27.040 they used to be. 0.98

00:49:28.080 The Democratic Party is a demonic death cult under the power and influence of Satan. 0.91

00:49:33.340 To vote for the Democrats is to vote for a platform that is building their platform upon 0.99

00:49:39.640 everything God hates.

00:49:40.760 The mutilation of bodies, the annihilation of babies in the womb, and the sexualization 0.98

00:49:46.860 of your children. 0.96

00:49:48.060 That is their calling card.

00:49:49.540 That is what they want to do.

00:49:51.260 They don't hide that.

00:49:52.700 They have abortion facilities outside of the Democratic Convention.

00:49:56.140 This is who they are.

00:49:57.040 It's the most radical party in our country's history.

00:50:00.260 So I don't see how you could be a Christian and vote for a party who promotes everything 1.00

00:50:06.620 that God hates.

00:50:08.240 I love it, Pastor Johnny.

00:50:09.860 I thought that that was so good.

00:50:11.860 He said this, and I thought that this was a very great point, a good way to say it.

00:50:15.640 He said,

00:50:16.040 You have a responsibility as a Christian to vote for the option that best stems the tide 0.51

00:50:21.660 of evil.

00:50:22.300 Both candidates are broken people, but one of them presents a far better option of the

00:50:28.060 preservation of life and the upholding of the family than the other.

00:50:31.540 A failure to vote is a failure to obey the calling we have to uphold righteousness in our

00:50:38.140 land.

00:50:38.820 That is awesome.

00:50:40.020 And we are going to have Pastor Johnny on as soon as we can.

00:50:44.520 I will just give a shout out to his book because I don't know when he's going to be able to come

00:50:48.480 on, but I do know that his book came out this week and it's called Consider the Lilies and it's

00:50:54.540 about having peace in Christ.

00:50:57.060 And so go out and get that book.

00:50:58.760 We can put the description in this episode, but I hope to have him on soon because I love

00:51:04.420 courage and I love showcasing courage.

00:51:08.420 I love sharing courage because courage is contagious.

00:51:11.220 Courage begets courage.

00:51:13.020 And he might not feel that he's being courageous.

00:51:15.480 He might just feel that he is being faithful.

00:51:18.440 And he is.

00:51:19.780 And I'm thankful for that.

00:51:21.580 That is a blessing to his congregation.

00:51:24.060 Clarity is a blessing to the flock, is a blessing to the congregation.

00:51:29.420 And I do know at least his family are in their relatable audience because I've gotten a lot

00:51:36.900 of messages from all of you.

00:51:38.040 I don't know if Pastor Johnny listens to Relatable, but I do know his family does.

00:51:42.180 And I'm very grateful for that.

00:51:43.840 And then we've got this awesome sermon from Josh Howerton.

00:51:46.980 He is the pastor of Lake Point Church, which is outside of Dallas.

00:51:52.300 And I watched this whole sermon and it was so good.

00:51:56.200 It was so well organized.

00:51:57.640 I mean, the guy is so incredibly incisive and articulate.

00:52:03.840 And he says this, he says this before I play you the first clip.

00:52:07.380 He said, it is not biblical for pastors to not talk about politics.

00:52:10.900 If the church won't disciple people, the world will.

00:52:15.980 Hmm.

00:52:16.480 So good.

00:52:17.080 Okay, here's a clip of his sermon.

00:52:20.380 Here's that too.

00:52:20.860 A vote is not a valentine.

00:52:24.080 In the book of 1 Samuel, the Lord said to Samuel,

00:52:26.540 do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

00:52:30.160 People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

00:52:34.800 Mature Christians do not vote on superficial things.

00:52:38.260 They don't vote on vibes.

00:52:39.500 They don't vote on looks.

00:52:40.660 We shouldn't vote on, he's got the same skin color as me,

00:52:43.380 or she'd be the first woman president, or I've always wanted an orange leader. 0.56

00:52:46.860 Some people right now, they're looking at the candidates and they're going,

00:52:49.220 oh, I don't like their personality.

00:52:51.220 Hey, listen, hey guys, personalities come and go.

00:52:54.340 Policies last a long time.

00:52:56.680 That is absolutely right.

00:52:57.880 And that last point I thought was one of the best points that he made in the sermon.

00:53:02.560 And you might say, well, it's not just personality with Trump,

00:53:05.060 like it's character, it's all of these things.

00:53:07.520 But again, I would say the person of Trump will fade away,

00:53:12.180 but policies last a really long time.

00:53:15.740 And we're talking about very consequential policies.

00:53:18.000 We're not talking about just some slight disagreements on tax policy.

00:53:22.760 We're talking about whether or not you think pro-lifers should go to jail

00:53:25.920 for trying to rescue babies that are being slaughtered.

00:53:29.560 Like we're talking about that kind of thing.

00:53:31.140 We're talking about if you believe in the existence of the Supreme Court

00:53:35.080 as a check and balance on power, do you believe in the First Amendment?

00:53:38.120 Like that's what we're talking about here.

00:53:40.340 He makes a similar point to Pastor Johnny.

00:53:44.120 He says, we are obligated to vote for the best available path forward.

00:53:51.920 And we should ask this question, whose policies are most likely to slow societal decay?

00:54:00.240 And he doesn't say this, but I will.

00:54:02.840 It's Republicans.

00:54:04.000 It's Republicans.

00:54:05.040 I thought that he was also extremely clear on illegal immigration.

00:54:11.380 Now, he makes his caveats, not really caveats,

00:54:15.100 just explains that there are many immigrants in his church that he loves.

00:54:20.720 This is not an anti-immigrant argument.

00:54:25.120 This is a pro-order, pro-lawfulness, pro-peace, pro-sovereignty, pro-citizenship argument.

00:54:33.840 Here's top three.

00:54:35.420 Of the illegal immigrants in the United States right now,

00:54:39.000 425,000 of them are known to have criminal records.

00:54:45.040 16,000 of them entered our nation as convicted rapists.

00:54:51.320 13,000 of them entered our nation as convicted murderers.

00:54:57.080 I just have to ask this question.

00:54:58.780 Where was the borders are?

00:55:00.840 Where was the borders are?

00:55:01.880 So you need to ask yourself the question.

00:55:04.240 You do.

00:55:05.100 You need to ask yourself the question, which candidate will best protect our national security?

00:55:13.160 Very good.

00:55:14.060 Very good.

00:55:14.680 He also speaks on abortion.

00:55:16.420 And he's not blind to the problems with Republicans.

00:55:20.420 He says Republicans now think abortion should be safe, legal, and rare, which I think is unfortunate.

00:55:24.760 And he says, and Democrats think it should be celebrated.

00:55:30.140 Kamala Harris will not name a single restriction for abortion.

00:55:32.760 So he says we should ask which candidate will best limit the taking of unborn lives.

00:55:38.300 Just because both sides have not good stances on abortion doesn't mean that both sides have the same stance on abortion.

00:55:48.980 And let's not pretend there's no moral daylight between the two stances.

00:55:52.260 And so he did a really good job.

00:55:53.840 We're also going to have Pastor Josh on the podcast because, again, I like to platform courage.

00:56:00.040 And I like to reward courage, not that my podcast is a reward, but I know that when these pastors come on, that you guys are going to share the arrows with them.

00:56:11.980 Because you know they're also getting a lot of hate for this, right?

00:56:14.320 Like, you know the evil and the cruelty that is in their messages, the messages that are being sent to their families.

00:56:20.400 Even sometimes they may get protesters, and so they need your prayer.

00:56:25.220 These pastors need your prayer.

00:56:26.380 Not just these pastors, because these are just a few pastors, a couple pastors of the many, many, many that are being clear and courageous.

00:56:33.780 They need your prayers.

00:56:34.720 They need your support.

00:56:35.840 They need your encouragement.

00:56:36.920 They need us to share the arrows as the body of Christ to say, yes, Pastor, we want that clarity and courage.

00:56:42.160 Thank you so much.

00:56:43.500 Because pastors are people.

00:56:45.560 And I'm not saying that all pastors are people pleasers.

00:56:48.400 Pleasers, of course, they're supposed to be pleasing God, but all of us benefit from being edified and encouraged.

00:56:55.040 So when your pastor says something that is clear and bold, make sure that they know that you notice it, that you appreciate it.

00:57:03.860 All right, we've just got one more quick thing to talk about, but let me tell you about our last sponsor for the day.

00:57:07.820 It's America's Christian Credit Union.

00:57:10.120 This is a financial institution that was founded by pastors for the benefit of its members.

00:57:14.860 A financial institution that actually agrees with us, that aligns with our values, is a very precarious situation when more institutions that used to be neutral are now political and not on the same side that we are.

00:57:28.860 And so you worry about the company that is handling your earthly treasure being against everything you believe in and possibly punishing you or no longer doing business with you because of the values you hold dear.

00:57:42.600 You don't want to have to worry about that.

00:57:44.500 So switch to America's Christian Credit Union.

00:57:47.580 They have 5,000 shared branches, 30,000 ATMs nationwide.

00:57:52.380 Right now, you can earn $400 when you open a new checking account with qualifying activities.

00:57:56.540 Plus, my listeners get an additional $100 bonus with the code ALI at checkout.

00:58:01.260 Go to americaschristiancu.com slash ALI.

00:58:04.160 America's Christian Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA.

00:58:07.160 Alright, I saw this crazy study from Barna.

00:58:17.040 I love Barna.

00:58:18.360 And Dr. George Barna, he's been on the show before.

00:58:20.700 He has a team at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, and they just released a study on October 10th showing that as many as 104 million people of faith, including 32 million self-identified Christians who regularly attend church.

00:58:37.420 Okay, so we're not even just talking about the nominal Christians who maybe like they grew up in the church, but they're not affiliated anymore.

00:58:44.580 We're talking about Christians who regularly go to church, are unlikely to vote in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, mainly due to lack of interest.

00:58:53.800 Here are some takeaways by the president of Arizona Christian University.

00:58:59.520 One, Christians could be the deciding factor in a bunch of federal and state races and are choosing not to be. 0.93

00:59:06.880 Two, they are longing for their local church to instruct them on how to think biblically about policy and politics.

00:59:16.320 Researchers found that voter enthusiasm in 2024 is significantly lower than what it was in 2020.

00:59:21.540 The research asked people who indicated they were not likely to vote to explain the reasons for that choice.

00:59:28.060 The most common reason, offered by 68%, was a lack of interest in politics and elections.

00:59:34.800 Over 57% of the respondents in the study said they dislike all the major candidates, while 55% felt none of the candidates reflect their most important views.

00:59:47.300 Researchers believe that if the findings hold true up to election day, former President Donald Trump's re-election is less likely.

00:59:53.620 And Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is more likely to come away victorious.

01:00:01.080 Which I'm sorry, but Satan is happy about that.

01:00:04.840 Okay?

01:00:05.780 Kamala Harris' policies are evil. 0.99

01:00:08.300 They will enable and exacerbate evil at a far greater rate than Donald Trump's will.

01:00:13.740 Well, Satan loves unmitigated abortion. 1.00

01:00:17.420 He loves rewarding the most evil actors in the world, the terroristic regimes that the Harris-Biden administration has helped fund and empower during its tenure.

01:00:31.180 He loves the chaos and the trafficking that goes on because of open border policies.

01:00:38.000 He loves the lawlessness that is allowed by the progressive prosecutors and judges and the policies that are pushed by the Democrat Party.

01:00:49.140 He loves the open drug use, the incentivized homelessness and mass poverty.

01:00:56.980 He loves the lack of safety and security because he is an author of chaos and anarchy and moral degeneracy.

01:01:07.240 And he loves child sacrifice and gender confusion. 0.71

01:01:10.820 All of these things he has been using since the beginning to come after the Imago Dei.

01:01:16.560 And so, of course, he loves the candidates whose policies will best represent that.

01:01:22.640 Don't sit out, Christian.

01:01:24.820 Don't sit out.

01:01:25.680 Your lack of interest is not a good justification for a lack of stewardship, of the citizenship that God has providentially given you.

01:01:35.920 What do we always say?

01:01:37.760 Take this to the bank.

01:01:40.120 Politics matter because policy matters because people matter.

01:01:44.520 Politics affects policy.

01:01:46.060 Policy affects people.

01:01:47.360 People matter.

01:01:48.040 People matter to God, so they should matter to us.

01:01:50.620 One way to love your neighbor.

01:01:52.900 It's not the only way.

01:01:54.060 It might not even be the primary way.

01:01:56.480 But one important way to love your neighbor is to vote.

01:02:00.920 Is to advocate for policies that will best encourage their flourishing, their safety, and their protection.

01:02:10.660 That will best align with God's created order.

01:02:14.580 Will best align with Genesis 127.

01:02:17.300 At the very least, vote against Kamala Harris.

01:02:22.740 If you've got to hold your nose to vote Donald Trump, do it.

01:02:26.380 The future of the country that God has providentially placed you in depends on that.

01:02:31.880 All right.

01:02:32.720 Go out and get my book, Toxic Empathy.

01:02:34.540 It's out tomorrow.

01:02:35.380 We'll be talking a lot about it this week.

01:02:36.960 I'm super excited about it.

01:02:38.520 If you feel like, wow, I don't really know what's going on in politics and culture right now.

01:02:42.800 I don't have the arguments.

01:02:44.000 I don't feel confident to defend my position.

01:02:46.840 I start tripping over my words, and I'm not able to come up with the facts and the arguments that I want to when I'm in conversations with friends.

01:02:55.080 You need this book.

01:02:55.900 It's specifically for the Christian woman, but it's really for anyone.

01:02:59.640 Toxic Empathy.

01:03:00.440 You can go to ToxicEmpathy.com, but we will link the Amazon link.

01:03:03.560 You can get it easily there.

01:03:05.120 Really encourage you to get this before the election.

01:03:07.920 All right.

01:03:08.320 We'll be back here tomorrow.

01:03:09.220 We'll be back here tomorrow.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - October 14, 2024

Ep 1082 ｜ Pastors Invoke Toxic Empathy to Endorse Harris

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