Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas recently expressed his Christian charity, as he put it, by calling “Never Trump” evangelicals “morons.”
In the world Jeffress inhabits, that Donald J. Trump is president of the United States is a divinely ordained good in the cosmic battle with evil. Trump is more friendly to people of faith than any president before him, he is pro-life, and he is protecting the citizens of the US from the evil hordes of criminals invading our southern border.
These are not political talking points for Jeffress. They are deeply held beliefs. He isn’t simply tolerating Trump. He believes Trump is on the right side not only of history but of divine providence. Trump, for Jeffress, is one of the good guys, a white-hat wearing hero of the morality play that Jeffress understands as ultimate reality.
Trump is anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion, anti-climate change – well, you get the point. So is Jeffress, and Jeffress is a Christian who speaks for God. He’s certain of that. Trump believes what Jeffress believes, thus, Trump is a good guy. That’s the Jeffressian logic in play here.
For Jeffress, the gospel is about a narrow way that accommodates only certain people. His Bible tells him so. In terms of Mark’s Gospel, where there is so much about who is “in” and who is “out,” Jeffress is sure he’s “in “and that those unlike him are “out.” And the only way “in” is to convert to his version of “in.” Jeffress is certain about this, because he reads his Bible, and the Bible has no errors, and that’s that. So immigrants, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, queer, along with refugees and people of other faiths, especially Muslims, are “out” and must be kept out because they can only come “in” on Jeffress’s terms. This is so for his church, and it’s so for his nation, because, after all, the US is a Christian Nation (David Barton told him so).
For Jeffress, abortion is the defining issue of the Christian politic. It is the singular issue that defines whether you are “us” or “them.” A Christian who doesn’t agree with Jeffress on abortion, to him, likely isn’t a Christian at all, or at least is such a confused Christian that they are in desperate need of correction and discipline. So, in the world of Jeffress, these “Christians” are actually “out” until they get religion on abortion, while Donald Trump is “in.”
(Note that Jeffress isn’t so much a proponent of life issues beyond abortion. The issue is abortion, because unborn children are the most vulnerable. They can’t defend themselves, so we must defend them. As for the already born, they may as well be damned.)
If you are a Christian, and you don’t agree with Jeffress about these matters, you are a moron. That’s Jeffress, in his own words, being as charitable as he can be.
We have noted before that one of us once had lunch with Mr Jeffress. It was a gathering of about ten Southern Baptist leaders. At the time we were struck by the sheer ignorance displayed by Jeffress – biblically, theologically, and politically. We made a mental note of Jeffress as an example of the apostle Paul’s description of certain Corinthians as among the idiotes, the unlearned folk who, because of their ignorance and self-absorption, created problems for the church. That was about twenty years ago. It seems little has changed.
Robert Jeffress, a pastor who has responsibility for thousands of congregants, seems to have settled into his ignorance. Comfortably so. Firmly so. That is lamentable for his congregation and, because his voice is among the loudest claiming to be Christian, it is lamentable for our nation.
A central point of the Gospel of Mark, by the way, is that Jesus is on the outs with those so certain they are in, while showing those who think they’re in that they may well be on the outs, while of course welcoming (not condemning) those who are by all accounts “out” to enter into His kingdom.
In the world Jeffress inhabits, that Donald J. Trump is president of the United States is a divinely ordained good in the cosmic battle with evil. Trump is more friendly to people of faith than any president before him, he is pro-life, and he is protecting the citizens of the US from the evil hordes of criminals invading our southern border.
These are not political talking points for Jeffress. They are deeply held beliefs. He isn’t simply tolerating Trump. He believes Trump is on the right side not only of history but of divine providence. Trump, for Jeffress, is one of the good guys, a white-hat wearing hero of the morality play that Jeffress understands as ultimate reality.
Trump is anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion, anti-climate change – well, you get the point. So is Jeffress, and Jeffress is a Christian who speaks for God. He’s certain of that. Trump believes what Jeffress believes, thus, Trump is a good guy. That’s the Jeffressian logic in play here.
For Jeffress, the gospel is about a narrow way that accommodates only certain people. His Bible tells him so. In terms of Mark’s Gospel, where there is so much about who is “in” and who is “out,” Jeffress is sure he’s “in “and that those unlike him are “out.” And the only way “in” is to convert to his version of “in.” Jeffress is certain about this, because he reads his Bible, and the Bible has no errors, and that’s that. So immigrants, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, queer, along with refugees and people of other faiths, especially Muslims, are “out” and must be kept out because they can only come “in” on Jeffress’s terms. This is so for his church, and it’s so for his nation, because, after all, the US is a Christian Nation (David Barton told him so).
For Jeffress, abortion is the defining issue of the Christian politic. It is the singular issue that defines whether you are “us” or “them.” A Christian who doesn’t agree with Jeffress on abortion, to him, likely isn’t a Christian at all, or at least is such a confused Christian that they are in desperate need of correction and discipline. So, in the world of Jeffress, these “Christians” are actually “out” until they get religion on abortion, while Donald Trump is “in.”
(Note that Jeffress isn’t so much a proponent of life issues beyond abortion. The issue is abortion, because unborn children are the most vulnerable. They can’t defend themselves, so we must defend them. As for the already born, they may as well be damned.)
If you are a Christian, and you don’t agree with Jeffress about these matters, you are a moron. That’s Jeffress, in his own words, being as charitable as he can be.
We have noted before that one of us once had lunch with Mr Jeffress. It was a gathering of about ten Southern Baptist leaders. At the time we were struck by the sheer ignorance displayed by Jeffress – biblically, theologically, and politically. We made a mental note of Jeffress as an example of the apostle Paul’s description of certain Corinthians as among the idiotes, the unlearned folk who, because of their ignorance and self-absorption, created problems for the church. That was about twenty years ago. It seems little has changed.
Robert Jeffress, a pastor who has responsibility for thousands of congregants, seems to have settled into his ignorance. Comfortably so. Firmly so. That is lamentable for his congregation and, because his voice is among the loudest claiming to be Christian, it is lamentable for our nation.
A central point of the Gospel of Mark, by the way, is that Jesus is on the outs with those so certain they are in, while showing those who think they’re in that they may well be on the outs, while of course welcoming (not condemning) those who are by all accounts “out” to enter into His kingdom.
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