No More Excuses — Harris Support is NOT Acceptable in Church Leaders

Looking at you, Ray Ortlund, David French … and ACNA.

Most Christians would rather tread lightly on politics in a church setting.  Believe it or not, I am one of them.  In a healthy society with healthy churches, that should be the default setting.  And as I oft said, we should especially cut seekers, learners, and regular people in the pew a lot of slack when it comes to politics.  We all have our blind spots.  We should give each other grace as we have been given grace.

At the same time, church leaders, especially teachers, are to be judged more strictly.  (James 3:1)  And there are situations in which some political affiliations are not acceptable for Christians, especially leaders.  America in the 1980’s is a much easier place to live and let live when it comes to politics than Germany in the 1930’s. Support for, say, neo-Nazis or Communists is quite different than support for parties that are not totalitarian. To steal a thought from Ecclesiastes, there are times to overlook political affiliations among Christians and times to put one’s foot down.

Today is a time to put one’s foot down, and so I shall.

I wish it were not so.  I wish we Americans were as decades ago when both major parties were mixed parties instead of one party being profoundly evil.  I wish the very nature of our country and our most basic freedoms were not at risk in this election.

Now I know where some of you may think I am going.  But, no, I will not go there.  I do not think it is obligatory for any Christian to vote for Trump.  And there are Christian leaders I respect who have said they cannot support Trump.  I disagree with them while I continue to respect them.  For all Trump’s faults, he is head and shoulders above Harris.  He is right on most of the issues. He overall did well in his four years in spite of a continual fraudulent coup against him (Russia! Russia! Russia!) and COVID.  All the mostly failed political prosecutions against him demonstrate that he is more ethical than most politicians, not less.  And he has played the man and even a hero under two assassination attempts. With all that said, I still do not see support for Trump or for any candidate or party as obligatory for a Christian.

But there are political positions and affiliations that are out-of-bounds for faithful Christians, especially leaders. These may even call for excommunication.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer left his church over “German Christian” support of Nazi policies.  The Liberation Theologians’ support of Marxism was unacceptable and remains so.  Sadly, Kamala Harris and the current Democrat Party has so descended into evil that support for them is also unacceptable for a Christian leader.

Support of legalized abortion through all nine months; attacks on free speech — even saying a sitting President should be banned from Twitter back in 2019; treasonous support for the current Invasion with a view towards turning the invaders into voters; support for the “gender affirming” mutilation of children; opposing the most basic measures to ensure clean and fair elections; a long record of political prosecutions; her constant repetition of inflammatory Big Lies against Trump even after an attempt on his life — these only scratch the surface of the evil of Kamala Harris.  Yes, she has attempted to pull back from these stands now that Election Day is near.  That only confirms her as a pathological liar.

So Kamala Harris has gone into territory in which it is not acceptable for a Christian leader to endorse her.  Not “this time”, not ever.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Ray Ortlund, David French, et al.

Ray Ortlund’s endorsement of Harris cries out for church discipline if he does not make a full retraction and apology.  No, saying he was “misinterpreted” and deleting a thread post is not enough.  Ortlund is a Canon Theologian under the well respected Bishop Clark Lowenfield in the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast in the Anglican Church of North America.  Yes, my denomination.  I’m not aware of what may have already occurred behind the scenes. But I hope he has already called on Ortlund to retract and apologize publicly (and not just for being “misinterpreted”) or is about to do so.  And I hope such a godly reality check would suffice to cause Ortlund to repent.

Earlier this year, I noted that evil in church and society is unveiling itself.  It has gained enough power and confidence that it is becoming more open and brazen.

This greater visibility of evil provides us with both opportunity and danger.  The opportunity is to become aware and to oppose the evil with greater confidence that we are indeed on the right side.  The opportunity is to fight for what is decent and right with that much more vigor.

The danger is, with evil becoming more evident, we are that much more responsible. “We didn’t know” will not do. We are that much more without excuse if we do not oppose the evil and even enable and support it. We would then be that much more ripe for judgement.

And “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” (1 Peter 4:17)  The church should not put up with leaders who willfully commit such evils as support for Harris.  This is no time to coexist with supposed mere political differences and errors. For the current situation is clearly far beyond mere differences and errors.  It is time for the church to judge itself and exercise church discipline lest it fall under judgement.  If is time for the faithful to insist on such church discipline and be willing to exercise church discipline themselves by cutting off offerings and fellowship if church leaders do not do their job.

Decent people still spit on those “German Christians” that allied with the Nazis, and God’s judgement on the mostly apostate church in Germany continues.  Faithful Christians revile the Liberation Theologians and their support of Communists.  We, too, will suffer just contempt and righteous judgement if we put up with church leaders who support profound evil and even are so brazen as to endorse the likes of Kamala Harris.

This is a time for discipline and action against evil in society and in the church.  This is no time for excuses and no time for collaboration with evil.  Dealing strictly with those supposed Christian leaders who endorse Kamala Harris is only part of what the Faith and the times demand.