October 1, 2024 • 21 mins
In this episode we scrutinize the organization "Evangelicals for Harris," which challenges the traditional evangelical voting patterns, prompting a deep reflection on how justice and political alignment intersect within the evangelical community
What if your faith could guide your response to today's most pressing global issues? Join us as we tackle the intertwining worlds of faith, politics, and current events. From Israel's airstrike on Hezbollah in Lebanon to the tragic mass shooting in South Africa and the devastation of Hurricane Helena in the Carolinas, we examine how these events impact our world and our faith. We also delve into the U.S. military's increased presence in the Middle East and the charged political atmosphere leading up to the presidential election, offering prayers and support for those affected.
As we explore the Political Manipulation of Christian Values, we stress that our primary allegiance should be to the kingdom of God, not to any political party. We discuss how religious symbols are often co-opted for political gain and question the true representation of family values by political figures. This conversation aims to encourage a re-evaluation of political commitments in light of faith. Finally, don't miss our announcement about the upcoming podcast episode scheduled for October 15th—we're excited to continue this journey with you. Thank you for your unwavering support and engagement!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello, words for Change podcast.
This is Lionel.
Welcome to October 1st.
Man, I'm telling you, time isgoing by so fast and we have
right before us almost towardthe end of the year, so we are
blazing through toward the endof 2024.
Can you believe that?
Wow, time is going really,really fast.
So I just want to first sayglad to have you here on this
(00:22):
Tuesday and I just want to thankeveryone who listens to the
Words for Change podcast.
I'm going to say to you I amexcited that you decide to tune
in and listen to the Words forChange podcast.
It's always our goal and job isto try to find what does the
Bible say about particularsubjects and issues in our
(00:43):
social community, in our world,and how does our Christian
witness speak to those issues?
Not living only for the nextlife.
You know, the old adage saysthat we can be so heavily minded
that we are no earthly good.
Well, that is totally not whatWords for Change podcast is all
about.
Words for Change podcast is allabout being relevant, letting
(01:04):
our faith speak into our currentculture, right where we are,
and that has been the sort ofbackbone for what we've
attempted to do with thisplatform and, with God's grace,
we will continue to do that.
And so here today we have avery interesting topic that we
want to cover, and I just wantto lay the groundwork by saying
listen, but before we getstarted, if you have supported
(01:26):
the podcast, I thank you,because the podcast and your
listening support is not able togo forward without you standing
with us and standing by us andsupporting us, and that can be
through a donation.
I want to encourage you to goto Patreon.
There's a link in the showdescription.
Not only that we've beenthinking about getting various
(01:48):
sponsorships from missionorganizations.
So we looked at Crew, which isone organization that gets
Bibles out into different partsof the world, as Christians are
doing God's work in other partsof the world.
So there are many things thatwe are we believe in God to do,
but we cannot do it without yoursupport.
(02:09):
So I want to say once again,thank you for your support, not
only listening, but you can alsosupport financially, and you
can support by sharing thepodcast episode with someone
else who can benefit from theinformation and the
conversations we are having.
That is the goal.
So now to other people in yourcommunity.
(02:31):
Well, guess what?
Y'all?
Y'all know what time it is,guess what, what day is it?
Y'all, we have a lot to coverin the news today.
A lot to cover in the newstoday, man.
So much is going on and it'simportant that we dive into that
as well here.
(02:51):
On October 1st, good morning,vietnam.
Israel has, as of Monday,raided Hezbollah and, with
ground strikes that killed over100 people.
It's a little death toll.
Now, this ground strike, orairstrike, as it were, happened
in Lebanon, and so, man, this istwo weeks in, and in about
(03:15):
100,000 people were killed inthat situation.
There's not 100,000 people, andso that situation is underway.
We're going to keep praying andwe're going to keep believing
that God's going to help us withthat here.
Okay, and and and work thatsituation out, as we know that
the loss of life is neversomething that we should be
(03:35):
proud of.
I don't care who you are, as aman would said to us, and in the
military, if you have to killsomebody, you should never like
it, you should never, ever enjoythat, and so our prayers are
going out, as this is acomplicated situation.
War is complicated in thatsituation over the Middle East,
between Israel and Hezbollah isdefinitely a very complicated
(03:57):
situation, so please keep doingyour prayers.
Also, in South Africa, therewas a mass shooting.
I'm not quite sure what countryit was in, but there was a mass
shooting where over 18 peopledied, and so our prayers are
with them.
Those who are being hit in theCarolinas with the hurricane or
Helena if I'm saying that wrong,please charge it to my head and
(04:18):
not my heart, but over 100people have been reported
missing or passed away in thatsituation, so our prayers go out
to those who have are affectedby it, whether directly or
indirectly.
Speaking about overseas, here wefound out that the US is
sending more troops a fewthousand troops to the Middle
East because of the situationthat's going on between
(04:40):
Hezbollah and Israel, and so ourSecretary of Defense, lord
Austin, has increased themilitary's presence in the
Middle East, and we're going tokeep our eyes on that.
Many of you know that I was onan aircraft carrier not that
long ago and so they're sendingthe US is sending warships, so
we're praying for our brothersand sisters.
(05:00):
I'm not going to even say whatwarship they're on for offset
issues, so, but uh, there aretwo ships going over there now
actually one there now and uh,two ships are going to be
stationed over there to helpdeter that situation.
Okay, and many of you know weare in, I think, about 80 days
(05:22):
or something like that away fromthe presidential election,
maybe a little more, a littleless than that.
But, man, so much is going onand, as you know, during the
political season, all bets areoff, the gloves are off and
people are I mean saying allkinds of things to get their
political viewpoints and agendasacross, and willing to do it at
(05:44):
any cost, by any meansnecessary, at any cost and by
any means necessary, and I'vealways thought that was sort of,
uh, when I had aspir politicalaspirations, one of the things
that kept me away, one of thereasons why I stayed so far away
.
For because, from it, because,when I got behind closed doors,
(06:06):
I realized that everything thatglitters ain't gold, okay, and
so a lot's going on, and whenwe're in the throes of the
political season, or when wehave social upheaval, or when we
have so many viewpoints thatwe'll have the tendency, if
we're not careful, to divide ourUnited States of America and,
(06:30):
even more importantly, dividethe church, we have to have a
voice to it.
And so this leads me to ourconversation.
Our main quote is going tostart our conversation today
(06:52):
does evangelical mean white andconservative?
Does evangelical mean white andconservative?
Now, before you guys light meup, and before you guys get deep
down questioning man Bailey,what are you talking about?
No, that's a question.
It's a valid question that weneed to ask.
Does evangelical mean white,exclusively white and
(07:18):
conservative?
Ok, I want us to think aboutthat today.
Our main scripture verse thatwe're going to start out with
right now, actually, let me, letme slow down a little bit and
let me just say this the reasonwhy that is our opening quote or
question, is because it isimportant that we are able to
let our faith speak to socialissues.
(07:39):
One of the most importanthistorical facts that we've come
to learn is that when we becomesilent, when good people JFK
said this okay, evil prevailswhen good people do nothing.
This is the same thing thathappened in Nazi Germany.
You had citizens, well-mindedpeople, people who knew the
difference between right andwrong, but the reason they
(08:01):
didn't.
Many of them, not all, as youand I know, historically
speaking, if you were to be 100%honest, there were many in the
German community who knew whatHitler was doing was wrong.
And there were many Christians,particularly if you are aware
of the theologian pastor.
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer,actually, who was a pacifist,
(08:22):
was executed by that regimebecause he was being charged
very conspiracy to assassinateHitler, adolf Hitler.
So there were many Christiansinvolved, the Confessing Church
and so many other organizationsinvolved during that time that
were doing their very best anddoing what they felt was right.
(08:44):
So I'm not saying all Germanpeople were on the bandwagon, so
to speak.
Okay, but when you do not standup for what's right, then you
give credence for whatever evilto prevail and to start and
start determining one-sided.
(09:10):
That is not my goal.
My goal is to be as neutral.
My goal is to be as neutral aspossible.
Our scripture verse for todaycomes from Micah 6.8.
(09:32):
What does the Lord require fromus when we're addressing these
issues?
What does the Lord require?
Number one to do justice.
Matter of fact, I'm going tostart out at verse 6, just to
give even more context.
So the prophet asked with whatshall I come to you, lord, and
bow before you God on high?
(09:52):
This is verse 6.
Shall I come to you with burntofferings or cats?
Verse seven Does the Lord takedelight in thousands of rams and
ten thousands of rivers of oil.
Shall I present my firstborn?
That's kind of weird becausethat's talking about human
sacrifice For rebellious acts,the fruit of my body for the sin
(10:14):
of my soul.
And then the Lord replied toMicah, says he has told you, oh
man, what is good and what theLord requires.
One one, but to do justice, tolove kindness.
Once.
One interpretation is to lovejustice or to love mercy.
Sorry, to love kindness, tolove mercy and to walk in
(10:38):
humility before your God.
So if we look at that scriptureverse, you can, you and I
cannot say having a definitiveunderstanding.
What do we mean by justice?
Justice is rightness,forthrightness, being righteous
and upright and equitable inyour dealings, which is one of
the reasons in the scriptureverse.
(11:00):
In ancient times, one of thecomplaints that God had against
his people, israel, was thatthey practice injustice toward
their neighbor.
So the scripture verse sayswhat does the Lord require?
The Lord requires that you walkin justice and humility before
your God.
Now, this is something thatthat's very, very important,
(11:22):
because there is I found outdoing research, there's an
organization out, I don't knowif you guys have heard of it,
it's called Evangelicals forHarris.
Guys have heard of it.
It's called evangelicals forharris.
As I uh, did research, I didn'tknow this organization existed,
but as I just began doingresearch, I ran across and I
thought, well, what is this,what is this?
(11:45):
And I thought, man, this is uh,this is interesting.
And apparently, uh,evangelicals for Harris are.
Are evangelicals, christianevangelicals, who typically vote
on the right side, if I'mexplaining this correctly, who
typically vote on the right side, have come out and say that
(12:07):
they are doing their very bestto get Kamala Harris elected.
I don't know about you, I don'tknow what I think about that,
and we're going to talk aboutthat here in a minute, but this,
this quote, was from MarieGriffin.
She's a professor at theUniversity of Washington, st
Louis.
Does evangelical mean white orconservative?
(12:28):
That question is importantbecause typically, when you hear
the word evangelical, it isabsolutely factually,
statistically, true thatevangelicals overwhelmingly
typically vote on the Republicanside.
You may even ask the questiondoes evangelical mean white,
(12:49):
republican and conservative?
Now, think about that, okay, sothere is no surprise, equally,
on the other side, thatindividuals who are considered
minorities or African-Americansvote overwhelmingly Democratic.
(13:09):
This topic is extremelyimportant and extremely timely
because we need to think abouthow the gospel, and this is what
makes it very, very criticalhow the gospel has been used on
both sides of the aisle forpolitical parties.
(13:30):
You guys all know what my goaland my purpose here is, first
and foremost, to say, and youknow my, my famous quote God
doesn't ride on the backs ofdonkeys or elephants, but the
only kingdom that we should,first and foremost have our
allegiance to is the kingdom ofGod.
What, what makes thisinteresting?
(13:52):
Looking at the website rightnow in front of me, talking to
you through a microphone, Iremember I don't know how long
ago it was Many of you canprobably remember the picture of
President Donald Trump standingin front of a church At that
time he was president standing aformer president and
(14:12):
presidential candidate, secondterm standing in front of a
church holding a Bible, and Iremember watching that on the
news and I got infuriated.
Not because of his politicalparty, let me be.
Let me be 100%.
I have voted on both sides.
I have voted on Democratic, Ivoted Republican, I voted
(14:36):
independent and most of youwould never know that.
Why?
Because I don't wear it on mysleeve, because I minister and
work and serve and have friendson both sides of the aisle.
So I am not that interested inmaking any kind of political
statement, but let me forgeforward.
I remember seeing him hold itand I got.
I was infuriated.
(14:56):
Why?
Because he co-opted theChristian message.
Not because he believed in thekingdom of God, not because it
was a justice issue.
In my opinion and a humbleopinion, and many people will
agree with me, both on the rightand the left he did that to
appeal to a evangelicalChristian base.
So, in other words, he wasn'tusing the gospel because of his
(15:20):
own faith in traditions andconvictions.
He was using it to cater topeople who he knew all he had to
do is standing in front of achurch holding the Bible and he
would get their vote.
This is why this evangelicalsfor Harris thing is really
problematic for me and I'm stilltrying to figure out why.
So are evangelicals beginning tosee that evangelicals are?
(15:43):
We are evangelicals, and Idon't even consider myself that
I don't like those labels.
When is it when evangelicalsare going to begin to believe
that not all conservatives goingto begin to believe that not
all conservatives, not allconservatives have the same
political viewpoint, that thereare some actions, that there are
some issues that conservativesand on both sides of the aisle
(16:04):
and I mean that there areliberal conservatives, there are
Republicans, there'sindependent conservatives as
well that the gospel is beingtaken by these different groups
and being used in order to pushtheir agenda.
And what I see happening in ourworld today is that
evangelicals some of them I meangood meaning.
(16:24):
I'm not talking about thereligious right and I'm not
talking about the extreme left,and I'm not talking about those
individuals.
I'm talking about good-minded,smart, educated, sensible people
.
But there are some evangelicalswho are beginning to see that
not all conservatives believe Inthe same principles and
(16:45):
viewpoints that are necessarilyassociated with the Republican
Party.
You see that and I see thatHear me carefully.
I realized that when I lived indifferent parts of the country
that just because you live in aDemocratic state doesn't mean
that racism still doesn't exist.
That's what I learned from that.
Experience is number one.
Experience is number one.
(17:08):
There are some evangelicals whoare starting to perceive that
the Trump ticket is not based onwhat they believe to represent
the best values for the Americanpopulace.
Not all evangelical Democratsbelieve in one party issues.
In other words, not allDemocrats believe abortion is
right.
Not all Democrats believe whenyou're talking to conservatives,
(17:30):
right, and this is why I bringthe question Does evangelical
mean white conservative?
I would say no, that not allliberals believe in one issue
ticket or one.
I'm on this party, I vote thisticket line because of this one
issue.
There are people all over themap and it's the same thing on
(17:52):
the republican side.
Now, listen, if you are gettinginfuriated by what you're
hearing from me right now, it'sbecause you've done one thing
you've allowed the politicalparty to become your god.
You've allowed thatorganization however you may sit
, either on the left or theright, or in the middle or
independent, you, I, as a childof God, if we get so infuriated
(18:16):
that we can't have conversationsor be in Christian fellowship,
we've allowed the politicalparty to have primary allegiance
rather than God's kingdom, andthis is what what Jesus talked
about.
So then the question becomeswell, what?
What are we talking about?
If we're saying, listen, in hisHarris versus Trump issue
(18:36):
that's coming up, what, what,what's on the table?
I think values are on the table.
The question is is the questionof values?
So some people say, well, whichpresidential candidate do you
vote for?
I'm voting on the right toTrump, I'm a Trumper, and then
no, I vote ticket.
I don't care who's on theticket, I don't I'm who's on a
(18:56):
ticket, I'm dedicated to myparty.
I think you're there's time thatyou rethink that, that those
what we're learning is thatRepublican and Democrat is
becoming more fluid, that peopleare not necessarily having
allegiance to a party as much asthey have an allegiance to an
issue.
So then the question becomesthen what value systems are we
(19:16):
talking about?
And this is the issue that Ihave with my brothers on the
right.
When you start talking aboutfamily values, there was nothing
about the former president thatrepresented that.
That, particularly from thethings that we saw and heard out
in public, which is the reasonwhy doing that particular when
he ran for office in thebeginning.
Now, mind you, I'm stayingmiddle of the road.
(19:39):
I'm not saying vote either, orand I'm gonna get to calvin
harris in a second there wasnothing that I seen that I felt
comfortable with, thatrepresented the value systems
that I wanted to pass on to mychildren.
Nor I practice myself as aChristian.
So then the question becomeswell, what about?
What about the other side?
What about Kamala Harris that,just because she is, here we go.
(20:02):
I'm going to put it out there.
Don't get mad at me now.
Just because she is a woman,just because she's
African-American or she's aminority, means that we should
vote for her Right, when shehasn't really defined what her
political policies are or she'stap dancing around and changing
her positions back and forth.
But it's equally problematic.
Go to this website Evangelicalsfor Harris.
(20:24):
Are they not doing the samething?
Just like Donald Trump?
The don't president, a formerpresident used the bible in
front of the church.
Now you have church leaderssaying our job is to get this
person elected, and I'm lookingat the website right now.
You guys got to check this out.
Faith in action volunteerservices in the community.
I think that's fine.
Uh, using it.
Let me just say this make thestatement using the gospel, as
this candidate representschristian values, right.
(20:45):
Evangelicals don't have.
Make this statement using thegospel, as this candidate
represents christian values,right.
Evangelicals don't have andthis is on the website.
Evangelicals don't have tochange who they are.
They just need to reaffirm whothey are by voting for someone
who better reflects and it usedto say they changed that
statement.
It didn't used to say betterreflect, it was, it said,
(21:05):
something like the only personthat reflected true christian
values.
That's a problematic that will.
We are allowing politicalorganizations for one candidate
that says this is what god willsay about this and this
candidate represents god.
I want to say in my closingargument we have to be critical
of both.
A biblical argument it saysnumber one proverbs uh 31, 8
(21:27):
through 9 our allegiance to becritical of both.
A biblical argument it saysnumber one Proverbs 31, eight
through nine our allegiance tobe first and foremost to God, to
God's kingdom.
Number two what value systemsthat are congruent with your
life and with the Bible shouldbe what you are proponent of.
Proverbs 31, eight, nine saysthis speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves, forthe rights of all, all people
(21:48):
who are destitute.
Here is pure and undefiledreligion is to what?
Care for the fatherless, carefor the widow, keep yourself
unstained from the world Right?
So, in other words, a valuesystem in the scripture says
first and foremost, you shouldcare about those who are poor
and you should care about thosewho are naked.
(22:10):
You should care about those whoare homeless.
You should have, that, shouldbe a part of your Christian
value system.
So, with that being said, youcan't necessarily say one person
or one political party has itsGod's candidate, so to speak.
A more balanced approach is whatwe're looking at Right, or one
political party has its God'scandidate, so to speak.
(22:30):
A more balanced approach iswhat we're looking at right.
In Matthew 7, 16 to 20, jesustaught that we should recognize
people by their fruit instead oftheir categories.
We should evaluate leadersbased on their actions and the
outcome of their policy.
That's another way of having abalanced position.
We should seek the common goodin Philippians 2, 3, and 4.
(22:55):
Paul instructs believers to donothing out of selfish ambition.
Having a more balanced approachand policies Having a more
balanced approach and policiesLeaders should seek genuinely
the common ground.
In other words, I am on theleft, I am on the right, but I
represent all America.
Ok, so I have to vote what's inthe best interest of all
(23:18):
Americans.
Talking about a more balancedapproach Now I can say that
there have been somecontributions that President
Trump has made to the Americansociety in a positive way
Absolutely Having our economicinterests, the competitive
spirit of the market, as acornerstone to the democratic
way of life.
I think that's very importantNot being overly concerned about
(23:42):
being in other people'sbusiness across the world, but
taking care of the Americancitizenry.
I think he stands for that andI'm willing to say that.
Okay, and I know y'all going tocome for me, but I love you.
I hope you love me back.
Matthew 22, 3, 37 and 40.
Jesus commands that we love ourneighbor as ourself.
(24:03):
That's a cornerstone toChristian ethics.
So if churches are divided andpastors can't talk and can't
talk about how you should stand,what you should believe in,
then that's not a church youshould be a part of.
I'm just going to put it rightout flat in front of you.
We are called to be watch this.
Christians are called to beadvocates for justice, mercy and
(24:27):
humility, regardless of yourpolitical affiliation, and so
this is what we're aiming for.
The aim is that we have a morebalanced approach.
The aim is that we know what webelieve in and why, and we
stand on it.
The aim is not to let apolitical party hijack if you
(24:50):
will quote, unquote or snatchthe value systems and co-opt
them and misuse and misquotethose systems and value systems
and perspectives that we holddearly, and perspectives that we
(25:16):
hold dearly and signs of ourfaith, symbols of our faith that
we hold dearly, and use themfor political gain without
addressing them.
That change is needed.
So I begin.
I end where I begin.
Does evangelical solely meanwhite conservative?
My goal is that you would sitdown and have a conversation
with your friends who aredifferent and find common ground
.
That is our goal.
Right?
We want a more balancedperspective.
(25:36):
We want to critically evaluatepolitical figures.
Right, we want to have criticalengagement.
We want our kids to havecritical engagement.
So once again, hey, thank youguys for your support.
I look forward to furtherconversation.
I think we've gone long enough.
How long I've?
I've gone for 30, almost 40minutes Blow my time, but I
(25:57):
really appreciate you guyslistening and I look forward to
seeing you guys again.
Our next podcast will behitting the airways.
It will be on the 15th the 15th, okay, so that will be our next
podcast episode.
Well, make sure you share thepodcast.
You can always share thispodcast with other people.
(26:17):
Make a donation, give us afive-star rating If you listen
to us on Apple Podcasts, goahead on and give us a rating,
and we look forward to seeingyou guys on October 15th.
Peace.
Well, hello, words for Change podcast.
This is Lionel.
Welcome to October 1st.
Man, I'm telling you, time isgoing by so fast and we have
right before us almost towardthe end of the year, so we are
blazing through toward the endof 2024.
Can you believe that?
Wow, time is going really,really fast.
So I just want to first sayglad to have you here on this
(00:22):
Tuesday and I just want to thankeveryone who listens to the
Words for Change podcast.
I'm going to say to you I amexcited that you decide to tune
in and listen to the Words forChange podcast.
It's always our goal and job isto try to find what does the
Bible say about particularsubjects and issues in our
(00:43):
social community, in our world,and how does our Christian
witness speak to those issues?
Not living only for the nextlife.
You know, the old adage saysthat we can be so heavily minded
that we are no earthly good.
Well, that is totally not whatWords for Change podcast is all
about.
Words for Change podcast is allabout being relevant, letting
(01:04):
our faith speak into our currentculture, right where we are,
and that has been the sort ofbackbone for what we've
attempted to do with thisplatform and, with God's grace,
we will continue to do that.
And so here today we have avery interesting topic that we
want to cover, and I just wantto lay the groundwork by saying
listen, but before we getstarted, if you have supported
(01:26):
the podcast, I thank you,because the podcast and your
listening support is not able togo forward without you standing
with us and standing by us andsupporting us, and that can be
through a donation.
I want to encourage you to goto Patreon.
There's a link in the showdescription.
Not only that we've beenthinking about getting various
(01:48):
sponsorships from missionorganizations.
So we looked at Crew, which isone organization that gets
Bibles out into different partsof the world, as Christians are
doing God's work in other partsof the world.
So there are many things thatwe are we believe in God to do,
but we cannot do it without yoursupport.
(02:09):
So I want to say once again,thank you for your support, not
only listening, but you can alsosupport financially, and you
can support by sharing thepodcast episode with someone
else who can benefit from theinformation and the
conversations we are having.
That is the goal.
So now to other people in yourcommunity.
(02:31):
Well, guess what?
Y'all?
Y'all know what time it is,guess what, what day is it?
Y'all, we have a lot to coverin the news today.
A lot to cover in the newstoday, man.
So much is going on and it'simportant that we dive into that
as well here.
(02:51):
On October 1st, good morning,vietnam.
Israel has, as of Monday,raided Hezbollah and, with
ground strikes that killed over100 people.
It's a little death toll.
Now, this ground strike, orairstrike, as it were, happened
in Lebanon, and so, man, this istwo weeks in, and in about
(03:15):
100,000 people were killed inthat situation.
There's not 100,000 people, andso that situation is underway.
We're going to keep praying andwe're going to keep believing
that God's going to help us withthat here.
Okay, and and and work thatsituation out, as we know that
the loss of life is neversomething that we should be
(03:35):
proud of.
I don't care who you are, as aman would said to us, and in the
military, if you have to killsomebody, you should never like
it, you should never, ever enjoythat, and so our prayers are
going out, as this is acomplicated situation.
War is complicated in thatsituation over the Middle East,
between Israel and Hezbollah isdefinitely a very complicated
(03:57):
situation, so please keep doingyour prayers.
Also, in South Africa, therewas a mass shooting.
I'm not quite sure what countryit was in, but there was a mass
shooting where over 18 peopledied, and so our prayers are
with them.
Those who are being hit in theCarolinas with the hurricane or
Helena if I'm saying that wrong,please charge it to my head and
(04:18):
not my heart, but over 100people have been reported
missing or passed away in thatsituation, so our prayers go out
to those who have are affectedby it, whether directly or
indirectly.
Speaking about overseas, here wefound out that the US is
sending more troops a fewthousand troops to the Middle
East because of the situationthat's going on between
(04:40):
Hezbollah and Israel, and so ourSecretary of Defense, lord
Austin, has increased themilitary's presence in the
Middle East, and we're going tokeep our eyes on that.
Many of you know that I was onan aircraft carrier not that
long ago and so they're sendingthe US is sending warships, so
we're praying for our brothersand sisters.
(05:00):
I'm not going to even say whatwarship they're on for offset
issues, so, but uh, there aretwo ships going over there now
actually one there now and uh,two ships are going to be
stationed over there to helpdeter that situation.
Okay, and many of you know weare in, I think, about 80 days
(05:22):
or something like that away fromthe presidential election,
maybe a little more, a littleless than that.
But, man, so much is going onand, as you know, during the
political season, all bets areoff, the gloves are off and
people are I mean saying allkinds of things to get their
political viewpoints and agendasacross, and willing to do it at
(05:44):
any cost, by any meansnecessary, at any cost and by
any means necessary, and I'vealways thought that was sort of,
uh, when I had aspir politicalaspirations, one of the things
that kept me away, one of thereasons why I stayed so far away
.
For because, from it, because,when I got behind closed doors,
(06:06):
I realized that everything thatglitters ain't gold, okay, and
so a lot's going on, and whenwe're in the throes of the
political season, or when wehave social upheaval, or when we
have so many viewpoints thatwe'll have the tendency, if
we're not careful, to divide ourUnited States of America and,
(06:30):
even more importantly, dividethe church, we have to have a
voice to it.
And so this leads me to ourconversation.
Our main quote is going tostart our conversation today
(06:52):
does evangelical mean white andconservative?
Does evangelical mean white andconservative?
Now, before you guys light meup, and before you guys get deep
down questioning man Bailey,what are you talking about?
No, that's a question.
It's a valid question that weneed to ask.
Does evangelical mean white,exclusively white and
(07:18):
conservative?
Ok, I want us to think aboutthat today.
Our main scripture verse thatwe're going to start out with
right now, actually, let me, letme slow down a little bit and
let me just say this the reasonwhy that is our opening quote or
question, is because it isimportant that we are able to
let our faith speak to socialissues.
(07:39):
One of the most importanthistorical facts that we've come
to learn is that when we becomesilent, when good people JFK
said this okay, evil prevailswhen good people do nothing.
This is the same thing thathappened in Nazi Germany.
You had citizens, well-mindedpeople, people who knew the
difference between right andwrong, but the reason they
(08:01):
didn't.
Many of them, not all, as youand I know, historically
speaking, if you were to be 100%honest, there were many in the
German community who knew whatHitler was doing was wrong.
And there were many Christians,particularly if you are aware
of the theologian pastor.
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer,actually, who was a pacifist,
(08:22):
was executed by that regimebecause he was being charged
very conspiracy to assassinateHitler, adolf Hitler.
So there were many Christiansinvolved, the Confessing Church
and so many other organizationsinvolved during that time that
were doing their very best anddoing what they felt was right.
(08:44):
So I'm not saying all Germanpeople were on the bandwagon, so
to speak.
Okay, but when you do not standup for what's right, then you
give credence for whatever evilto prevail and to start and
start determining one-sided.
(09:10):
That is not my goal.
My goal is to be as neutral.
My goal is to be as neutral aspossible.
Our scripture verse for todaycomes from Micah 6.8.
(09:32):
What does the Lord require fromus when we're addressing these
issues?
What does the Lord require?
Number one to do justice.
Matter of fact, I'm going tostart out at verse 6, just to
give even more context.
So the prophet asked with whatshall I come to you, lord, and
bow before you God on high?
(09:52):
This is verse 6.
Shall I come to you with burntofferings or cats?
Verse seven Does the Lord takedelight in thousands of rams and
ten thousands of rivers of oil.
Shall I present my firstborn?
That's kind of weird becausethat's talking about human
sacrifice For rebellious acts,the fruit of my body for the sin
(10:14):
of my soul.
And then the Lord replied toMicah, says he has told you, oh
man, what is good and what theLord requires.
One one, but to do justice, tolove kindness.
Once.
One interpretation is to lovejustice or to love mercy.
Sorry, to love kindness, tolove mercy and to walk in
(10:38):
humility before your God.
So if we look at that scriptureverse, you can, you and I
cannot say having a definitiveunderstanding.
What do we mean by justice?
Justice is rightness,forthrightness, being righteous
and upright and equitable inyour dealings, which is one of
the reasons in the scriptureverse.
(11:00):
In ancient times, one of thecomplaints that God had against
his people, israel, was thatthey practice injustice toward
their neighbor.
So the scripture verse sayswhat does the Lord require?
The Lord requires that you walkin justice and humility before
your God.
Now, this is something thatthat's very, very important,
(11:22):
because there is I found outdoing research, there's an
organization out, I don't knowif you guys have heard of it,
it's called Evangelicals forHarris.
Guys have heard of it.
It's called evangelicals forharris.
As I uh, did research, I didn'tknow this organization existed,
but as I just began doingresearch, I ran across and I
thought, well, what is this,what is this?
(11:45):
And I thought, man, this is uh,this is interesting.
And apparently, uh,evangelicals for Harris are.
Are evangelicals, christianevangelicals, who typically vote
on the right side, if I'mexplaining this correctly, who
typically vote on the right side, have come out and say that
(12:07):
they are doing their very bestto get Kamala Harris elected.
I don't know about you, I don'tknow what I think about that,
and we're going to talk aboutthat here in a minute, but this,
this quote, was from MarieGriffin.
She's a professor at theUniversity of Washington, st
Louis.
Does evangelical mean white orconservative?
(12:28):
That question is importantbecause typically, when you hear
the word evangelical, it isabsolutely factually,
statistically, true thatevangelicals overwhelmingly
typically vote on the Republicanside.
You may even ask the questiondoes evangelical mean white,
(12:49):
republican and conservative?
Now, think about that, okay, sothere is no surprise, equally,
on the other side, thatindividuals who are considered
minorities or African-Americansvote overwhelmingly Democratic.
(13:09):
This topic is extremelyimportant and extremely timely
because we need to think abouthow the gospel, and this is what
makes it very, very criticalhow the gospel has been used on
both sides of the aisle forpolitical parties.
(13:30):
You guys all know what my goaland my purpose here is, first
and foremost, to say, and youknow my, my famous quote God
doesn't ride on the backs ofdonkeys or elephants, but the
only kingdom that we should,first and foremost have our
allegiance to is the kingdom ofGod.
What, what makes thisinteresting?
(13:52):
Looking at the website rightnow in front of me, talking to
you through a microphone, Iremember I don't know how long
ago it was Many of you canprobably remember the picture of
President Donald Trump standingin front of a church At that
time he was president standing aformer president and
(14:12):
presidential candidate, secondterm standing in front of a
church holding a Bible, and Iremember watching that on the
news and I got infuriated.
Not because of his politicalparty, let me be.
Let me be 100%.
I have voted on both sides.
I have voted on Democratic, Ivoted Republican, I voted
(14:36):
independent and most of youwould never know that.
Why?
Because I don't wear it on mysleeve, because I minister and
work and serve and have friendson both sides of the aisle.
So I am not that interested inmaking any kind of political
statement, but let me forgeforward.
I remember seeing him hold itand I got.
I was infuriated.
(14:56):
Why?
Because he co-opted theChristian message.
Not because he believed in thekingdom of God, not because it
was a justice issue.
In my opinion and a humbleopinion, and many people will
agree with me, both on the rightand the left he did that to
appeal to a evangelicalChristian base.
So, in other words, he wasn'tusing the gospel because of his
(15:20):
own faith in traditions andconvictions.
He was using it to cater topeople who he knew all he had to
do is standing in front of achurch holding the Bible and he
would get their vote.
This is why this evangelicalsfor Harris thing is really
problematic for me and I'm stilltrying to figure out why.
So are evangelicals beginning tosee that evangelicals are?
(15:43):
We are evangelicals, and Idon't even consider myself that
I don't like those labels.
When is it when evangelicalsare going to begin to believe
that not all conservatives goingto begin to believe that not
all conservatives, not allconservatives have the same
political viewpoint, that thereare some actions, that there are
some issues that conservativesand on both sides of the aisle
(16:04):
and I mean that there areliberal conservatives, there are
Republicans, there'sindependent conservatives as
well that the gospel is beingtaken by these different groups
and being used in order to pushtheir agenda.
And what I see happening in ourworld today is that
evangelicals some of them I meangood meaning.
(16:24):
I'm not talking about thereligious right and I'm not
talking about the extreme left,and I'm not talking about those
individuals.
I'm talking about good-minded,smart, educated, sensible people
.
But there are some evangelicalswho are beginning to see that
not all conservatives believe Inthe same principles and
(16:45):
viewpoints that are necessarilyassociated with the Republican
Party.
You see that and I see thatHear me carefully.
I realized that when I lived indifferent parts of the country
that just because you live in aDemocratic state doesn't mean
that racism still doesn't exist.
That's what I learned from that.
Experience is number one.
Experience is number one.
(17:08):
There are some evangelicals whoare starting to perceive that
the Trump ticket is not based onwhat they believe to represent
the best values for the Americanpopulace.
Not all evangelical Democratsbelieve in one party issues.
In other words, not allDemocrats believe abortion is
right.
Not all Democrats believe whenyou're talking to conservatives,
(17:30):
right, and this is why I bringthe question Does evangelical
mean white conservative?
I would say no, that not allliberals believe in one issue
ticket or one.
I'm on this party, I vote thisticket line because of this one
issue.
There are people all over themap and it's the same thing on
(17:52):
the republican side.
Now, listen, if you are gettinginfuriated by what you're
hearing from me right now, it'sbecause you've done one thing
you've allowed the politicalparty to become your god.
You've allowed thatorganization however you may sit
, either on the left or theright, or in the middle or
independent, you, I, as a childof God, if we get so infuriated
(18:16):
that we can't have conversationsor be in Christian fellowship,
we've allowed the politicalparty to have primary allegiance
rather than God's kingdom, andthis is what what Jesus talked
about.
So then the question becomeswell, what?
What are we talking about?
If we're saying, listen, in hisHarris versus Trump issue
(18:36):
that's coming up, what, what,what's on the table?
I think values are on the table.
The question is is the questionof values?
So some people say, well, whichpresidential candidate do you
vote for?
I'm voting on the right toTrump, I'm a Trumper, and then
no, I vote ticket.
I don't care who's on theticket, I don't I'm who's on a
(18:56):
ticket, I'm dedicated to myparty.
I think you're there's time thatyou rethink that, that those
what we're learning is thatRepublican and Democrat is
becoming more fluid, that peopleare not necessarily having
allegiance to a party as much asthey have an allegiance to an
issue.
So then the question becomesthen what value systems are we
(19:16):
talking about?
And this is the issue that Ihave with my brothers on the
right.
When you start talking aboutfamily values, there was nothing
about the former president thatrepresented that.
That, particularly from thethings that we saw and heard out
in public, which is the reasonwhy doing that particular when
he ran for office in thebeginning.
Now, mind you, I'm stayingmiddle of the road.
(19:39):
I'm not saying vote either, orand I'm gonna get to calvin
harris in a second there wasnothing that I seen that I felt
comfortable with, thatrepresented the value systems
that I wanted to pass on to mychildren.
Nor I practice myself as aChristian.
So then the question becomeswell, what about?
What about the other side?
What about Kamala Harris that,just because she is, here we go.
(20:02):
I'm going to put it out there.
Don't get mad at me now.
Just because she is a woman,just because she's
African-American or she's aminority, means that we should
vote for her Right, when shehasn't really defined what her
political policies are or she'stap dancing around and changing
her positions back and forth.
But it's equally problematic.
Go to this website Evangelicalsfor Harris.
(20:24):
Are they not doing the samething?
Just like Donald Trump?
The don't president, a formerpresident used the bible in
front of the church.
Now you have church leaderssaying our job is to get this
person elected, and I'm lookingat the website right now.
You guys got to check this out.
Faith in action volunteerservices in the community.
I think that's fine.
Uh, using it.
Let me just say this make thestatement using the gospel, as
this candidate representschristian values, right.
(20:45):
Evangelicals don't have.
Make this statement using thegospel, as this candidate
represents christian values,right.
Evangelicals don't have andthis is on the website.
Evangelicals don't have tochange who they are.
They just need to reaffirm whothey are by voting for someone
who better reflects and it usedto say they changed that
statement.
It didn't used to say betterreflect, it was, it said,
(21:05):
something like the only personthat reflected true christian
values.
That's a problematic that will.
We are allowing politicalorganizations for one candidate
that says this is what god willsay about this and this
candidate represents god.
I want to say in my closingargument we have to be critical
of both.
A biblical argument it saysnumber one proverbs uh 31, 8
(21:27):
through 9 our allegiance to becritical of both.
A biblical argument it saysnumber one Proverbs 31, eight
through nine our allegiance tobe first and foremost to God, to
God's kingdom.
Number two what value systemsthat are congruent with your
life and with the Bible shouldbe what you are proponent of.
Proverbs 31, eight, nine saysthis speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves, forthe rights of all, all people
(21:48):
who are destitute.
Here is pure and undefiledreligion is to what?
Care for the fatherless, carefor the widow, keep yourself
unstained from the world Right?
So, in other words, a valuesystem in the scripture says
first and foremost, you shouldcare about those who are poor
and you should care about thosewho are naked.
(22:10):
You should care about those whoare homeless.
You should have, that, shouldbe a part of your Christian
value system.
So, with that being said, youcan't necessarily say one person
or one political party has itsGod's candidate, so to speak.
A more balanced approach is whatwe're looking at Right, or one
political party has its God'scandidate, so to speak.
(22:30):
A more balanced approach iswhat we're looking at right.
In Matthew 7, 16 to 20, jesustaught that we should recognize
people by their fruit instead oftheir categories.
We should evaluate leadersbased on their actions and the
outcome of their policy.
That's another way of having abalanced position.
We should seek the common goodin Philippians 2, 3, and 4.
(22:55):
Paul instructs believers to donothing out of selfish ambition.
Having a more balanced approachand policies Having a more
balanced approach and policiesLeaders should seek genuinely
the common ground.
In other words, I am on theleft, I am on the right, but I
represent all America.
Ok, so I have to vote what's inthe best interest of all
(23:18):
Americans.
Talking about a more balancedapproach Now I can say that
there have been somecontributions that President
Trump has made to the Americansociety in a positive way
Absolutely Having our economicinterests, the competitive
spirit of the market, as acornerstone to the democratic
way of life.
I think that's very importantNot being overly concerned about
(23:42):
being in other people'sbusiness across the world, but
taking care of the Americancitizenry.
I think he stands for that andI'm willing to say that.
Okay, and I know y'all going tocome for me, but I love you.
I hope you love me back.
Matthew 22, 3, 37 and 40.
Jesus commands that we love ourneighbor as ourself.
(24:03):
That's a cornerstone toChristian ethics.
So if churches are divided andpastors can't talk and can't
talk about how you should stand,what you should believe in,
then that's not a church youshould be a part of.
I'm just going to put it rightout flat in front of you.
We are called to be watch this.
Christians are called to beadvocates for justice, mercy and
(24:27):
humility, regardless of yourpolitical affiliation, and so
this is what we're aiming for.
The aim is that we have a morebalanced approach.
The aim is that we know what webelieve in and why, and we
stand on it.
The aim is not to let apolitical party hijack if you
(24:50):
will quote, unquote or snatchthe value systems and co-opt
them and misuse and misquotethose systems and value systems
and perspectives that we holddearly, and perspectives that we
(25:16):
hold dearly and signs of ourfaith, symbols of our faith that
we hold dearly, and use themfor political gain without
addressing them.
That change is needed.
So I begin.
I end where I begin.
Does evangelical solely meanwhite conservative?
My goal is that you would sitdown and have a conversation
with your friends who aredifferent and find common ground
.
That is our goal.
Right?
We want a more balancedperspective.
(25:36):
We want to critically evaluatepolitical figures.
Right, we want to have criticalengagement.
We want our kids to havecritical engagement.
So once again, hey, thank youguys for your support.
I look forward to furtherconversation.
I think we've gone long enough.
How long I've?
I've gone for 30, almost 40minutes Blow my time, but I
(25:57):
really appreciate you guyslistening and I look forward to
seeing you guys again.
Our next podcast will behitting the airways.
It will be on the 15th the 15th, okay, so that will be our next
podcast episode.
Well, make sure you share thepodcast.
You can always share thispodcast with other people.
(26:17):
Make a donation, give us afive-star rating If you listen
to us on Apple Podcasts, goahead on and give us a rating,
and we look forward to seeingyou guys on October 15th.
Peace.
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