A Christian evangelist is urging Christians to avoid acting like a “jerk for Jesus” or a “coward for Christ” while highlighting the need for the faithful to stand up for biblical truths even if it means getting involved in political discourse.
In a video posted to Facebook Wednesday, evangelist Shane Pruitt lamented that for a “very long time, the world has been bullying the Church into silence on certain issues because the world wants to dominate that conversation.”
According to Pruitt, “They’ll tell the Church ‘Hey, you can’t speak on that, that’s a political issue and you’re being too political.’”
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“However, you need to realize there are certain things that were biblical truths way before they were ever political statements,” he added. Addressing the issue of abortion, Pruitt identified the question of “when does life begin” as “a biblical truth.” He also cited “who determines what marriage is” and “who determines what sex and gender is” as additional examples of biblical truths.
Pruitt, who serves as the National Next Gen Director for the North American Mission Board, maintained that “the world is infringing on the word’s territory, not vice versa.” He insisted that Christians only “speak where the Bible speaks.”
The video concluded with Pruitt delivering a message to Christians: “Raise up, Church. Be bold, be confident, be kind.”
“Nowhere in the Bible does it give us an excuse to be a jerk for Jesus but it also doesn’t give us an excuse to be a coward for Christ,” he stressed. “We always talk about needing a heart for Christianity and a heart for ministry. Yes, we need a heart but sometimes, we need a spine and a backbone, too.”
Pruitt made his remarks about Christians’ obligations to political discourse less than a week before the 2024 presidential election. He did not specifically discuss the election but the topics he touched upon, specifically abortion and the LGBT debate, are issues that loom large in the campaign.
The Johnson Amendment, which dates back to 1954 and requires churches to refrain from explicitly supporting or endorsing political candidates as a condition of maintaining their tax-exempt status, is often listed as the reason why churches and pastors are reluctant to get involved in politics.
Secular organizations like the Freedom From Religion Foundation often refer to the Johnson Amendment when filing complaints against churches for engaging in what it characterizes as political speech.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president in the 2024 election, campaigned on eliminating the longstanding provision from the United States tax code during his first presidential bid in 2016. In the first few months of his presidency, he issued an executive order directing the Internal Revenue Service to relax its enforcement of the Johnson Amendment against churches and pastors.
A survey from Lifeway Research, published last month, found that 29% of respondents viewed pastors endorsing political candidates as appropriate. While this remains significantly below the majority, the share of the American public supporting pastors endorsing candidates at church has risen from the 13% measured in 2008.
A group of religious broadcasters and churches filed a lawsuit earlier this year, accusing the IRS of selectively enforcing the Johnson Amendment in a way that enables progressive pastors to speak about politics from the pulpit while not granting the same right to their conservative counterparts.
The complaint maintained that the Johnson Amendment, which also applies to nonprofit organizations that receive tax-exempt status from the IRS, violates the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
