Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley says in sermon that it’s OK for Christians to be Democrats
In a June 30 sermon when Andy Stanley criticized the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) for disfellowshipping Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, the Georgia megachurch pastor also took aim at conservative Christians who criticize Democrats and say that you can’t be both a Christian and a Democrat.
“Political affiliation has become the litmus test for orthodoxy,” said Stanley, who is pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga. He added some Evangelical leaders believe “that you can't be a Christian and be a Democrat. You can't be, you can’t possibly be a true Christian if you're a Democrat, which is absolutely absurd.”
Stanley, the son of late Southern Baptist pastor and televangelist Charles Stanley, spoke about removing obstacles for people trying to follow Jesus Christ in a sermon titled “Broken and Grateful.” He identified himself in the sermon as “theologically conservative.”
“They basically go against one of Jesus’ primary teachings instead of loving their enemies, all these lost Democrats, they demonize them,” said Stanley.
“They make Democrats the enemy. And what did Jesus tell us to do with our enemies? Anybody remember? Yeah. So let me just say to those of you who are conservative politically like me, if you do that, stop it. You can disagree, but you don't write somebody off as bad and evil, here's why.”
Stanley said a study of history shows what happens when one group of people demonizes another group and turns “the mission field into a battlefield.”
“(The) minority is evil and once they’re evil, they're cockroaches and they’re rats,” he said, emphasizing that Jesus told us to love our enemies so we can reach them with the gospel.
“If you need an enemy in order to further your agenda, rest assured it is not the agenda of our King, period,” he said.
Does Christianity and the Democrat Party Mix?
Parker Miller, writing for the Washington Examiner, makes great points in the commentary, “Why Christianity is incompatible with the Democratic Party.” Below is a summary.
The Democratic Party has shifted its values and beliefs towards narcissism, casting out any Christian elements it may have once had. This shift has been driven by radicals who push the party further left, shifting society’s goalposts in a more secular direction since the late 19th century. The party has fully embraced feminism and the LGBT movement, which promote the idea that men and women are indistinguishable. This justifies the party’s attempts to mix and match the roles of the two sexes in society, opposing the Christian idea that man and woman were made distinct from yet complementary to one another.
By destroying marriage and the distinctions of the sexes, the party has helped craft sexual activity into a vital expression of choice and liberation, over the Christian practices of restraint and modesty. It has removed the incentives to abstain from sex and promoted perverse sexual behavior, normalizing sexual depravity.
The idol of abortion also affirms the Democratic Party’s desire to exempt society from taking responsibility for its actions. By dehumanizing children as “parasites” and framing abortion as a right, the party encourages people to blame others for their decisions to have sex.
Intersectionality has had a similar effect, with the party adopting a caste system based on what someone is or claims to be rather than who they are or what they have done. This places those deemed “victims” over those deemed “oppressors,” while Christians view all humans as made with equal value by God.
The Democratic Party’s prioritization of the self and its belief in Satan represents its radical idealism, seeing Christians as enemies of all it holds dear. There is no reason to believe anyone can be both a faithful Christian and a devoted Democrat because no one can simultaneously seek to praise the self and God.
Related:
- Watch an excerpt from Andy Stanley’s sermon “Broken and Grateful” on YouTube.
- Party Platform Comparison 2020-2024 by the Family Research Council (PDF)