​Reject Republican pols who reject Christian values

My bold prediction for 2024 is one many Republican political analysts won’t want to hear. Christian conservative voters are going to have a “Genesis revelation" — namely that politicians will speak “Christianese” to get their votes, all while rejecting the most basic definitions and principles found in the first book of the Bible.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus about paying taxes, he told them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” That instruction was a reminder that civil government has authority over certain areas of public life.

But Jesus’ words also made it clear that public officials’ authority is limited. Progressives disagree. They assume that if the Son of God can control the weather with His words, then Joe Biden can do the same with his pen. Most Christian conservatives can spot this god complex on the left, but I’m not sure how many see it spreading on the right.

Chris Christie, presidential hopeful and former governor of New Jersey, claimed recently that his personal position on same-sex marriage has changed. He told voters at a campaign event in New Hampshire that his parents and Catholic faith informed his view that marriage is between a man and a woman. But after pressure from his children, changing social norms, and his claim that Pope Francis is allowing “blessings” for same-sex couples, he now believes that a “marriage” can be composed of two men or two women.

Christie is not the only Republican who would need support from Christian conservative voters who can’t pass the “Genesis test.” Several self-described conservative politicians subscribe to definitions of gender and marriage that directly contradict the Bible.

Neither the political left nor right seem to grasp that, for many Christian voters, our faith isn’t a brand or trendy belief system. It is the true north of our moral compass.

Put simply, on issue after issue, the GOP’s most socially conservative voters are being represented by people who don’t share their values.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley recently told CBS News that parents should be allowed to “handle” medical decisions for children who feel they were born in the wrong body. Haley made two mistakes in that interview. One was her failure to push back on the CBS reporter’s use of the phrase “assigned female at birth,” the left’s preferred framing for a child’s biological sex.

The second mistake was her reflexive appeal to parental rights that missed the mark for a crucial reason: Sex is determined at conception and cannot be changed with language, laws, drugs, or surgeries.

This is the way Republicans should speak about the issue of transgenderism in the public square. Too often, however, conservative politicians sacrifice truth to appeal to liberal sensibilities on culture war issues. Even President Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, failed to clearly state that a man can’t become a woman during an interview last year with Megyn Kelly.

Christian conservatives must understand that the politicians who can’t stand for truth when it comes to human biology or the natural family are in no position to lead a cultural revival in the public square.

Representative Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) recently broke up with her fiancé, but they were still together when she showed up at a prayer breakfast in South Carolina last year, and she made a joke about premarital sex in a room full of Christians. The crowd who heard the joke laughed uncomfortably, but the Christian conservatives I follow online did not.

They also don’t take it lightly when conservative politicians get caught up in cheating scandals or divorce their spouses after coming to Washington, D.C. The voters who allow their faith to inform their political decisions aren’t bigots. They just take the Bible seriously, especially when it comes to the policies and cultural norms that have clear biblical connections. This is why Christian conservatives are to the right of the party when it comes to matters of sex, sexuality, and family.

How can elected officials who cheat on their spouses be counted on to promote healthy marriages and strong families?

Neither the political left nor right quite seem to grasp the fact that for many Christian voters, our faith isn’t a brand or trendy belief system. It is the foundation of our worldview and the true north of our moral compass. It is also why we understand that the declaration “Jesus is Lord” is a political statement that upsets both wings of America’s political bird — precisely because it means Caesar is not.

Christians watching the secularization of the Republican Party must begin to prepare themselves for what comes next. The entire political landscape in this country will change if Christian conservatives exit the Republican Party or stop voting in large numbers on the national level. But the coming separation has as much to do with the private sector as it does politics.

Politicians who don’t recognize the role big business plays in degrading our culture will sell out Christian voters at a moment’s notice. They will defend media companies like Disney and Nickelodeon if they even think a few jobs may come to their district. Promoting “pride parades” and drag queens to toddlers is a small price parents have to pay for conservatives who have convinced themselves they actually can serve both God and money.