WASHINGTON (ABP) — James Lankford is typical of the many outsider conservative Republican candidates elected to Congress during the recent midterm elections — with one significant difference. He is also a Baptist minister.
Rep.-Elect James Lankford (R-Okla.)
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Elected to the House of Representatives from Oklahoma’s 5th District, the 42-year-old Lankford unexpectedly beat several more experienced opponents in the GOP primary on an anti-government-growth, anti-deficit platform. Buoyed by the national Tea Party movement that also elected many other outsider conservatives focused on fiscal issues, he went on to win the general election handily.
Lankford is first ordained Baptist minister to serve as a Republican congressman since fellow Oklahoman J.C. Watts retired in 2003.
“It’s definitely not something I expected,” Lankford said in an interview during a recent trip to Washington.
Lankford noted that, beginning in the summer of 2008, he and his wife, Cindy, “both sensed that God was saying to us, ‘Get ready.’”
But, he said, the message wasn’t dramatically supernatural: “No vision in the clouds, no audible voices — just this constant assurance that this is what you’re supposed to do.”
From 1996 until he resigned to run for Congress in 2009, Lankford served as president of the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s youth encampment and one of the biggest facilities of its kind in the country.
While he was passionate about conservative politics from an early age, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate said he never let politics beyond social issues come out in his preaching.
Like many around the country in 2010, his campaign focused much more on fiscal than social issues. Post-election surveys suggest that culture-war issues like abortion rights and same-sex marriage were barely on the radar screen for most voters. Lankford said that was the case in his race.
“Even in Oklahoma — a very conservative state — I was asked very rarely about social issues in the campaign,” he said.
But, he added, “The people see debt as a moral issue.”
Viewing debt as a moral issue, from his perspective, has biblical precedent.
“You go to the book of Nehemiah, and there were two major issues … in the transition of their crumbling city,” he said. “It was the infrastructure — obviously, [rebuilding] the [city] wall, which we’re all familiar with — but it was also debt; the people were heavily in debt to the nations around them. And those were the two issues that Nehemiah took on. And so I think there are a lot of folks who still just inherently see our national debt as a major issue.”
Lankford believes Americans are being irresponsible — and going against biblical advice — by burdening future generations with massive public debt. He quoted Proverbs 18.
“‘A righteous man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.’ We’re not doing that; we’re spending the inheritance of our children’s children. [We’re in] the first generation in American history that I can tell that’s actually, for their own benefit, spending their kids’ money.”
Sharia amendment
During his campaign Lankford steered clear of a controversial religious issue on which Oklahoma voters cast an internationally publicized ballot. By a 70-percent margin, they approved an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would ban judges from referring to Sharia — Islamic law — or other religious codes or international statutes when rendering decisions.
Critics — including many religious-freedom advocates — said the amendment targets a problem that simply doesn’t exist and is an attempt to single out Islam for scorn. A 27-year-old Oklahoma Muslim has filed a lawsuit to halt the measure from taking effect, claiming it violates the First Amendment. A federal judge has temporarily prevented the amendment’s enforcement.
Lankford said he did not take a stance during his campaign on the amendment because it was a state matter, and he was running for federal office. But he said he didn’t believe it was strictly a question of religious freedom.
“No, it’s a legal issue; it’s, ‘What will be the foundation for legal decisions in Oklahoma?’” he said.
Oklahomans have the right to state in own constitution how their courts will function, he continued. “And the statement is: Our courts will function based on state law and the United States Constitution and the parameters of that — not based on international law or Sharia law.”
Lankford and his wife are members of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. He said he plans to base his life out of Oklahoma rather than moving his family to Washington – despite the frequent five-hour flights that will mean for him.
“There are two priorities for that for me,” he said. “One, I want my kids to grow up in Oklahoma with their same friends, our same church, our same relationships so they can have some stability in this process. The second thing is, I think the best way to think like Oklahoma and not like Washington is to live in Oklahoma.”
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Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.
Related ABP content:
Opinion: Sharia and the Constitution (11/29/2010)
Survey: Potential religious landmines for Obama, GOP in next election (11/17/2010)