Robert Jeffress, apostate

Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas, is no stranger to controversy.

He has denigrated Christian ethics by openly proclaiming political power as more important than personal character when choosing political candidates. Time and again he’s asked Christians to disbelieve their eyes about the kind of man President Donald Trump is and has warped Scripture to do so.

Recently, Robert P. Jones, president of PRRI, has made the case that in this era of democratic and spiritual backsliding in America, we must be willing to call out other Christians who support the president’s policies at any cost. Too often, these policies are so far outside the Christian witness that the mental and rhetorical gymnastics leaders like Jeffress must execute to justify them stop being apologetics and become something much darker.

“In his quest for proximity to power, Jeffress has increasingly twisted core teachings of the Christian faith to justify his support of Trump.”

In his quest for proximity to power, Jeffress has increasingly twisted core teachings of the Christian faith to justify his support of Trump. Jeffress’ trajectory from conservative evangelical pastor to Trump apologist has reached its logical conclusion in what can only be called apostasy — the act of refusing to continue to follow, obey or recognize the Christian witness as embodied in the life of Jesus Christ.

Jeffress’ appearance at the hastily organized Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas is not only the latest example of his total moral and spiritual depravity, but I would go a step further and say he has proved himself to be an apostate.

There always have been apostates who preach another gospel message — just ask the Apostle Paul. But Jeffress is especially dangerous because of his proximity to the president and his unfiltered megaphone on Fox News.

Jeffress on Trump’s lack of moral character

The most egregious examples of Jeffress’ total submission to Trump’s will during the president’s first term are well-charted.

In early 2016, Jeffress began appearing with Trump at a campaign stops. At one rally in Fort Worth, Texas, Jeffress threw his weight behind the candidate by assuring attendees, “I can tell you from personal experience if Donald Trump is elected president of the United States, we who are evangelical Christians are going to have a true friend in the White House.”

In October 2016, the Access Hollywood video from 2005 leaked. The video showed Trump bragging about assaulting women. Days later, Jeffress appeared on Fox News to defend his candidate.

It’s worth watching Jeffress’ appearance in its entirety as it seems Jeffress is discomforted by the decision he is making to defend Trump. Perhaps it was at this moment the pastor, in response to the anchor’s question about how he would explain his support of Trump to his congregation, made his deal with the devil:

Look, I might not choose this man to be a Sunday school teacher in my church, but that’s not what this election is about. … I agree with you. I do think character is a very important issue when it comes to leadership. But when people suggest that Trump is now disqualified because of his character, they’re assuming that Hillary Clinton has a better character. … I don’t defend the actions or the words. I also talk about the fact that the Bible teaches we are all sinners who all need Christ’s forgiveness. But when it comes to family values, I would just say that the issue, I think, for conservative Christians in this next election is the Supreme Court.

Just over a week after his Fox News appearance, Jeffress was becoming increasingly comfortable championing a candidate who had boasted of grabbing women’ genitalia. He then spoke on NPR’s All Things Considered:

If the answer is not Donald Trump because he has verbally or otherwise assaulted women, do you really want to put a woman into the White House who supports the greatest assault on women of all? And that is murdering them in the womb before they have a chance to be born. … When I’m looking for a leader who’s going to fight ISIS and keep this nation secure, I don’t want some meek and mild leader or somebody who’s going to turn the other cheek. I’ve said I want the meanest, toughest SOB I can find to protect this nation. And so that’s why Trump’s tone doesn’t bother me.

“Jeffress’ words were notable because with them he clearly and forcefully rejected the character and commands of Jesus.”

Jeffress’ words were notable because with them he clearly and forcefully rejected the character and commands of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus blesses the meek and mild and instructs his followers to turn the other cheek when struck. By Jeffress’ standards, Jesus wasn’t “the meanest, toughest SOB.”

Jeffress would rather embrace Trump than Jesus.

With each passing year, Jeffress has become more and more entranced by his proximity to power and has made increasingly more depraved excuses for Trump’s lack of moral character.

When Trump called Haiti, El Salvador and several African countries “shithole countries,” Jeffress defended the president’s obviously racist remarks, again setting himself against the Gospel message:

What a lot of people miss is, America is not a church where everyone should be welcomed regardless of race and background. I’m glad Trump understands the difference between a church and country. I support his views 100%, even though as a pastor I can’t use that language.

When news broke that Trump had paid off porn star Stormy Daniels, Jeffress appeared on Fox News days later to defend evangelical support for Trump. The mental gymnastics were astounding:

Look, evangelicals know they are not compromising their beliefs in order to support this great president. Let’s be clear, evangelicals still believe in the commandment “Thou shalt not have sex with a porn star,” OK? We are still agreed on that. However, whether this president violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him. … Evangelicals knew they weren’t voting for an altar boy when they voted for Donald Trump. We supported him because of his policies and his strong leadership.

The examples of Jeffress excusing Trump’s lack of moral character are too numerous to chronicle, but for those following Jeffress’ trajectory, there has been a noteworthy shift during the president’s second term.

Somewhere along the way Jeffress, who still leads a Dallas megachurch, went from misusing Scripture to defend an indefensible man to weaponizing Scripture to defame Christ and other Christians.

A pastor who defames the name of Christ

Recently, Peter Wehner wrote a piece for The Atlantic about the allure of Trump for evangelicals. Interestingly, Wehner’s article opens by spotlighting Jeffress’ fawning support for Trump.

Drawing on the work of Kristin Kobez Du Mez, Wehner attributes the support Jeffress and others give to Trump to two major reasons.

First, many in evangelical and fundamentalist Christian communities place significant importance on male headship — and not just any male headship. These circles have embraced toxic forms of masculinity and femininity in which men are aggressive warriors and women are to submit to their every whim. For these evangelicals and fundamentalists, Trump’s history of assaulting women and bragging isn’t a turn-off, it’s a selling-point.

The second reason Wehner finds for the support Jeffress and others give Trump is the president’s cruelty. These evangelicals and fundamentalists are so filled with resentment and rage with the changing culture around them that they want vengeance. Trump has promised them they’d have it, and he has been delivering on that promise.

“Jeffress’ rhetoric since the beginning of the second Trump term has turned ever darker.”

Jeffress’ rhetoric since the beginning of the second Trump term has turned ever darker.

On April 1, at an Easter lunch hosted at the White House, Jeffress appeared at a press conference to offer words of support for the president and his war with Iran. Recounting his words to the president in the lead-up to the 2016 election Jeffress said:

I said, “Mr. Trump, I believe God has appointed you to be the next president of the United States. And if that happens, it’s because he has a plan for you and for our country.” He said, “Do you really believe that, Robert?” And I said, “Yes, sir, I do believe it.” And God brought this to happen. I mean, who would’ve ever thought, who would’ve ever thought that a billionaire real estate tycoon from New York City would usher in a spiritual revival of the United States?

Jeffress then prayed, framing Trump’s presidency as God-ordained and saying anyone who opposed Trump was working on behalf of Satan. As he prayed and all those gathered stood with bowed heads and eyes closed, Trump observed those around him with a smirk.

Father, we thank you that you are a sovereign God. Your word says you are the one who selects kings and removes kings. And in your plan, you have given us a great president, not just once, but twice. … Father, we pray that you would protect them from those who would do evil against them. We realize this is not just a political battle we’re in, it’s a spiritual battle, a battle between light and darkness, a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, and we know you’re going to prevail. And I just pray you would help us be an encouragement to this great president, that you would continue to use him in a mighty way.

Days later, on Easter Sunday, Pope Leo delivered a message to the world in which he called out the violence, war and indifference to human suffering that was overtaking the world:

Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace. Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them. … On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil.

Roughly four hours after the pope’s message to the world as Christians in America were beginning to celebrate their holiest of holidays, Trump took to his social media network. He issued a series of threats against Iran which, if carried out, would have constituted clear war crimes. His message was laced with profanities most Christians regardless of political party should have found unacceptable.

Once again, Jeffress was quick to defend the president — both the threats and the profanity Trump used on Easter Sunday.

If President Trump were a third grade Sunday school teacher in our church, that might be a problem, but he’s not a third grade Sunday school teacher. He’s the president of the United States, and presidents sometimes have salty language. Every president we’ve had, Republican or Democrat, has had salty language.

Less than two weeks later, the president posted back-to-back posts on Truth Social. The first was a lengthy criticism of Pope Leo. The second was an AI-generated image of Trump as Jesus. The image elicited rebukes from conservative as well as liberal Christians, causing the president to delete it.

Even so, Jeffress had no comment on the AI image and instead offered words of support for Trump’s criticism of the pope:

What the president said was absolutely correct. Pope Leo apparently doesn’t have a biblical understanding of what the government’s role is in protecting its citizens from those who would do us harm both from within and without our country.

Less than a month later, a golden statue of Trump was erected at one of the president’s Florida golf courses. Recalling the Exodus story of the Israelites turning against God and instead worshiping a golden calf, many Christians called out the evangelicals who gathered to bless the statue.

Jeffress appeared on Fox News immediately after. While not addressing the golden statue controversy, he came out swinging for his spiritual warrior — his idol — claiming Trump understood the Bible better than the pope.

The pope ought to know, and I think he does know, God created both the church and government for two distinct purposes. The role of the church is to point people to faith in Jesus Christ, but the role of government is to protect citizens from evildoers, according to Romans 13. And look, three days after this conflict began, I was in the Oval Office with President Trump and a few other faith leaders, and he told us that Iran was within weeks of getting a powerful weapon that would destroy Israel, much of the Middle East, and could bring great harm to America, and he had no choice but to act. And I thanked him then for having the courage to fulfill his God-given responsibility to protect our nation. And you know, the great irony is it looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the pope has.

Jeffress at the Republican National Convention in Dallas

All this history brings Jeffress’ appearance at the hastily organized Republican Midterm Convention into focus.

In defiance of the Johnson Amendment which bars churches and their leaders in their official capacities from endorsing candidates, Jeffress appeared at the convention held just blocks away from his church.

“In his appearance, Jeffress blasphemed God’s name.”

In his appearance, Jeffress blasphemed God’s name. Blasphemy is more than simply using God’s name in foul language. It is using God’s name to condone and condemn things and people — wrapping one’s one politics in God language to give it legitimacy.

Jeffress used God’s name to take aim at Democrats, Senate candidate James Talarico and anyone who votes differently than Jeffress. He also used God’s name to falsely claim Trump is divinely appointed.

The apostate’s words are worth quoting at length:

There’s a difference between falling into sin and being an advocate for sin, an advocate for evil. And ladies and gentlemen, the Democrat Party are advocates for evil. …

In Romans chapter two, the Apostle Paul said God has written on every human heart his own law. We all know deep down the difference between right and wrong. Deep down, we know that life is a gift from God and deserves to be protected beginning in the womb. We know we didn’t design ourselves. We didn’t make ourselves. God made us. He oversaw every detail, including our gender. He’s the one who made us male and female. And we know not only that, but we know deep down that God has given every leader, including our great president, Donald Trump, he’s given Donald Trump not just the right, but the responsibility to protect our nation from evildoers, whether they come from without or within our own country. Those are the truths we know, and to argue against those truths is the essence of evil. …

James Talarico describes himself as “a Christian who hates Christianity” and perhaps he was telling the truth about that. No, let’s make no mistake about it. The beliefs of James Talarico are certainly wrong, but they’re more than wrong. The beliefs of James Talarico are blasphemous. They are evil and they are not beliefs that any true Christian could support ever. We must condemn the beliefs of James Talarico. … Ladies and gentlemen, God is never on the side of evil. And if we want God’s continued blessings on our United States of America, it is imperative that on November third, we vote for God’s side.

The United States derives its mandate from the people — not from God. It’s a country of the people, by the people and for the people. God did not appoint Trump to office; a portion of the voting population in the U.S. did.

No longer Christian

We can have differences of opinion on theology and what it means to be Christian. But when a pastor like Jeffress time and again chooses a sinful, evil man over the witness of Jesus Christ, he no longer can be considered a Christian. We must be willing to say aloud that he has left the Christian faith. He is an apostate.

I have been thinking a lot about the final scene in the Netflix series Midnight Mass. A charismatic priest shows up in a small village preaching a new gospel and offering Communion to the church’s parishioners. The people find themselves rejuvenated — healed from all manner of sickness. But then, in the final scene, they learn their priest made a deal with devil and has been serving them not the blood of Christ, but the blood of a fallen angel. Those who consumed the blood turn into monsters themselves.

Jeffress and those who claim the moniker of Christianity must repent. Their blasphemous words and actions give legitimacy to the illegitimate and attempt to project Christ onto what is anti-Christ.

In the words of Peter Wehner, “Narrowing the enormous difference between the Christianity of our land and the Christianity of Christ is the urgent calling of our time.”

 

Mara Richards Bim serves as a Clemons Fellow with BNG and as the first Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas where she recently was ordained to the gospel ministry. She earned the master of divinity degree and a certificate in spiritual direction from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She also is an award-winning theater artist and founder of the nationally acclaimed Cry Havoc Theater Company, which operated in Dallas from 2014 to 2023.

 

Related:

Trump understands Bible better than pope, Jeffress claims

The arrogance of Jeffress’ claims about James Talarico | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy

Robert Jeffress: Trump’s alleged affair with porn star ‘totally irrelevant’ to his evangelical base