If indeed the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, his next best trick was convincing the church to follow something other than Jesus.
As evidence, look no further than the stranglehold white Christian nationalism has on the American church. Polling data for the 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections make a compelling case: Roughly 81% of Trump supporters consistently identify as born again/evangelical.
But if you need more direct evidence, look no further than the behavior of Texas Pastors Josh Howerton and Jack Graham.
Robert Callahan
Last week, Howerton and Graham attacked progressive Austin Pastor Zach Lambert after Lambert shared a post expressing his support for Democratic candidates James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, Jon Rosenthal and Vikki Goodwin. Their insults, couched in terms of Christian orthodoxy, ranged from calling Lambert “apostate” and “heretic” to denying his Christianity.
But if this is true of Lambert, what defense could these denizens of Republican partisanship make for themselves?
Pastors Howerton and Graham are well known religious leaders with large followings. Both boast congregations in the thousands, in a faith modeled in small homes by the first century church. They are beloved figures within a denomination founded over slavery, scrutinized for protecting sexual abusers and seemingly committed to excluding women from their pulpits.
As a former president of that denomination, Graham now holds the distinction of serving as a spiritual adviser to a president who couldn’t name a Bible verse or story that informed his thinking or character when asked to do so by conservative talk show host Bob Lonsbery during a 2016 radio interview.
Then there’s Howerton, who winks as Republican Bo French makes less-than-subtle racist remarks, encourages his wife to call him “sir,” alienated women within his own congregation with course “jokes,” “borrowed” (some might say plagiarized) someone else’s words to apologize in response to the fall out rather than offer his own heart-felt thoughts, and, in 2024, used his pulpit to encourage his congregation to vote for a 34-time convicted felon and adjudicated sexual abuser over the woman with the funny laugh.
“Perhaps it was Lambert’s critique of Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Bo French that stirred the ire of his detractors.”
Perhaps it was Lambert’s critique of Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Bo French that stirred the ire of his detractors. Although considering Paxton’s questionable company, Texas ranking 49th in high school diploma attainment coupled with Abbott’s voucher scheme that achieves what the Supreme Court once held to be an unconstitutional facilitation of segregation academies, Dan Patrick’s dubiously timed receipt of $3 million from a right-wing PAC opposed to the impeachment trial of Paxton which Patrick presided over, and French’s overt racism, perhaps the better question is, “Why do Howerton and Graham find more in common with this Republican cadre than another minister of the gospel?”
True enough, anytime a religious leader expresses support for a political candidate, there’s potential their pastoral influence might overshadow their individual voice. Still, Pastor Lambert did not direct his online followers to vote for anyone. Nor did he disclose his choice in candidates from the pulpit. Nothing here runs afoul of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and those disparaging him have done far worse.
Perhaps it was not the fact that Lambert expressed his personal, political opinion that had Howerton and Graham up in arms. Anyone who even briefly follows Lambert knows him to be a staunch advocate for racial minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and the disenfranchised. In other words, the poor, the widow, the orphan, the marginalized and the oppressed — the same people Jesus ministered to.
I will forever recall one of Lambert’s Twitter posts from 2022 which read:
I’m committed to racial justice because of the Bible, not in spite of it.
I’m egalitarian because of the Bible, not in spite of it.
I’m dedicated to liberation because of the Bible not in spite of it.
I’m affirming of LGBTQ folks because of the bible, not in spite of it.
Society can hardly tolerate such a thing.
And those who have been ostracized from churches such as Howerton’s and Graham’s appreciate ministries that dignify their worth as image bearers. The kind of ministry that preaches good news to the poor, heals the brokenhearted, proclaims liberty to captives, freedom to the oppressed and offers sight to the blind with the gracious favor of a loving God.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” In this era where so many pastors lead with agendas, it is all the more incumbent upon the church to be good judges of character.
Who sets a better example?
Our place as believers is not to pronounce the ultimate judgment on the souls of these men. But we can rightly judge trees by their fruit. And it doesn’t take much to discern who those we follow are following.
Robert Callahan is an attorney and writer exploring faith, race, and healing—particularly the ways white Christianity has shaped the experiences of marginalized Christians. He lives in Waco, Texas, where he graduated from Baylor Law School. His firm handles criminal defense, family, personal injury and clergy abuse cases. His first book, Fire in the Whole, invites readers to see anger not as something to suppress, but as something that can point us toward truth, justice and wholeness.
Related:
Howerton calls Zach Lambert a ‘heretic’ but welcomes Bo French