Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of the 13,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He is prone to making rash, public statements that draw media attention. Jeffress said recently on Fox News, “If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.” President Trump then sent out a tweet on his Twitter account, quoting this Jeffress comment. Jeffress is not new for Trump to hear on his favorite TV network–Jeffress is a Fox News Contributor. Jeffress’ Sunday sermons are broadcast on 900 television stations into 195 countries. That covers pretty much the entire planet.
I have attended First Baptist Church of Dallas multiple times. Some Southern Baptist pastors have a reputation for being loud, dogmatic, and flamboyant. Those who are usually aren’t that educated and, may I say, intelligent. Having lived as a devout Christian and church-goer in the great State of Texas for nearly forty years, I’d say Texans are at the top of the pile on this one.
However, that isn’t the case with Mr. Jeffress. He graduated at Baylor University, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
On the evening of the inauguration of President Trump, Jeffress preached a sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. which President Trump attended.
Evangelicals like Jeffress had a lot to do with Donald Trump becoming the U.S. president. Pew Research Center polled voters and learned that 81% of evangelical voters in the 2016 election voted for Donald Trump as president.
I think that was a shame. I have been an evangelical all of my adult life. But ever since Trump became president and before, I have been distancing myself from evangelicals. It is mostly because they have become foolish about politics. I used to believe that as a Christian, when you walk through the door of a church you should leave your politics outside the door. I adopted this belief when I departed from Berachah Church in Houston in 1970. It was because pastor Bob Thieme was so political, and I was getting tired of it.
Yet, here I am being political with my blog. But it’s only because Donald Trump has become our president and I believe he is such a threat to our democracy. I’m just trying to warn Americans about it. Jeffress doesn’t see this; rather, I guess he thinks like Franklin Graham, that Donald Trump as president is God’s gift to America. I believe they are fools about this; it will become evident in the future; and evangelicals will have a tarnished reputation in the world because of it.
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