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It’s a simple fact. Evangelicals in America overwhelmingly vote Republican. According to Pew Research, 85% of white evangelicals vote Republican, as do 57% of Hispanic evangelicals. The exception is black evangelicals who vote up to 15% for Republicans.
Who is praying on the wall?
That’s a sizeable chunk of the electorate and enough to impact an election, especially the upcoming mid-terms. It may be why the Left is repackaging an old devilish attack to attract the conservative Christian vote, and it’s straight out of the Devil’s Counterfeit Playbook.
As Bible-believing Christians, we know Satan is a liar… he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it [lies]. (John 8:44)
Since the Garden of Eden, the devil has been a master counterfeiter. He’s especially skilled at taking God’s truth and twisting it just enough to deceive, confuse, and ultimately lead people astray. He knows Scripture better than most Christians. He unleashes false teachers to hijack biblical language, quote Scripture (often out of context), and redefine God’s doctrine to be more “appealing”.
A Page Out of Satan’s Playbook
Today, the Left is taking a page out of Satan’s playbook to deceive evangelicals into voting for the Left’s candidates. These candidates claim to be people of Christian faith, and yet they twist Scripture to support abortion, the LGBTQ+ agenda, gay marriage, woke theology, and most diabolically, they dismiss Christ Alone as the only way to salvation.
The Left then boastfully claims ‘God believes as I do’!
But Scripture tells us that, like the Devil, they are liars too. Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? (I John 2:22.)
Sadly, instead of standing firm in the truth of God’s Word, many prominent and self-described Christian evangelicals are not speaking out against the heresies of these new self-identifying Christian politicians, but are promoting these leftist candidates as…
The Real Christians and Better than You!
For years now, we’ve seen churches with Rainbow flags preaching a woke theology masquerading as Leftist politics. This woke theology seeks to replace God’s everlasting Truth with their own political and cultural “truth” of the moment, and ignore John 17:17, Your word is truth”?
Most Evangelicals clearly recognize the outright woke crazy and are not falling for the outrageous heresies. For instance, the Lutheran pastor who wed two Satanists (now running for Congress), as well as… Jesus transgendered himself when he washed the disciples’ feet… sin does not exist… the great commission is racist… God would announce the birth of Christ today to drag queens in queer nativity scenes… ICE agents are like the hated evil tax collectors in the Bible… and so on.
The Left pretty much has the crazy woke apostate vote locked up. But they fear it’s not enough to win elections, especially elections in the red states they desperately need in the midterms to gain Senate and House majorities. It’s why they need the evangelicals who come out to vote in greater numbers than almost any other demographic.
So, the Left is making a subtle shift in how they approach Christians, and especially the evangelicals, or as the Left truly thinks of us – the bigoted, hateful, white supremacist, Christian Nationalist vote.
They are changing their tune, at least in public. Instead of hostility, remember Obama’s ‘bitter religious clingers’, they’re now claiming that evangelicals have been sold a ‘fake’ Christianity, and asking Satan’s question to Eve, “Did God really say that?”
Did God Really Mean That?
The Left’s religious progressive response to Satan’s question goes something like this:
“No, of course He didn’t really say that, and if He did, it doesn’t mean what you unlovingly and unkindly think it means. We love our neighbors more. We’re kinder, more loving, and more just than you could ever hope to be following that mean God of yours. Our God loves us best. We are the real Christians, and we’re better than you.”
Or, as Hillary ‘the basket of deplorables’ Clinton recently stated, “I believe that Christians like me—and people of faith more generally—have a responsibility to stand up to the extremists who use religion to divide our society and undermine our democracy.”
In case you were wondering, the extremist in her view is anyone who is submitted to the authority of Scripture… and yet was so misguided as to vote for Donald Trump. And dividing our society means ‘being slat and light’ in a fallen world.
As an example of the Left’s new approach, let’s look at one Senate candidate in Texas pretending to be more Christian than you. He’s out on the campaign trail teaching false doctrine and twisting the Scriptures to suit his own needs.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-16)
Unfortunately, his candidacy is being propped up by many who claim to be Christian conservatives, but in their anti-Trump religious fervor, they ignore Scripture and simply acknowledge how nice and pleasant this Christian candidate is – a vast improvement over who they call the ‘MAGA Christian’.
The candidate and his supporters have a smiling disregard for God’s Word and are imitating holiness wrapped up in social justice and loving their neighbor. His new supporters are trying to get their Christian audiences to ignore the heresies he speaks, because he’s so ‘Christ-like’.
They are willing to trade ‘sound doctrine for what their itching ears want to hear’ (2 Timothy 4:3-4) and are deliberately deceiving Christian voters.
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The Left thinks it has found its political savior to make inroads into the evangelical demographic in James Talarico, a Texas state representative from Austin who is running for the U.S. Senate. He’s male, white, and preaches a faith that looks like Christianity but is really advocating far-left extremist positions as biblical truth. He is the Left’s manifestation of a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing.’
He says his faith is the basis for his political views. His faith recommits him “to the unfinished project of a multi-racial, multi-cultural democracy.” He describes Christian nationalism as “an attempt to dominate our neighbors instead of loving them as ourselves.”
When Talarico was asked what the greatest commandment is, he replied: “to love our neighbors”. When Jesus was asked what the first and greatest commandment was, he replied, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)
Is it loving God to misquote Him, dismiss Him, and redefine His Word to “suit your own greed?” (2 Peter 2:3 NASB)
Talarico claims he wants to “reclaim Christianity for the Left.” Colin Reamer of First Things First describes Talarico as “one of the most naturally talented communicators to emerge from the progressive Christian world in a generation. He is warm without being saccharine, pointed without appearing mean, and fluent in the language of Scripture.” But Mr. Reamer goes on to say that Talarico’s Christianity is stripped of “doctrinal substance and refilled with the priorities of the DNC or the Democratic Socialists of America.”
Talarico holds all the far-Left positions – anti-capitalism, pro-socialism, white privilege, pro-LGBTQ+, anti-ICE, open borders, pro-abortion, and pro-trans (he doesn’t even call women women, but my ‘neighbor with a uterus.’). He opposes having the Ten Commandments displayed in public schools, saying it is “deeply un-Christian” and an “act of violence”.
Tallarico’s False Teachings
Talarico describes himself on the campaign trail as a man of faith, a dedicated follower of Jesus, a Presbyterian, a seminary student studying to be a pastor with the authority to speak on spiritual matters… yet his teachings are not mere debatable interpretations of Scripture but are hard-line heresies that he says Jesus is okay with. It is a counterfeit faith.
Don’t take my word for it. Here are a few of his “teachings” in his own words:
► “God is non-binary” – there is neither male nor female. He points to Galatians 3:28 for his teaching and says, “If someone’s got a problem with that statement, they should take it up with the Apostle Paul.” Yet the Apostle Paul was talking about spiritual equality in Christ, not biology.
►Mary gave her “reproductive consent” for God to become flesh in her womb, so you can trust the women of Texas to make their reproductive decisions for themselves. That is proof that God sanctions abortion, even though Mary replied she was a servant of the Lord, Let it be to me according to Your Word. (Luke 1:38)
►“Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us exactly how you and I… are going to be saved. By feeding the hungry, by healing the sick… Nothing about going to church… nothing about even being a Christian.” Talarico ignores Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works. His “teaching” is nothing more than recycled ‘Salvation by Works’ refitted for the Left’s social justice agenda.
►“Other religions of love point to the same truth of Christianity. I have learned more about Christianity by learning more about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. These beautiful faith traditions are circling the same truth.” He ignores the central tenet of the gospel, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
► “God is silent on abortion.” No, no, he’s not. See the Sixth Commandment, Psalm 139:13, Deuteronomy 30:19, Jeremiah 1:5. “Being Christian and being pro-choice are absolutely consistent because Christianity is a feminist religion. Jesus was a radical feminist and never mentioned abortion.” So Jesus must have been pro-abortion, right?
It appears that Talarico lumps together any Christian who believes in Bible-based morality as a dangerous Christian nationalist and accuses us of not loving our neighbor. What’s more, he spews his heresies with a great big scary smile.
Marinated in a Progressive Church
It’s not surprising that Talarico is so deceived himself. Since childhood, he has attended St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, where the LGBTQ flag is displayed over the cross. St. Andrews proudly proclaims abortion is a “moral and social good,” and financially supports Planned Parenthood, the Lilith Fund, Out Youth Austen, and other far-leftist groups. They reject masculine terms for God because “if we wanted to design a rape culture, sexist theology would be a good blueprint.”
His pastor and spiritual mentor, Rev. Jim Rigby, doesn’t believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection of Jesus. He says we don’t have to do a single thing Jesus commanded us to do. He ridicules the gospel that Jesus died for our sins, and believing in Christ crucified and resurrected is how we are saved. Plus, he hopes that God has a “handle on that anger problem by now.” Talarico says this man showed him what it means to act with “courage from the pulpit.” Is courage then defined as ridiculing the gospel and denigrating God’s Word?
Having been marinated in such an apostate church, it is no wonder that Talarico subordinates the authority of Scripture to the modern morality of secular Leftist politics and calls his teachings “the gospel.”
The “Talarico” Faith Movement?
Unfortunately, his message is fooling many self-described conservative Christians on the right. They applaud Talarico as a “refreshingly decent and Christian witness.”
Mike Cosper, author and recently director of media at Christianity Today, said on a CT podcast earlier this year, “As evangelicals, there’s something good about seeing certain aspects of Christianity represented in the public square in the way that I think Talarico is doing it. I’m more encouraged by Talarico’s expression of Christianity in the public square than by a lot of what we’ve seen in MAGA world.”
Phil Vischer, author and creator of Veggie Tales, and host of the Holy Post podcast, isn’t concerned with Talarico’s false teachings. He writes, “The label ‘heretic’ gets thrown around way too easily these days. If you profess the Nicene Creed & the Apostles’ Creed, you count as a legitimate Christian. Period. Christians will always disagree about important political & social issues and matters of doctrine. But at the end of the day, if someone affirms the essential truths outlined in the creeds, they are not heretics or apostates.”
As Megan Basham said in a recent interview with Eric Metaxas, even Satan “could affirm the Nicene Creed. That’s not the issue. The issue is your obedience to Christ.”
David French is a self-proclaimed evangelical conservative commentator who writes for the New York Times. He is quite vocal in his disdain for President Trump and is impressed with Talarico’s politeness and calls him “the most faith forward politician” in politics today.
French says he disagrees with Talarico on some issues. I would ask, like what? That Jesus is Savior and Lord? Or that God created male and female? Ordained marriage is to be one man and one wife? Or to choose life? French never says.
Instead, French says that Talarico is giving people hope. Hope of what? Eternity in heaven and to live in the presence of the glory of God? Or hope for a Democratic pickup of a Senate seat in Texas? In his column, James Talarico is a Christian X-Ray, French wrote:
“Talarico is one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian, he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years.”
French is also impressed with his kindness and openness to his opponents, “That, to me, that’s acting like a Christian.” Unlike MAGA Christians who have turned cruel and unloving to their neighbors, he says. I guess it’s unloving to stand for biblical truth regarding marriage, gender, life, and redemption in Christ alone.
Talarico himself says that Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, and atheists in the Texas legislature are more Christ-like than the Christians he knows. To Talarico and French, being nice, open, and affirming makes you a better Christian instead of following the truth of God’s Word.
Plus, French admires Talarico’s intellect, saying he “doesn’t just root his policies and ideology in his Christian beliefs” but is a seminarian willing to dive deep into theology.
In an interview with Christian podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey, French dismisses Talarico’s unbiblical positions on abortion, transgender surgeries for children, the non-binary God, and his theology that claims all religions have the “same truth” as Christianity. Instead, he calls them policy positions, not heresies, and refuses to question Talarico’s faith.
“I’m just really not willing to say that James Talarico is not a Christian. I’m just not going to do it,” French said. “I’m just not writing these people out of Christianity. His conduct elevates him as a good Christian example.”
Can someone who denies the biblical truths of Christianity be held up as a Christlike example? Can we really say, like the French and others do, “hey, he’s a Christian just like us, he just views the God of the Bible differently than we do.” Instead, are we not compelled to say there is nothing about his political doctrine that is Christian? Are we not to call out his heresy, no matter how politely he speaks of it? Let’s turn to the Bible for the answer.
Warnings against False Teachers
Over 50 New Testament passages speak of false teachers and prophets. Jesus and the Apostles Paul, Peter, and John repeatedly warn of the dangers of listening to them.
Jesus warned of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 warns of false apostles, deceitful workman masquerading as servants of righteousness and compares them to Satan who masquerades as an angel of life. John in 1 John 4 also warns against false teachers, saying they are from the world and the world listens to them. Jude warns against godless men, who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus.
In 2 Peter 2, Peter warns that there will be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute… these men are springs without water.
The Left is desperately seeking a white Christian guy who can convince evangelicals, with his smooth, friendly, Scripture-quoting lies, that the Left’s radical positions are as American as apple pie and Jesus-approved.
Talarico, in his heresies, claims to love his neighbors better than we do, holding his moral authority higher than the truth of God’s Word, and falling for Satan’s lie to Eve… “you will become like God”.
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:16 NIV)
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14 KJV)
Let’s Pray
Lord, we pray for James Talarico that he, along with all political candidates and elected officials, will humble himself, repent of his heretical positions, and put his full trust in Christ. We pray that all deceivers who speak wrongly of Your Word will be silenced and You will set them free from being manipulated and used by the devil. Grant them repentance, and may they stand firmly upon Your Holy Word.
Lord, we ask that Jesus Christ be declared the Son of God, the one who Saves, the Living Word, and the Way, the Truth, and the Life in every church that claims to follow Him. Protect the true Church from the lies of the false teachers. Help us to be wise and discerning about false teachers. Give us holy boldness to expose the lies of these false teachers and warn others about them.
And may we be obedient to Your Word and not be quarrelsome but be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. May we gently instruct opponents, in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26 NIV). In Jesus Name, Amen
How are you praying about the left’s corruption of Christianity? Share your prayers and scriptures below.
Belinda Brewster analyzes cultural, political, and world events from a biblical worldview. Belinda’s passion is to equip, support, and encourage parents and grandparents who are courageously battling against the spiritual and cultural forces impacting children and grandchildren. Photo Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images.
