I am fairly confident that the world did not pay much attention to the press release of the NAE this week. And that is not because The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is short on potential influence; it represents nearly 40 different denominations. In theory, their press release should speak for millions of evangelicals. But like I said, I am fairly confident that the world did not pay much attention.
The reason for my confidence is that they were being "good little Christians." And by putting "good little Christians" in quotes, I mean that they were compliant. The NAE readily conformed to the talking points of the legacy media.
The NAE is a Washington-based lobby. It purports to represent and speak for millions of Americans who believe in salvation by faith in Jesus' atoning death. An individual membership is $50 a year. A small church could join for $100, a mega-church is ten times more. They also offer memberships for schools, businesses, and non-profits. The membership is supposed to buy professional eyes & ears to keep tabs on legislation and regulation, and to be your voice in advocating for evangelical interests. Their paid lobbyists are supposed to work to influence political outcomes on behalf of an evangelical paradigm and worldview.
Sadly, or disturbingly, or both, the National Association of Evangelicals is very far afield from representing me.
The press release is titled, "NAE Denounces Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol." Right off the start they have used the buzzword insurrection. That is over the top. Protesting demonstrable election fraud is not equivalent with rebelling to overthrow a legal government. The NAE doubled down and repeated the term in their introductory paragraph.
Yesterday Americans and people around the world witnessed a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection epitomizes the rancor and polarization present in our country. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) denounces the violence at the U.S. Capitol as well as the nation’s longstanding vices that led to this chaos.
Insurrection is right up there at the level of coup, mutiny, and sedition. The protest was none of that. The Trump supporters were protesting the stealing of their votes, and they were doing it peacefully. They protested by singing hymns and waving flags. Other than the insurrection hyperbole, it would have been a good, strong paragraph— except that in the body of the press release they misidentify the "nation’s longstanding vices."
The second paragraph leads with "Followers of Jesus are peacemakers." That statement is true enough if you want to hang it on a tree like a Christmas ornament, but in this context, it was a complete mischaracterization of purpose. They could have said, "Followers of Jesus are Justice seekers." That would have stayed on topic. True peace cannot exist without justice. The Lord loves justice (cf Is 61:8). It is one of the foundations of His throne (cf Psalm 97:2). He commands his people to seek justice and rebuke the oppressor (cf Is 1:17). Jesus exhibited behaviors that ran the gamut of emotion. Peace was only one of them. He also expressed outrageous zeal on occasion. And he wept. And rebuked. And was move by compassion. And he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (cf Luke 9:51) The world need not wad its panties if Christians set their face to go to DC.
Furthermore, the NAE made the topic sentence into an absolute. Since when is being an earthly peace maker more important than being a justice seeker? I can tell you when it was Not More Important for Jesus!
"Do you think that I came to give peace on the earth? No, I say to you, but rather division." Luke 12:51If you have a red letter Bible, that verse is in red. So is its partner in Matthew 10:34. I posit that the NAE should not be clobbering evangelicals with off-topic accusations! When I am imploring the Heavens for Justice, don't point your finger at me about not being a peacemaker.
The next sentence is, "Some images from the protests demonstrate a disturbing conflation of Christianity and a nationalist ideology that is far from the way of Jesus." That is simply sucky theology. I don't have the time to argue it here, but the Tower of Babel proves that God is a nationalist. The antichrist spirit is the globalist. For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations, Psalm 22:28. Go ahead, search the Psalms and discover that the Lord reigns over nations. At the second coming, Jesus will rule over nations (cf Revelation 19:15). NAE is wrong. Christianity blends and fuses nicely with nationalism.
The press release continues, saying that Christians are commanded to seek unity. Surely they cannot mean unity with evil! But, yes, when you diagram the sentence, they are unconditionally saying to seek unity with the city where you live. Remember when Lot tried that? It was not an optimal experience. Sadly, in the mindset of the NAE, the church has already been carted off to Babylon and we should happily endure our oppressors. Bunk!
In the third paragraph, the NAE laments the "painful reminder of racism that plagues our country." This is another "go-to" of the legacy media's talking point. The January 6th rally was not about racism. It was about the utter failure to investigate election fraud seriously. It is disgusting that the NAE tries to inject racism into a Stop the Steal rally.
The fourth paragraph of the NAE press release began with a flat-out lie and ended with satiric irony befitting the Babylon Bee. Read it for yourself:
The mob at the Capitol was provoked by leaders, including President Trump, who have employed lies and conspiracy theories for political gain. Evangelicals are people who are committed to truth and should reject untruths.
If the NAE was committed to truth and rejecting untruths, they could never have accused President Trump of employing lies and conspiracy theories for political gain. Seriously, they do not have a clue about what makes him tick and they are plumb wrong about both his method and his motive. This is a display of massive, hypocritical disrespect for a duly elected, sitting President. 1 Timothy 2:3 and 2:1 say that it "is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior" when "entreaties, prayers, petitions. and thanksgivings" are made for those in authority. Funny, but I did not see "calling them liars" on that list.
The truth is that peaceful protesters were infiltrated by provocateurs. There is an abundance of video evidence and testimony from law enforcement to support that. There were videos of men in police uniforms opening barricades and admitting the crowds, even directing them. Planned and Staged. And for the first couple days following, there were braggarts on social media admitting to it, although many of those posts have since been scrubbed once a few of them were arrested. And when they were questioned after being arrested, no, they were not Trump supporters. Some were BLM, some were antifa, and two were off-duty police officers from Virginia! Plus, CNN photo-journalist Jade Sacker, disguised as a Trump supporter, was caught on video storming the Capitol and saying “we did it!”
"President Trump had more than 80 rallies between Labor Day and the 2020 Election. In all these events, (totaling over 1.1 million people) not a single window was broken, not a single policeman attacked or an attendee murdered. (GP)" The same cannot be said for the Left—
The truth is, between 2017 and 2020, the Senate office was occupied by leftist protest mobs three times, protesting everything from border security to the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. None of these were labeled as insurrection or domestic terrorism. Instead, several Democratic senators joined the occupation of the Hart Building in the Senate and declared "this is what democracy looks like."
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So who is the NAE really serving? I am saddened by their shallow, prissy theology. I'm disturbed by their worldliness. And honestly, I would not be surprised if Jesus would call this press release an evil treatise. The NAE cast their lot with the globalists, against liberty loving Americans, to walk with the weak who want to compromise and make a false peace, with those who want unrestricted abortion, who devalue marriage and promote gender dysphoria, and who will assuredly abandon Israel.
I am fairly confident that the world did not pay much attention to the NAE because it is playing along with them in self-righteousness.
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• Has the NAE issued a press release condemning platforms for tramping on a sitting President's free speech? No. Don't they understand that under the guise of political sanctimony they are restricting the freedom to legally preach the gospel as well?
• Did the NAE include a statement in support of the right to peaceably assemble? No. Don't they understand that by siding with a Baal-driven media that they are cooperating with those who would regulate their membership out of existence?
• Did the NAE condemn certifying ballots while evidence mounts that the count was inaccurate? No. Don't they fear knowingly participating in fraud? Is that what Jesus would do?
• Does the NAE not know that separation of church and state is a myth for any God-fearing person? I do not know where they stand on that; I know God should not be put in a box, nor should He be barricaded outside of it.
• Does the NAE distinguish between the peace of the kingdom of God and peace with men on earth? Judging by this press release, not always. The kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (cf Romans 14:17). It is wrong to trade the real for an earthly version of peace.
An organization that is serving the True Jesus does not scold victims of injustice, avoid calling out obvious fraud, and push for conciliatory, peacemaking alliances with evil. The press release was chiefly perfunctory and did just that: scolded, avoided, and advanced the propaganda of the leftist media. It promoted the narrative of how the world thinks the church should act, therefore the world does not pay much attention to what they have to say.
2020 was the year that Jesus was Done with Lukewarm. Those who choose to stay tepid in faith so that they can get along in the world will be spit out. Vomited, actually.
Going forward, there is no more fence sitting. We cannot placate the world by making treaties with it and then expect to draw the covenant-promise blessings of heaven. Some of the promises come with a conditional availability: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33. Seeking peace with the world first does not score the "added unto."
If we wish to speak with Holy Fire that will grab the attention of a lost world, we must give up virtue signaling for their acceptance and first seek the kingdom of God.
The world... hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil. John 7:7
