Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University, hearts Donald Trump. He publicly endorsed him earlier this year, bypassing other practicing Christian candidates like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, or Jeb Bush, for The Donald. You know, the guy who thinks “Two Corinthians” is a book in the Bible, and who doesn’t think he needs Christ’s forgiveness.
Apparently Jerry Jr., who is an attorney and not a pastor, thinks that Trump is qualified to be a fit candidate for evangelicals because he throws money at Christian groups, as he explained on the FoxNews program moderated by fellow Trump lickspittle, Sean Hannity.
So Jerry Jr. and his wifey were thrilled to meet with their Orange Crush yesterday at a an evangelical summit yesterday. They had their picture taken with him in his very own office with the Ain’t I Great walls!
Honored to introduce @realDonaldTrump at religious leader summit in NYC today! He did incredible job! @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/e2eBSbQwb0
— J L Falwell (@JerryJrFalwell) June 21, 2016
Oh, but what is that in the background?
At least it’s not Penthouse, right Jerry? pic.twitter.com/nXBk0bNT4Y
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 21, 2016
Why, yes, it’s a Playboy magazine cover.
It didn’t take long for the internet to discover the gaffe.
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell Nice Playboy cover in the shot! Really brings out colours of the hypocrisy on display.
— JordanHeath-Rawlings (@TheGameSheet) June 21, 2016
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/bT9zGejWhj
— Gabriel Schoenfeld (@gabeschoenfeld) June 21, 2016
Jerry Jr. fired back, sounding a bit like his Overlord.
https://twitter.com/JerryJrFalwell/status/745443179080495105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse responded with a blistering retort. Oh, snap!
That's not the text, Pastor.
Jesus came to comfort the poor & humble; not bow before those claiming worldly strength https://t.co/uIA1LWBxxD— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 22, 2016
So Jerry Jr., floundering away, used Jesus’s well-worn command to “judge not” as his fallback position.
https://twitter.com/JerryJrFalwell/status/745474842246287361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Here’s the too-often misunderstood passage about judging others from Matthew 7:1-2:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
That doesn’t mean Christians shouldn’t judge others. It’s a warning against hypocrisy. As my Lutheran Concordia Self-Study Bible says,
“The Christian is not to judge hypocritically or self-righteously . . . To obey Christ’s commands in this chapter, we must first evaluate a person’s character — whether he is a “dog” or a false prophet, or whether his life shows fruit. Scripture repeatedly exhorts believers to evaluate carefully and choose between good and bad people and things. . . The Christian is to test everything.” (Boldface mine.)
How ironic that Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of probably the best-known Christian university in the nation, and son of Jerry Falwell, Sr., the pastor who sued Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, has not carefully evaluated the character of the man whom he slavishly supports. Enjoy your Trump-Aid, Jerry. Can I offer you a Playboy for your perusal while you guzzle it?
That evangelical summit was an absolute joke. So many testing/telling questions were purposefully sidestepped. And Pat Robertsons coaching of his 700 flock yesterday in support of Trump… I haven’t heard that much butt licking in a long time.
Should 2 Peter 3 apply here?
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