Raphael Warnock is running for the United States Senate, and the whole nation is focused on the Georgia runoff election that will be held in a few weeks. Raphael Warnock prefers “Rev. Warnock” as a pastor in a major church in Atlanta (Ebenezer Baptist Church) and a historic church once pastored by Martin Luther King Jr. Warnock grew up in the housing projects in Savannah and is a graduate of Morehouse College.
While Raphael Warnock puts his faith out in front in his campaign, there are some massive contradictions that need to be pointed out for any Christian planning to vote in the upcoming election. As a pastor, I believe that Christians should speak to the issues of politics and policy. I believe pastors should address these matters too. As a pastor, I also believe in addressing the positions of other pastors—especially those who openly contradict the faith.
Can a Christian Pastor Support Gay Marriage?
On his campaign website, it states openly, “Reverend Warnock is a proud ally of the LGBTQ+ community.” It is one thing to uphold the dignity and value of every human being, but quite a different thing to become an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. To be clear, there is no way to make Christianity and the LGBTQ+ community compatible.
Back in 2012, Warnock openly opposed the idea of voting against political candidates who supported gay marriage. In fact, he suggested that gay marriage should not be a single-issue election issue. In other words, Warnock was advocating for Christians to vote for politicians who were in support of homosexual marriage. Does that sound familiar to you? In the recent presidential election, progressives were heavily criticizing Christians for single-issue voting positions on abortion.
On the Raphael Warnock campaign website, it states the following:
Reverend Warnock believes that our nation’s commitment to equality is sacred and inviolable. That belief has led him to routinely advocate from the pulpit on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, to mourn in moments of tragedy, such as after the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and to celebrate in times of triumph, as after the Supreme Court’s recognition of marriage equality.
Christianity upholds the imago Dei of all humans. Everyone is created in the image and likeness of God and should have basic human rights as a result. However, that does not mean that every group who comes along claiming equal rights should be given equal rights. For instance, if a group of people arises in America who believes that they should be given marriage rights in order for them to marry their pet (insert whatever animal one desires to marry), does that become a civil rights matter?
The Bible is explicitly clear regarding homosexuality. The first Father to give away His daughter to her husband took place in a lost paradise known as the Garden of Eden. It was there that God united Adam and Eve and blessed their relationship. God gave them the command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). Everything about God’s creation, including marriage, was good.
At the beginning of Genesis, we see that God’s creation (including marriage) is classified as good. In the third chapter of Genesis, sin enters the scene and things drastically change (Rom. 5:12). By Genesis 16-19, we see perversions to marriage such as adultery and homosexuality. As Genesis continues to unfold, in chapter 34 we see fornication and by chapter 38 incest and prostitution enters the scene creating disunity, division, and all of this type of sin drastically affects the family and causes the downgrade of marriage.
The Bible is filled with warnings regarding the sanctity of human sexuality and the need for marital faithfulness. Under the Law of God, homosexuality was punishable by death (capital punishment). We see this in verses such as Leviticus 20:13, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” God made clear his view of homosexuality when Sodom and Gomorrah engaged in homosexuality. In Genesis 19:23-29, God poured out his wrath upon the wicked city of Sodom.
In the New Testament, we find Paul’s words to the church in Corinth very clear. He writes the following in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
In short, practicing homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. However, as Paul makes clear, God saves homosexuals and adds them to his church as we see in the church at Corinth. Christians have a commitment to God to uphold the sanctity of marriage and human sexuality. As a professing Christian and pastor, Raphael Warnock has refused to take the right stand and failed to protect the institution of marriage from a cultural redefinition. Today he continues to use the LGBTQ+ community as a means of growing his political support as he postures himself as an ally—a voice who will stand for their freedom and rights.
Would Warnock accept practicing homosexuals as members within his church? That’s a good question for people to be asking. Would he officiate a homosexual wedding? Regardless of his answers to these questions, the point is obvious—Raphael Warnock is not the right choice for Georgia and he’s not the right choice for America. Warnock is certainly not the right choice for the Christian voter.
Can a Christian Pastor Advocate for Abortion Rights?
One of the most fundamental verses in Scripture is found in Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.” Most Christians and many non-Christians know this verse because it’s one of the Ten Commandments.
On the Raphael Warnock campaign website, we find the following statement:
Since his time as a teen peer counselor in high school and his work with the Georgia Department of Health during college, Warnock has fought to increase safe and affordable access to contraceptives and achieve reproductive justice for women and families. While working with the State, he also helped author a statewide curriculum for uniform training for Georgia’s teen peer counselors. As Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, he has carried that work forward by centering choice and justice in his ministry.
Raphael Warnock desires for everyone to know where he stands. He tweeted the following on December 8th, “I am a pro-choice pastor.” As a liberal and progressive social justice proponent, Raphael Warnock advocates for “reproductive justice for women.” It also states that he centers “choice and justice” in his ministry. What exactly does this look like? Should churches write into their annual budget a line item devoted to paying for abortion for young mothers who simply can’t afford to pay for it? Is that reproductive justice? Exactly how far does Raphael Warnock want to press the issue?
Since abortion was legalized in America in 1973, nearly 60 million little babies have been murdered under the banner of “reproductive freedom.” Raphael Warnock pastors Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, also known as “America’s Freedom Church” because of the link to Martin Luther King Jr. However, is Raphael Warnock really an advocate for freedom when he advocates for the killing of hundreds of thousands of little black babies in America every single year?
According to Warnock, a woman’s right to choose “is a decision between her and her doctor – not the government.” At what point does God factor into the equation? What about holy Scripture? The fact is, Warnock is more committed to the government and to social policies than God and holy Scripture.
Raphael Warnock is more committed to the sanctity of voting rights than the sanctity of human life and marriage. Warnock is committed to opposing any attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. By now, as a Christian, you should be feeling the obvious tension between “Christian pastor” and the positions of Raphael Warnock.
This is not a partisan issue. This is a biblical issue. Raphael Warnock’s positions contradict the fundamental teachings of Christianity.
via G3 Ministries
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