J.D. Greear: Key Points for Pastors To Remember During This Election Year

“I’m going to say that Jesus consistently stopped when he could have gone farther. And the example I always go to with that is Luke 12.”

“I could go ahead and say, ‘I’m going to go ahead and lay [it] out for you’…But I’m trying to follow what Jesus did and stop and just say, ‘That’s not helpful for me to do right now.’ I’ve been clear on all these things of what the Bible teaches, but that last little bit where you connect the dots, I’m leaving that.”

“I’ve got to preach the gospel to both Republicans and Democrats that, yes, deals with issues of righteousness, but it’s focused more on the heart and righteousness toward God and each other.”

“Jesus at the end of the day did not call me to save America. He called me to evangelize and make disciples of Americans.”

“Peter and Paul and Jesus, they always seem to have an awareness of what’s going to take them away from the mission that God gave to them.”

“The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. And that’s got to shape who we are. I think like a missionary; I don’t think like a chaplain of our society.”

“I would not want to say I want Republicans, Democrats to feel comfortable. I want both of them to feel uncomfortable, maybe some more than others.”

“Is the practical answer I need to convince everybody to vote right? Or is it for me to say these are the things that God gave me to teach about and to proclaim? And I’ve got to keep it clear.”

“I’ve got to teach what the Bible teaches and show restraint the way that Jesus did.”

“Whether it’s just the confusion of, we’re not going to call a man a man or a woman a woman, I think that has devastating things for our society.”

“John the Baptist spoke out against sexual corruption in Herod and he lost his head [for] it. And Jesus didn’t say, ‘Well, John, you shouldn’t have gotten involved in politics. You know, that once you do that, you were going to lose your ability to preach because they’re going to cut off your head.’ He said, ‘No, that’s the greatest prophet ever to live.’”

“Good politics is a way of loving my neighbor, speaking out on issues of righteousness. I’ve got to say that even though it carries with it political overtones.”

“I don’t think our role is to, like I said, equivocate to say, ‘OK, I just dinged one side and I’ve got to ding the other side.’”

“I think you just see a certain element of public restraining and even a certain charity that allows other people to be wrong in their political calculus that doesn’t respond with fear of, now we’re giving away America. I can trust God with that. I will make disciples if I will do faithfully what Jesus told me to do, and then I trust that we will be in our society what he wants us to be, which is to be salt and light.”

“If the point [of me defending myself from dishonesty] is exonerating or vindicating J.D. Greear, I think that’s useless. I’ve just got to trust Jesus the way that Paul did and say, ‘Hey, if you trash me, that’s not my concern. I’m not the guard of my reputation.’ Now, if what you’re saying is actually confusing the message, then yes, I need to speak up on that.”