David Platt Says Political Convictions like ‘Anti-Abortion’ are Idolatry

Staff Writer

Two years ago, David Platt gave an earnestly couched ultimatum to church members who were upset and contemplating breaking fellowship with other congregants who were promoting, working for, or voting for the pro-baby-killing Democratic party: maybe you should leave.

Platt stressed the importance of the church’s unity, saying that peoples’ eternity is dependent on seeing unity in the church, which is why “We exalt Jesus by not letting tension and division from politics creep into the church.” He unironically says that the church must “take evil seriously and avoid it. I see temptations in an election to treat evil lightly, to minimize, overlook, cover-over or even engage in it,” and then explains to members:

Do not divide the church over political positions, convictions, or calculations that are not clear and direct in God’s word… We will not tell people to vote for this candidate or that party…I fear calling you to do something that I can not show you clearly and directly in God’s word he has called you to do…

I have full confidence calling you to oppose abortion and to defend the lives of children in the womb because God makes his work in the womb clear in Psalm 139. You cannot follow Jesus as a member of this church and advocate for abortion. 

I have full confidence to call you to promote a biblical understanding of sexuality and marriage because God makes his definitions of male and female and marriage clear in Genesis 1 and 2 and throughout the rest of the bible. You cannot follow Jesus as a member of this church and disregard God’s word in these ways.

…So then how do you vote? For this candidate? For that candidate? For third candidate? For no candidate? And I don’t have a verse that answers that question for you. Different, genuine followers of Jesus will therefore come to different conclusions on the answer to that question. And assuming you are applying God’s word as prayerfully and as wisely and as faithfully as you know how to your political decision, then we will not break fellowship in Christ over that decision.

Now as soon as I saw that, I realize some people think we should break fellowship in Christ over the vote. Some people think, ‘I cannot be in the same church with someone who votes for Biden.’ Other people think, ‘I cannot be in the same church with someone who votes for Trump.’

And if you think either of these things, and I say this as thoughtfully and compassionately as I know how, Mclean Bible Church may not be the right church for you. Because we are not going to divide over the vote here. And if you think we should, if you think I or other pastors in this church should promote a political candidate or party, and you think this is worth dividing the church over, then I’m sincerely sad about that, because I treasure our fellowship together in Jesus, but at the same time I’m truly happy for you to be in another church as long as that church is preaching the gospel.

Platt offered that people in his church are allowed and encouraged to have strong political views and share them, explaining:

Individually we will all steward our vote and our voice according to our convictions, as men and women who are accountable to God and his word. And some of us will even campaign or work for political parties, or candidates according to our convictions, which is right and good. But let us be clear about the banner that brings us together as a church.

That was two years ago. In a recent conversation with Carey Nieuwhof, Platt reiterates his insistence that we do not engage in the idolatry of personal and political conviction, which he describes as “elevating those things above Jesus and that which is most clear and direct in his word.” He references the aforementioned sermon:

So as an example, there was one Sunday in late 2020, when I said we as a church are not going to divide over who you vote for in this election. If you think we should divide over that, then this is probably not the best church for you and we would encourage you to be in a bible-believing. In gospel, preaching church, that shares that conviction.

..So here’s what’s behind that. I’ve got three buckets in my mind. The first bucket being the gospel- that which is clear and direct in God’s word that all Christians, followers of Jesus hold on to. Then I’ve got a second bucket in my mind that brings us together in local churches. And I realized there’s different Christians who have different convictions about baptism than I do, or church leadership or church government than I do.

…And then third bucket issues would be issues where we agree to disagree, even in the church. And so, we said, we’re putting how you vote in an election, in a presidential election in the third bucket. And if you think it should be in the second nugget- and I actually thought that, I genuinely thought that was not a controversial statement to say that this is way down.

And there were people who passionately disagreed about that third bucket in our church, and they stayed in our church. There were some who said, ‘okay, I’m going to be somewhere else.’ But I just, I don’t think it’s wise, biblical for us to elevate how you vote in a presidential election to the level of the substitutionary, atonement of Jesus.

…So that would be an example of where I think we have idolized some of those convictions.

Platt’s position, of course, is terminal because he sees evil as a political issue, rather than a moral one. He states, “You cannot follow Jesus as a member of this church and advocate for abortion.” Yet, apparently you can promote, campaign for, vote for, and ostensibly run for office for the party that does all it can to advocate for, protect, expand, entrench, and promote it.

He says you can’t follow Jesus as a member of his church and advocate for abortion. Still, you can do all you can as a member of his church to see the party that wants to paint the town red with the slurry of chopped-up baby viscera emerge victorious and win the House, Senate, and Presidency, and then enact a rule of terror for the unborn that will be unmatched in the history of the country.

Mclean Bible Church won’t say anything about it or condemn it as long as the Democrat-promoter is “personally pro-life.

In fact, you could promote a party that openly calls for the enslavement of black people and reinstates the notion of persons of color as the property of white folk, and the elders of Platt’s church would support that, letting you wallow in the tension.

After all, that’s just a political, tertiary church issue, and black folk should not desire to leave the church simply because their pastor or worship leader or kid’s leader three rows back and one seat left plans to vote for the party that wants to see them back in chains. Right?

By calling it ‘Idolatry’ he’s saying that if you as a fellow member don’t want to fellowship with that man or woman seeking to achieve this foul and polluted end – the one voting for the party of scrambled baby skulls or lynching black folk, then you’re part of the problem, the meddler and troubler seeking to cause disunity, and you can feel free to leave.

h/t The Dissenter