Josh Howerton, a controversial Dallas-area pastor, suggested his congregation back the "flawed" Trump-Vance ticket in November's 2024 presidential election.
Last Sunday, Lakepointe Church senior pastor Josh Howerton delivered a dense, roughly 45-minute sermon titled, "How to Vote Like Jesus," in which he repeated GOP rhetoric in a veiled attempt to convince his Dallas-Fort Worth congregation how to cast their votes in November's election.
With an air of edginess, Howerton paced on stage while describing how too many Christians have been incorrectly comparing the act of voting to performing sacraments. He recommended they should rid themselves of the idea that presidential candidates, including former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, must be perfect. Instead, he suggested people vote for the politician they believe best upholds their religious values.
"Any Christian that's got a Bible open and their brain working ought to be looking at both of the candidates we're looking at and going, 'Man, I see some flaws in both things I got in front of me,'" Howerton said. "Jesus is not on the ballot, guys. Get over it."
Older white Baptist pastors including Robert Jeffress, 68, of First Baptist Dallas have openly expressed their support for Trump, while liberal-leaning pastors, especially in historically Black churches, have backed Harris. By comparison, Howerton, the 41-year-old megachurch pastor who's gained a reputation onlinefor telling a misogynistic "old preacher joke" and then allegedly plagiarizing his apology, is representative of a younger generation of white, social media-savvy, nondenominational theological bros across the country. The majority of this group has recommended—either directly or indirectly—that their flock vote for Trump as the best available option to defeat the Democrats, who they believe are destroying a Christian nation.
Speaking to a congregation of about 20,000 members and 340,000 Instagram followers, Howerton identified three types of biblical leaders during his sermon: 1) the righteous King Josiah; 2) the unrighteous Ahab and Jezebel; and 3) the flawed King Jehu. Howerton mostly refrained from speaking the names of politicians. However, he seemed to cast Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the "unrighteous" and Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance as the "flawed" in this scenario. "We all want a King Josiah. But sometimes, God uses a flawed leader for good purposes," Howerton said to applause. "A flawed leader used to do some good things is better than suffering under wicked leaders."
Howerton argued five topics he believed all "thinking Christians should be thinking about" and repeated GOP claims to describe his views on abortion, border security, religious liberty, family and transgender rights. For example, Howerton described his support of Trump despite his shifting stance on abortion and refusal to sign onto a national ban. "We do not currently have a consistently pro-life candidate in this race," Howerton said. "Strangely, Donald Trump is responsible for the greatest victory for the protection of the unborn in two generations in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. He has now moved left more towards the center of American popular opinion." So, why would Howerton vote for Trump? "The other side is far worse," he said, later adding that Democrats view abortion rights as "something that should be celebrated, paraded and promoted as a moral good."
Howerton falsey claimed that the "trans refuge" law signed by Walz in Minnesota allows the state to engage in kidnapping transgender children. The state government, Howerton said, can "take your kid from you … and have done so." However, PolitiFact, citing legal experts, concluded that the Minnesota law "does not authorize the government to take custody of children whose parents don’t consent to them getting gender-affirming care."
"Which candidate will oppose the erasure of gender through transgender ideology," Howerton said. "We don't get to decide if we're a different gender and to support that idea is to call God a liar, to rebel against the created order, to erode the family and to contribute to mental illness." Lakepointe did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday.
The pastor named his sermon "How to Vote Like Jesus" after a book written by his mentor Mark Driscoll, the controversial leader of an Arizona-based nondenominational church who co-founded the now defunct Hill Church in Seattle. Howerton credited Driscoll acolytes for helping him craft his message, including Pastor Robert Ketterling of Minneapolis and Pastor Ryan Visconti, who recently welcomed Vance to speak at the Generation Church in Arizona where he too made false claims about the state of Minnesota taking your kids if you don't allow them to receive gender-affirming care.
Over the weekend, Howerton seemed to reinforce the idea that he wasn't endorsing a candidate. Although he didn't flat out tell the congregation he was voting Republican, he made it clear that he opposed the "unrighteous" Harris-Walz ticket and therefore believed Jesus would've cast his ballot for the "flawed" Trump-Walz campaign to win the election.
"I am not here to seek the approval of man. I am not here to seek the approval of a party. And I am not here to seek approval of a politician. I am here on behalf of the living God," Howerton said. "Your convictions ought to pull your either vote right or left. But ultimately, the most important thing is that your heart goes up into the kingdom of God so that the Holy Spirit can come down on your life and bless your life. That’s what matters."
Howerton received a standing ovation from the congregation.
https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-pastor-josh-howerton-voting-19826458.php