A lawyer asked Jesus a question to test Him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. A second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:34-40).

An interesting debate was stirred a couple weeks ago when Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that the political Left prioritized illegal immigrants over their fellow American citizens. Vance said:

“There’s this old school—and I believe a very Christian concept, by the way—you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus on and prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that. They seem to hate the citizens of their own country, and care more about people outside their own borders. That is no way to run a society.”

He went on from there to say that President Trump has prioritized “America first,” which doesn’t mean you hate anyone else, he said, but it means you put the needs of your own citizens first.

In his response, Vance appealed to natural affections first: “There’s this old school idea.” He then also said it’s “a very Christian concept.” The latter part of that statement got more people in a tizzy than the first, because now Vance hasn’t just appealed to common sense—he’s appealed to the authority of Christ.

I’ll address the arguments being raised in a moment, but first let’s get a right understanding of what Vice President Vance was referring to. Is it a Christian concept that we love our family first, then our neighbor? And if so, where do we find such a command in the Bible?

Arguments for the Ordo Amoris

In theology, this is called the ordo amoris, Latin for “order of affections” or “order of loves.” This has been attributed to Augustine of Hippo who presented this concept near the end of his famous work City of God, written in the fifth century.

Said C.S. Lewis, “St. Augustine defines virtue as ordo amoris, the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind of degree of love which is appropriate to it.” Augustine said our highest love is to be our love of God, and then everything else we do and love should be in obedience to Him and to the glory of His name.

You’ve probably also seen other forms of an ordo amoris, like in the U.S. Marine motto: “For God, Corps, Country.” Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, or maybe you’ve said it yourself, “God first, others second, yourself third.” This is also seen in that kitschy JOY acrostic: “Jesus, Others, You.” A husband and father understands that he should love his family first before he loves anyone else outside his household. That is a naturally sensible ordered love. And as Vance said, this is also a Christian concept.

While the Bible does not lay out an exact list of ordered loves, we can easily deduce priority from the instructions God has given. Jesus said to first love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. “This is the great and first commandment,” He said, and a second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.

Here Jesus gives an order of love: we are to love God first and foremost, then love others. If you love God, you will love your neighbor, with a love that flows out of the love of God. It is possible to love your neighbor and not love God. But to think that you can love without God is self-righteous. Love becomes something subjective and humanist, turning His ordo amoris upside down.

We find many other places in Scripture where we can piece together an ordo amoris. Ephesians 5-6 gives us an order of love. First, we honor Christ (Eph. 5:21). A wife is to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ, and a husband is to love His wife as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:22 and 25). A father is to love his children by bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).

As I’ve shared with many couples in counseling, you are to love your spouse first before you love your kids. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your children. It doesn’t mean you hate them. It is rightly ordered love. You create the most stable home environment when you prioritize love for God first, then love for each other, then love for your children. Your children will know you love them when they see you love God and each other first.

When the Bible talks about the qualifications of a pastor, it mentions that he must love his family before he loves his church, or else he’s not qualified to be a pastor. Keith Foskey, pastor of Sovereign Grace Family Church in Jacksonville, FL, put it like this:

“A man making the members of his home a priority is in the very qualifications for an elder. If he doesn’t care for his home, how can he care for the members of his church? (1 Timothy 3:5) This proves there is a priority for a godly man that begins at home.”

The Apostle Paul went on to tell Timothy, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Even unbelievers know this basic concept of caring for your own. How much more incumbent is it upon the Christian?

Furthermore, the Bible tells us that we prioritize our love for each other in the church before those who are outside the church. As Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” So certainly, love everyone. But make sure the needs of your church brethren are met first.

So again, the Bible doesn’t lay all of this out in a concise list, but based on what God has said, we rightly order our affections to loving God first, others second. That’s the most simplified list as found in the Bible. In that list of others, if you’re married you should love your spouse most, then your children; then people within your family, especially your parents (Exodus 20:12); then your local church, then the greater body of faith; then your own neighbors, city, country, and the world.

After all, when Jesus sent out His disciples to share the gospel, He said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It began in their own city, then country, then spread out from there. The greatest way we show love to our neighbor is by giving them the gospel, for it is only by faith in Jesus Christ they will be saved from judgment.

Arguments Against the Ordo Amoris

Like I said, the pushback against Vice President Vance calling this a Christian idea was immediate and fierce. Dr. Laura Robinson of Duke University said, “This is not a Christian concept. Vance is just making stuff up and he knows his audience is so ignorant about Christianity that they’ll believe him. You are among that number [if you believe him].”

She went on to say, “I just can’t get over how insanely angry it makes me watching people respond to this with, ‘Yeah! That’s what the Bible teaches!’ It is translated at a fourth grade reading level, and it is free online. You are all idiots.” My, she sounds completely hinged and loving of her neighbors, doesn’t she?

Rory Stewart, a professor at Yale, said Vance’s comments were “A bizarre take on John 15:12-13, less Christian and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love.” (Considering Stewart is a former Minister of State in the UK, isn’t that a little self-defeating?)

Why does Stewart think Vance was referring to John 15:12-13? It’s there Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down His life for His friends.” Going on to verse 14: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Is that not ordered love?

Earlier in John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” So where should our affections begin? It begins with love for Christ, and then to other followers of Christ.

A fellow who goes by Randy Lazarus said, “Isn’t this the exact opposite of what Jesus teaches about loving thy neighbor ‘as thyself’? ‘If you love only those who love you, what reward will you get? If you greet only your own people, what more are you doing than others?'” (Matthew 5:46-48).

The response to this is quite simple. Notice that Jesus said, “If you love only those who love you, what reward will you get?” The ordo amoris is not an argument for loving only those who love you; it’s about rightly prioritizing your responsibilities—according to what God says about love, not according to how you feel about it or what our society says about it.

A software engineer named Lucas Barker from New Zealand said, “The idea of loving in a hierarchy from a family outward isn’t supported by biblical teachings. Instead, Christianity emphasizes universal love.” He then gave a list of love your neighbor, the Good Samaritan, loving your enemies, and being one body in Christ. “This indicates that in Christian doctrine,” he said, “love is meant to be expansive and inclusive, not hierarchical.”

Lucas defeats his own argument in two ways: first, he argued against a list of ordered loves by giving a list of ordered loves; second, he cannot nor has he ever loved everyone inclusively the same. If Lucas is married, does he love his neighbor’s wife with the same kind of love as he loves his own wife? If he says yes, I guarantee you his wife will have something to say about that.

David Pearce from the UK said, “Jesus’ teaching on love is radically inclusive,” (there’s that word again), “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Indeed the whole point of the parable of the Good Samaritan is to undermine the idea of prioritizing love based on closeness. Mass deportations are un-Christian. JD Vance should reconsider.”

No, the whole point of the parable of the Good Samaritan was to expose hypocrisy. Jesus was responding to a lawyer who was “desiring to justify himself” (Luke 10:29), and Jesus showed the lawyer that he doesn’t actually love his neighbor. You fail to love your neighbor in even the most basic of ways. So how can you expect to inherit eternal life? (The answer of course is by faith in Jesus.) I would be willing to venture that Mr. Pearce, desiring to justify himself, if he was really honest with himself, would find that he’s nothing like the Good Samaritan either.

Thabiti Anyabwile of Anacostia River Church in Washington D.C. said of Vance’s comment, “This may be an ‘ol school’ concept. But it’s not ‘a very Christian concept.’ He’s describing natural affection, a fleshly notion of love. He’s describing self-love spread over a wider area. He’s not describing Christian or supernatural love. The kind of love that is ‘very Christian’ loves the enemy, the widow and orphan (who is by definition not your family), and the stranger (by definition not your clan, ethnicity, race or nationality).”

I don’t know what Thabiti is going on about. It is in fact very Christian to love your wife and not commit adultery—that is exactly contrary to the inclinations of our flesh. Commands to love one’s enemy, to love the orphan and widow, and to love the stranger are in the Old Testament as well as the New. Surely Thabiti knows that your enemies may consist of members of your own family. I speak from experience. But I digress.

Thabiti is being hypocritical here. He, a black man, has previously said he would choose the black community over the church. I pointed this out to him: “You have said you are going to choose black solidarity over Christian solidarity. Was that fleshly or Christian?” By the way, he made this comment on X on May 30, 2020. I’ve been trying to get him to respond to it for years. Well, he finally did.

He replied, “You choose solidarity with the vulnerable and oppressed—whether black, white, Christian, Muslim or Jew. It’s the mistreatment that forms the basis of solidarity. You don’t simply show solidarity with your group, for that would often lead to group prejudice and partiality.”

Once again, this is ordered loves: the vulnerable and oppressed get priority. But Thabiti doesn’t actually believe this. The most vulnerable and oppressed group of people in America are unborn children, over 1 million of whom were murdered by abortion last year. But Thabiti has been a long-time fan of Kamala Harris, the most pro-abortion presidential candidate the United States has ever had. So he does not meet his own standard of the ordo amoris, choosing solidarity with the vulnerable and oppressed.

You might notice that the basis of all of these appeals is personal feelings, not what God’s word says. Dr. Laura Robinson elicited a very emotional response when she said “how insanely angry it makes” her that this is even in the Bible. It makes her insane, she said. Why? Because she hates God’s word.

Joash P. Thomas, a theologian in Canada who calls himself a Human Rights Leader (these days, that’s code for being pro-abortion and pro-LGBTQ), said of the Vice President’s comments, “I am a theologian trained at one of America’s top conservative evangelical theological seminaries. This is not a Christian concept. It’s a western individualistic one.”

A fellow who goes by Dave Adrift said, “Scripture begs to differ.” He referenced 1 Timothy 5:8, which again says that one who doesn’t care for members of his own household is worse than an unbeliever.

Thomas replied, “Jesus begs to differ.” Did you catch that? Thomas—Mr. I Was Trained at a Top Conservative Evangelical Theological Seminary—just said Jesus begs to differ with Paul, His apostle, who spoke the very word of Christ. Again, the word of God is not the authority here—Joash Thomas’s feelings about it are the authority, to the point that he fight God’s word with God’s word. It’s Satan once again rearing his ugly head and hissing, “Did God REALLY say?”

This is dangerous ground and not a mere difference of opinion. Jesus said, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48).

Arguments That are Not the Ordo Amoris

There is another group who is twisting this discussion over the ordo amoris to claim that ethnic descent, even appearance and skin color, is a basis for how you order your loves. You should actually show greater love for people whose skin looks like yours, they will argue.

The group I’m thinking of is not the Woke, Black Lives Matter, or the Social Justice Warriors. The group I’m referring to has been called the Dissident Right. They once repudiated the label White Christian Nationalism, but it seems they’ve since taken a liking to it, and they’re actually growing in popularity among professing Christian young men.

A young investor named Josh Haywood said, “You are much more related to your white cousins across the pond than foreigners in our own country.” Haywood claims to be part of Heritage America, which C. Jay Engel describes as “centered around the experience and norms of Anglo-Protestants.”

Corey J. Mahler, who was excommunicated from his church over unrepentant racism, said, “If I, as an American of Germanic extraction, were to have a child with an African woman, I could fly to England—not even Germany—and any random White man I passed on the street would be more closely related to me than my own child.”

Joel Webbon, pastor of Covenant Bible Church in Austin, TX, said on his talk show, “Every young man in the world can pick up their phone and in 15 seconds can see that the average IQ in Haiti is 67. And any Christian minister who denies that will not have any credibility… because you’re a liar. You’re a liar. You cannot be a minister of the gospel and be a public liar. You’re disqualified from ministry from lying. You can’t be a liar and be a minister of the gospel.”

Well I picked up my phone, and in 15 seconds I discovered that the average IQ in Haiti is between 82 and 98. So has Joel disqualified himself according to his own standard? It’s ungracious, not to mention prejudiced, to think so little of an entire people group because you believe some mythical stat you found on Reddit or X. It’s then legalist and Pharisaical to pin the qualifications of a pastor on the acceptance of that bogus statistic.

Caio Rodrigues said in response to this, “What does the average IQ of any nation or people group have to do with a pastor’s call to preach the gospel to them? Why is this even being disputed or talked about from the office of a church pastor?”

An anonymous account that goes by Son of Japheth said, “Yes, I am a racist. No, that isn’t a sin.” As of the publication of this article, that comment has 79 likes on X. I’d sure like to see which if any pastors liked that.

Back in November, James White confronted this racism creeping into Christian circles saying, “If you can’t understand that the imputed righteousness of Christ and presence of the Holy Spirit makes someone more close to you than any amount of blood and soil, you’re not a Christian.”

Stephen Wolfe, who wrote The Case for Christian Nationalism, responded to White, “This is how theology becomes an absurd ideology. Sharing the ‘imputed righteousness of Christ’ provides no means of cooperation, covenant, consent, deliberation, etc. to achieve the most basic goods of civil society. It doesn’t provide a common language, let alone common laws, customs, culture, etc. This really is moronic. Please just think it through for a sec.”

What is the difference between Wolfe’s comment and Thabiti’s, when Thabiti said, “Black solidarity before Christian”? Ideologically speaking, Wolfe may be on the political right and Thabiti on the political left, but are they not both arguing for a kind of solidarity that is greater than the reconciling blood of Jesus Christ?

It was in April two years ago that Wolfe made the comment, “White evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America.” Not all Christians—just the white ones are the moral bastion of hope. Wolfe embraced leftist tactics to divide people into constituencies according to skin color, and he put white voters in a higher moral tier.

In the words of my friend Samuel Sey, “This is what happens when we attempt to create an identity or a tribe based on ethnicity, instead of Christ.” There are those even among professing Christians who will try to find a reason to not have to love certain people or to find a reason to love them less. This is not ordered love but disordered.

Closing Thoughts on the Ordo Amoris

A woman named Dawn asked me, “What did Jesus mean when He said to love your neighbor as yourself? I am not sure it has ever been defined to me over the years. I have my own thoughts of course but curious as to how you interpret.”

To love your neighbor as yourself means you do not consider your neighbor as less than yourself, but you love him as yourself. The same concept is given in the golden rule: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Included with loving your neighbor is to love your enemy. Consider the way Jesus framed this command: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 4:43-44). The Jews wanted to separate out their enemies in a different category than their neighbors. Jesus showed them that loving your neighbor means also loving your enemy.

I know this may astonish some people, but you can actually love your enemies and still prioritize love for your family. You don’t love your enemies at the expense of your family. You also don’t just ignore the evil things that wicked men do and not punish them. The Bible is clear that a people who neglect to do justice in fact do not love their neighbors (see Isaiah 1:10-20).

God’s law also instructed His people to love the sojourner as their neighbor: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34). But even the sojourner had to obey the Law of God. If even a sojourner sacrificed his children to Molech, he was to be stoned to death (Leviticus 20:2).

This whole conversation about the ordo amoris came up in the context of Vice President JD Vance answering questions about immigration reform—especially regarding the deportation of immigrants who are in America illegally and do not obey America’s laws. None of the people who hate these reforms explain how deporting them is un-Christian. All they do is deny that the ordo amoris is Christian, and beyond this they are unwilling to lift a finger (Matthew 23:4).

I like the way Abigail Dodds of St. Paul, MN, summed up this discussion: “The ordo amoris in a nutshell,” she said. “Everyone wants to save the world but no one wants to help mom with the dishes.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The order of love starts with loving God above all. Loving one another begins at home, loving those in closest proximity to you, and there should be nothing remotely controversial about that. Love God, and love others. Love your family, and love your neighbor. Love your church, and love your enemies. That’s the order of love.

Psalm 102:25-27 say, “Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years have no end.”

Another year has come and gone, but it is another year that God has shown Himself faithful, working all things for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Let’s look back at 40 of the biggest Christian headlines for 2024. This will be part 1, covering the first half of the year from January to June. I’ll post part 2 next week.

I do this Year in Review at the end of every year on my podcast (which you can find here). I look at multiple Christian news websites to compile this list, and this will obviously be from an American perspective though some international headlines are included. Links to sources are provided. Without further adieu, here are the first 20 major headlines in Christian news for 2024.

1) JANUARY 19
Alistair Begg Advises a Grandmother to Attend Her Grandson’s Gay Wedding

This story actually begins in September of last year, when on his radio program Truth for Life, Alistair Begg talked about advice he gave to a grandmother who was asking about attending her gay son’s wedding to a man who claimed to be transgender—thus making this a gay wedding. Begg advised the grandmother that she should go to the wedding to show her love.

“I suggest you do go to the ceremony,” he said. “Your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.'”

These comments did not surface until January of this year, and it erupted into a worldwide conversation over whether a Christian should attend a gay wedding. Solid Bible teachers such as John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, and Carl Truman weighed in to say no.

Said Mohler, a Christian should not attend such a marriage ceremony because a Christian doesn’t believe that’s a marriage at all. Marriage should be between a man and a woman, and to attend a re-definition of the ceremony would be to participate in a celebration that a Christian cannot endorse, and would therefore be bearing false witness to a marriage that isn’t really a marriage.

Said John MacArthur, “The most loving thing you could possibly do would be not to go, and to condemn the relationship. That is loving. It is not loving to help somebody celebrate stepping into the fury of God’s judgment.”

Given the opportunity to recant, Begg doubled-down on his position and referred to some of his detractors as Pharisees. His radio program was dropped by American Family Radio and The Reformation Network, and he was disinvited from speaking at the Shepherd’s Conference in March.

Later in September, Begg announced his intention to retire as senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, OH, where he’s been preaching since 1983. His retirement will be effective in September of next year.

2) FEBRUARY 11
Online Sports Gambling Reaches an All-Time High

Get this: It took 89 years to go from one state with legalized sports betting to two states. It has taken less than six years to go from two states to 39 states, with Missouri becoming the most recent to legalize online sports betting this year.

Americans wagered over $20 billion in the Superbowl and would later wager billions more during March Madness. Now why is that considered a Christian headline story? Well in states like Alabama and Texas, where sports betting is not yet legal, the strongest opponents against it are Christians.

Greg Davis is a baptist pastor and president of the Alabama Citizens Action Program. They oppose gambling, he says, because of its harmful and addictive nature. Texas Baptists stand opposed to legalizing gambling in the Lone Star state. United Methodists have traditionally opposed gambling, calling it a “menace to society” according to their social principles.

The ease of online sports gambling is going to make that menace even larger. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:10). And Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”

3) FEBRUARY 15
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex “marriage” became legal in two countries this year: Estonia and Greece. Estonia actually legalized it last year, but the new law took effect on January 1. Then in February, Greece legalized same-sex marriage when it passed through parliament. In January of 2025, same-sex marriage will be legal in Liechtenstein and Thailand, and that will bring the total to 38 countries worldwide.

The Bible says God created marriage to be between a man and his wife only. Jesus repeated this again in Matthew 19. And the apostle Paul wrote, “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, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Nations who approve of such an abomination are under the judgment of God.

4) FEBRUARY 25
John MacArthur is Right About Martin Luther King Jr.

On February 19, in a Q&A session at Grace Community Church in LA, pastor John MacArthur was asked about the drift that has occurred in formerly gospel-faithful collectives such as The Gospel Coalition and T4G (Together for the Gospel).
Within his four-and-a-half minute answer, MacArthur made a 30-second comment about Martin Luther King Jr., whom both TGC and T4G had honored as a man of God. MacArthur said that although King did a lot of good in the Civil Rights movement, he wasn’t a believer and lived an immoral lifestyle.

That is true. I’ve said the same thing. I did a video pointing out that King denied the bodily resurrection of Christ and preached other heresies. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” On top of this, King was a serial womanizer, known even to his friends and those who deeply admired him.

Well that short snippet set off a firestorm of controversy. Numerous faith outlets and even secular sources covered that short comment. An article disagreeing with MacArthur’s correct assessment became one of the most read stories published in Christianity Today for 2024. Justin Peters also reviewed MacArthur’s comments in a video on his channel. You can watch it here.

5) MARCH 10
The Chosen’s Drama

“The Chosen” might be the most popular television show on the planet. They have reached over 200 million viewers in 2024, with a goal to reach a billion as the show continues. This is the first multi-season serial drama about Jesus and His disciples, but it’s largely speculative in its storytelling, not biblical.

Creator of “The Chosen,” Dallas Jenkins, says their metric for their storytelling is to ask, “Is it plausible?” He’s said that 95% of what you see in the show isn’t in the Bible. This reinterprets the parts of the show that are from the Bible, setting them in a different context. “The Chosen” should not be thought of as a biblically faithful adaptation.

Season 4 of the show dropped in 2024, surrounded by a lot of off-camera drama. Jenkins and company had signed a new deal with Lionsgate which got the show into more theaters, but it hindered the show from being released on their streaming service. Eventually all that drama got ironed out and Season 4 was released, but “The Chosen” had to sever its longtime deal with Angel Studios. They also added an additional streaming contract with Disney.

Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus in the show was a special guest on “The View” on ABC. I mean, when your Jesus is welcome among those wicked women, it’s not the true Christ of the Bible you follow. Dallas Jenkins was also interviewed by Jordan Peterson, one of the foremost thought-leaders of our age. More on Peterson later.

6) MARCH 11
Former Only Fans Porn Star Nala Ray Shares Her Testimony

A young woman who went by the name Nala Ray was one of the most popular porn stars on Only Fans (do not look up this site). She was pulling in six figures per month, having made $14 million in her five years on the website. Then late last year, she walked away from it, renouncing a life of porn and being baptized a Christian. She immediately removed all of her videos from Only Fans.

On March 11, she posted a video to Instagram briefly sharing her testimony. She was interviewed by Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire. That interview and clips from it have been viewed millions of times. She also interviewed with Lecrae which has also been seen a million times.

She’s also received backlash, from both Christians and unbelievers, who doubt that her testimony is genuine. Personally, I have no reason to believe she’s not a Christian. But I say this with great care for your soul—you would be better off not looking up who she is. Even though she’s not distributing her own pornographic content anymore, there are others who are and it’s still connected with her name (you’re safe to watch the interviews I’ve linked to above).

There may need to be a greater conversation about this in the long term, about whether men and women who have made porn content can continue to be so public on social media, or should they take time away from the limelight. It was only a year ago Nala Ray was making porn. Now she’s sharing her testimony about how she turned to Christ. Praise God for that. But shouldn’t she be stepping away from the attention to work out her own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)?

America’s porn addiction made a lot of headlines in 2024. Congressman and pastor Dusty Deevers of OK was made fun of by Jimmy Fallon for introducing a bill that would make sexting illegal. Stats this year revealed that somewhere between 60 to 70 percent of men and women consumed porn. And at the end of 2024, the website Porn Hub will be banned in 13 states in the U.S.

7) MARCH 25
Most Americans Don’t Go to Church

Gallup released poll findings which revealed that for the first time, as long as these numbers have been studied, over half of Americans (56%) seldom or never attend church. Only 30% say they attend church on a weekly or almost weekly basis.
Among the different beliefs, the Mormons are the most devoted, with 67% attending weekly services, 44% of Protestants attend weekly, 38% of Muslims, and only 33% of Roman Catholics attend church on a weekly basis.

There was also an increase among those who would say they are unaffiliated with any religion calling themselves cultural Christians. In an interview on Easter Sunday, famed atheist Richard Dawkins, once known as one of the four horsemen of new atheism, said that he’s a cultural Christian. And the world’s richest man Elon Musk has said the same about himself.

8) MARCH 26
Donald Trump Promotes the Trump Bible

Though the headlines and the jokes read that Donald Trump came out with his own Bible, he didn’t. Trump made a commercial promoting the Lee Greenwood Bible, or as Greenwood is selling it, the God Bless the USA Bible. It’s a printing of the King James Bible which includes the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s famous song “God Bless the USA.”

The Bible has actually been in print for several years. But because Trump made an ad for the Bible, it became known as the Trump Bible, and as you can imagine, people went absolutely bananas over the whole thing. But despite all the sanctimonious jokes, mostly by people who don’t read the Bible, Donald Trump has not published or hawked his own Bible.

9) MARCH 29
Joe Biden Names Easter Sunday “Trans Visibility Day”

On Good Friday, the day that Christians traditionally reflect on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins, President of the United States Joe Biden issued a proclamation that Easter Sunday, March 31, would be Trans Visibility Day. (The absurdity of that name is that if the trans movement is anything, it is most certainly visible.)

On Easter Sunday, Biden said, “Today, on Transgender Day of Visibility, I have a simple message to all trans Americans: I see you. You are made in the image of God, and you’re worthy of respect and dignity.” Yes, the same verse that says God made them male and female (Genesis 1:27) is the verse Biden twisted to say, “Nah, forget biology. Be whatever you want to be.”

These are the hopeless and destructive lies the world is pumping out every day. How is the church to respond? We must preach the gospel. They’re going to say, “God gave you the wrong body, and we can help mutilate it for you.” But the gospel says Jesus gave His own body, and He will redeem yours for you.

10) APRIL 8
Another Total Solar Eclipse Crosses North America

Now, surely you understand how the Solar Eclipse had an impact on Christian Life. All kinds of false prophets were coming out of the woodwork proclaiming doom and gloom on America because for the second time in 7 years, we were getting a cross-continent solar eclipse.

It was going to pass over cities named Ninevah and Salem (short for Jerusalem), and the two paths of the solar eclipse, the one in 2017 and the one in 2024, crossed over Rapture, IN. None of that has anything to do with anything. Obviously, we are all still here.

This actually cheapens any real study of eschatology, or the study of the end times, and makes a mockery of the gospel before unbelievers. Solar eclipses are entirely predictable and naturally occurring. They have nothing to do with passages of Scripture that talk about the sun darkening.

Jesus said no one will know the hour or the day. But we do know the hour and the day of the next solar eclipse. It will be in Europe on August 12, 2026, the first total solar eclipse to be seen in Europe in 27 years. But since it will only be visible in Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain, I predict you won’t hear hardly a peep from these false prophet eclipse priests.

11) APRIL 10
The Cass Review Destroys the Transgender Narrative

The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People, also called the Cass Review, was commissioned in 2020 by the National Health Service of England. Led by pediatrician Hillary Cass, the study was published on April 10, and found what common sense people already knew—that giving puberty blockers and so-called gender-affirming surgeries to teens and minors is really, really bad! Permanently damaging, physically and psychologically.

At the end of the year, the US supreme court listened to arguments regarding a bill in the state of Tennessee that would block these procedures for minors. Of course, the liberal judges who can’t tell their right from their left are all on board with transing kids, but the rest of the court will most likely uphold TN’s ban. We’ll wait and see.

12) APRIL 16
Mark Driscoll is At It Again

The annual Stronger Men’s Conference, put on by James River Church near Springfield, MO, has often featured pyrotechnics and circus act performances as part of the spectacle that comes with their Pentecostal programming for men.

Disgraced pastor Mark Driscoll, who abandoned Mars Hill Church ten years ago and now pastors a church just up the road from me, has been involved in this conference for years. But at the conference in 2024, they featured a stunt from a guy who has performed this stunt on on shows like America’s Got Talent.

In the stunt he takes off his shirt, swallows a sword, ascends a tall pole, turns upside down, and rapidly descends the pole, stopping just short with the hilt of the sword mere inches from the ground. Driscoll got up to speak after this death-defying stunt, and he called it pagan, where this guy who was a stripper ascended an Ashera pole on an alter to a false god.
Driscoll was removed from stage, there was days of drama between him and pastor John Lindell, some defended Mark and others were critical… Ultimately, this was just more of Mark Driscoll being Mark Driscoll, making the most of an opportunity to sell his current book on spiritual warfare. Both sides were a sideshow act. (You can see my conversation with Justin Peters about it here.)

13) APRIL 19
Taylor Swift Releases “Tortured Poets Department”

Now who cares, right? I certainly don’t. Taylor Swift claims to be a Christian, but she’s clearly not. She openly mocks God on the album, in one song calling her fornicating lover the “Holy Ghost.” She’s ripped Christians in her songs before, for not being accepting of LGBTQ perversity. She’s a serial adulteress and embraces just about everything Satan loves.

And yet she’s adored among many Christians. The Gospel Coalition has done several often disturbing articles praising of Swift. This year, they published an article on the gospel in her lyrics. Back in February, a high school made headlines for hosting the Taylor Swift Bible Study. And in May, over a thousand people attended a Taylor Swift-themed church service at the historic Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg, Germany. Yes, that Heidelberg.

As 2 Peter 2:18-19 says of Swift and other false musical prophets, “Speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”

14) APRIL 28
John-Paul Miller Announces His Wife Mica Committed Suicide

Now this is just an incredibly sad story that happened at a church in Myrtle Beach, SC, but it held the world’s attention for a few weeks. John-Paul Miller was the pastor of Solid Rock church and announced on Sunday, April 28, that his wife Mica had committed suicide. He made the announcement at the end of a sermon he just preached as if nothing was wrong.

From there all kinds of drama ensued. It was discovered Mica was in the process of divorcing John-Paul. His first wife Alison, mother to their five children, came out and accused John-Paul of having sex with minors and prostitutes. One of the women he committed adultery with was Mica before he eventually married her.

The next Sunday, John-Paul talked about raising Mica from the dead and thought he had successfully achieved it. Later in May, a video was posted to Facebook showing John-Paul in what appeared to be a drug-induced psychosis laying on someone’s lawn and mumbling incoherently. He returned to the pulpit in September, then in November, he was arrested for assault and let go.

This is a man who has no business ever being a pastor again, and shame on the people who keep putting him there (see 1 Timothy 3:1-5 and Titus 1:5-9). I pray he repents and seeks Christ, or the day of judgment will not go well with him.

15) APRIL 28
Russell Brand is Baptized

Also on April 28, Russell Brand was baptized in what was probably the highest-profile baptism of 2024. In case you’re not familiar with him, Russell Brand is a comedian and actor turned cultural commentator from the UK. He was formerly married to pop star Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012. By his own admission, he was into all kinds of sex and drugs and spiritual practices, including transcendental meditation. And he repented from all of that for Jesus Christ.

Brand had been posting on social media about his longing for God and desire to be baptized, which happened on Sunday, April 28, in the River Thames in England. Since then he’s been attending an Anglican church and has devoted most of his social media to theology. It is as expected a mixed bag. He’s made some solid theological comments and some that are not so solid. But he was one of the most listened to voices on the subject of faith in 2024, along with Jordan Peterson.

16) MAY 1
The United Methodist Church Overturns Its Ban on LGBTQ Clergy

This was something we knew was coming this year, so it really wasn’t a matter of if, nor was it a matter of when. The world was aware it would happen at the UMC general assembly in 2024. On May 1, the Methodists voted overwhelmingly to overturn a 40-year-old measure that banned gay clergy from being ordained in the denomination. Homosexual men and women can now serve as ministers, and the church will conduct same-sex weddings, according to their website.

The UMC experienced a mass exodus of several thousand conservative congregations before the end of 2023. But still with 11 million members, the UMC now joins the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ as being among those to ordain gay clergy. Christ has removed his lamp stand from these churches (Revelation 2:5), and the Holy Spirit is not there.

Interestingly enough, the liberal African Methodist Episcopal church (AME), despite being a liberal assembly, voted to uphold its ban on gay clergy and does not recognize same-sex unions. Kamala Harris was praising of this church, despite the fact that she herself is ardently in favor of “gay marriage.”

17) MAY 10
Abortions in America are Increasing

Despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which allowed abortion on demand nationwide in America, and despite the limited abortion bans in effect in several states, abortion increased in the United States in 2023 and 24. According to the Society of Family Planning’s WeCount project, abortion has risen from 82,000 unborn babies murdered per month to 86,000 unborn babies murdered per month.

That doesn’t count the number of abortions done by mail. There is not a state in the U.S. where you cannot get the abortion pill. Though figures for the pill are difficult to track, it is estimated that nearly 20% of abortions are done at home with the abortion pill.

The church remains one of the few voices speaking out on behalf of the lives of unborn children. As Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

18) MAY 19
The Pope Says All People are Fundamentally Good

Norah O’Donnell of 60 Minutes sat down with Roman Catholic pope Francis under a painting of the Roman goddess Mary to address many topics, including war, immigration, the ordination of women, and the sexual abuse of hundreds of thousands of children in Roman Catholicism. Francis spoke in his native Spanish and it was translated for the viewers into English.

Perhaps the most notable portion of the interview was where he clarified a statement he made last December to allow priests to bless couples in same-sex marriages. He wasn’t calling for the blessing of the union itself, he said, but for the people in that union, blessing was not to be withheld.

One of many criticisms I’ve made of Roman Catholicism is that their claim to authority is nonsense. If Francis was really a representative of Christ, he would be calling for the discipline of couples in these unions, removing them from the church and from communion, not blessing them.

O’Donnell reminded viewers that Francis has said regarding homosexuality, “Who am I to judge? Homosexuality is not a crime.” Francis agreed and said, “No, it’s a human fact.” Very selective language there, but basically Francis doesn’t see homosexuality as a sin but basic biology. This is absurd and anti-biblical. He is not the vicar of Christ, but an antichrist.

At the very end of the interview, Francis said, “People are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”

No, the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Romans 3:10 says, “None is righteous, no, not one.” And verse 12, “No one does good, not even one.” It is only Christ who changes us and justifies us before God. But of course an antichrist is never going to say that.

19) MAY 19
The Largest Synchronized Baptism in History (?)

Sean Feucht (pronounced Foyt), former worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, has been one of the most influential people in evangelicalism, not just in 2024 but for the last several years. He stood against California laws during COVID which shut down churches and prohibited singing in worship. Feucht started the “Let Us Worship” movement in response.

Like the New Apostolic Reformation he’s from, Feucht is a Dominionist. He believes his charismatic sect of Christianity is going to take Dominion and reclaim America for God. Because of the rhetoric he has preached in regard to this, he gets called a Christian Nationalist. (This is not to be confused with the Reformed Christian Nationalist sect led by Doug Wilson and Stephen Wolfe. I may address that in part 2.)

On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, Feucht coordinated with Saddleback Church, Zoe Church, Restoration Life Church, Higher Vision Church, and VIVE Church, among others, to baptize 12,000 people at one time, 6,000 at Huntington Beach alone. It claimed to be the largest number of baptisms to happen at one time, but who knows if that’s the case. They’re looking to make this a nationwide event on Pentecost Sunday, 2025, which falls on June 8.

But given that Bethel Church is heretical in what they believe and teach about Jesus, one must ask exactly what are these people being baptized into. There may be some genuine believers among these baptisms. But since they’re looking at a nationwide baptism movement in 2024, be forewarned not to participate.

20) JUNE 12
The Southern Baptist Church Fails to Pass Ban on Women Pastors

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in North America. Their annual meeting is held each June in a varying location, this time in Indianapolis. It’s always sure to be a hot bed of drama.

In 2024, the SBC annual meeting was looking toward the passage of the Law Amendment, a change to the Southern Baptist constitution which would automatically omit any church from fellowship in the denomination if that church had a woman as a pastor. The amendment had passed in New Orleans the year before, and it needed to pass a second consecutive annual meeting in order to be official. But the measure failed to achieve the 2/3 needed to make the constitutional change.

Churches that cooperate within the Southern Baptist convention are still discouraged from having women as pastors. But without the Law Amendment, time will need to be taken at every annual meeting to examine whether a church that has a woman pastor is in friendly cooperation with the convention, instead of the Law Amendment automatically excluding them.

The adoption of the Nicene Creed also became a source of debate at this year’s annual meeting. While the messengers may have been soft on the creed, they took a hard-line stance opposed to In vitro Fertilization (IVF), a more conservative position than even U.S. Senators in the Republican Party expressed that same week.

Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC, was voted in as the next president of the SBC. It might have been the least controversial pick for president in years. The outcome to the Law Amendment aside, the SBC remains not only the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. but one of the most conservative.

This concludes the first 20 news headlines for 2024. I’ll try to have Part 2 up this time next week!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

Two decades ago, I was employed in Christian radio with a side gig as a musician, performing over 100 concerts a year. I had a good run as an independent musician for about a decade. I was single then—no wife and kids—thinking that I was going to “make it” in the Christian music biz. I thank God now that I didn’t. It may have ruined me. But that’s a story for another time.

About 2/3 of my time on the road, I was either with one of my brothers or another member of my band or I had the whole band with me. The other 1/3 of the time, I was a solo act. Most weekends consisted of doing a concert on a Saturday evening, then I would preach or lead worship in a church on Sunday, and I might do another concert at a church on Sunday night.

One of the craziest weekends I ever had was in the summer of 2004, the last three days of a month-long tour. My band and I played a Walk for Life on Friday night in southwest Kansas, then we did an outdoor church festival on Saturday morning somewhere in the Oklahoma panhandle, then we played for a block party on Saturday night in Woodward, OK, then we did an acoustic worship set in a church on Sunday morning in Holly, CO, then we played an outdoor concert on Sunday afternoon in Lamar, CO, then back home to Kansas that night. Five sets in three states in two nights and two days.

When I traveled, I didn’t think about things like accountability. I wasn’t going to be doing anything I shouldn’t be doing—just get there, do the show, hang out with some folks before and afterward, and then head to the next gig. (This pattern inspired a song I wrote called Long and Lonely Road. Maybe I’ll share it sometime.)

It was later in 04 that I did a solo concert in Pueblo, CO. I was to perform at a youth event on Saturday evening, then I was going to lead worship and preach at the church on Sunday morning. So the church got me a hotel room.

After the concert on Saturday evening, as I was selling CDs and such at my merch table, there was a young woman about my age who came up to talk to me. She even waited until everyone else was gone so that we could talk longer.

Now, my wife will tell you, I’m pretty naïve when it comes to picking up signals. That can be good and bad. There has been a time or two when she’s stepped into a conversation where she was picking up a certain vibe from another woman, and Beki introduced herself: “Hi, I’m his wife!” Really, I’m oblivious to any of it.

I did not yet know Beki on this night in Pueblo, so she was not around to pick up on any signals for me. But one of the pastors who was there did pick up on it. He watched us both, and he told me later he did not get the sense that I was reciprocating, but he did notice that she was interested.

When the night was over, I gathered up my things to head to my hotel, and that pastor followed me. He didn’t tell me he was going to follow me—he just did. Unbeknownst to me that he was there, he parked in the lot and watched me, to see if I went to my hotel room alone, or if that gal I had been talking to was going to meet me there and follow me up.

He saw me go in by myself, he waited around to see if anyone else was going to show up, and when enough time had passed, he went home.

He told me about it the next morning at church, but he told me apologizing: “I’m sorry, I should have trusted you,” he said.

I told him he had nothing to apologize for. “I’m glad you did it,” I said. “It’s good to keep each other honest and to hold each other accountable.”

Now I did not always maintain this level of purity or sense as a young man. I also made some dumb decisions—and not because I was simply naïve, but because I’m a sinner. Again, that’s for another time. My years on the road and this particular occasion came back to my mind in light of the talk surrounding the news that came out last week about Steve Lawson.

But this is not another article about Lawson. (I already addressed that on my podcast Friday, and you can read a transcript of my comments here.) This is an article about a discipline commonly referred to as The Billy Graham Rule. I made a comment about it on social media, and it received a lot of feedback, both for and against. I’ll share some of those comments and respond to them below.

What is the Billy Graham Rule

First, I should probably explain what the Billy Graham Rule is. After Billy Graham held a series of evangelistic meetings in Modesto, CA, in 1948, he and his team got together and agreed upon a set of commitments, that they might uphold the highest standard of biblical morality, integrity, and purity. Those four commitments had to do with the handling of finances, the danger of sexual immorality, avoiding criticism of other churches, and honest publicity. This became known as the Modesto Manifesto.

Regarding the danger of sexual immorality, Graham said, “We all knew of evangelists who had fallen into immorality while separated from their families by travel. We pledged among ourselves to avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion. From that day on, I did not travel, meet, or eat alone with a woman other than my wife.”

This became known as the Billy Graham Rule, a personal code of conduct in which a man is committed to never travel, dine, or meet alone with a woman who is not his wife (it has also been called the Mike Pence Rule, as former Vice President Pence shared a similar discipline several years ago). It was intended first for Graham and his team, applying mostly to the context of traveling preachers. But some manner of this rule has always been a common sense practice.

When my wife and I were dating and then when we were engaged, we knew that the more time we spent alone together, the more tempted we were. The desire we had for each other was perfectly normal for a young couple to have, but we needed to keep that desire pure and obedient to the Lord. So until we were married, we tried to always be around other people—whether that was at church, with friends, in public, or at her parents’ house.

I have often told young people that when you date, go out in the day time, in groups, in public places, and do not be isolated alone together at night. That’s wise. I will implement these same standards with my children when they’re old enough to want to date. As a parent, I have that right. Thankfully, my 16 year old daughter has not yet expressed any interest in this. She’s focused on her work and thinks most of the boys her age are too immature. I’m just fine with that.

This is not just a matter of avoiding temptation. It’s also a matter of accountability. As I told that pastor who was checking up on me, I’m glad he did. He wanted to keep me pure and honest, and we should all have that kind of consideration for one another—especially as brothers and sisters in Christ. Simple disciplines like this are actually caring for each other.

Objections to the Billy Graham Rule

Observing some of the reactions to the news of Lawson’s infidelity, I shared the following post: “The Billy Graham Rule is still wise. Do not spend time alone with a member of the opposite sex who is not your spouse or one of your children.” Of course, you could add your parents or your grandparents or cousins or the like. I didn’t feel the need to be exhaustive, but you get the point.

The reaction to my post was mostly positive. I was amazed at all the different places I found people sharing it. The only other post I’ve made this year to get more attention than that one was when I made a meme of a guy stepping in something pagan, and it was a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (I responded to that backlash here).

Of course, there are people—mostly ex-vangelicals and progressive Christians, if there could be such a thing—who utterly hate The Billy Graham rule with a screeching passion. Said Joel Berry, a Marine vet and editor of the Babylon Bee, “Every few months, progressive evangelicals on this app remember about the Billy Graham Rule and lose their minds.” He posted screenshots of reactions to my post, which were mostly liberals losing their minds.

Anti-Christian and aspiring comedienne April Ajoy said, “The Billy Graham rule is still sexist.” Berry replied, “Why do you want to be alone with other dudes so bad? That’s weird.” (Ajoy shared a post about a year ago elated that her husband had come out as queer and was now dressing as a woman. So to Berry’s question, there might be an answer in there somewhere.)

Mason Mennenga, a critic of Christians though he fancies himself as “The Internet’s Youth Pastor,” shared my post and said, “My favorite story about Jesus is when he broke the Billy Graham Rule with the woman at the well.”

First, was there ever a time Jesus went off alone with a woman? The occasion with the Samaritan woman at the well was public, in the middle of the day, and circumstantial as far as anyone else was concerned. The Lord intended this as an evangelistic encounter—Jesus told the woman her sin and revealed that He was the Savior. Mennenga is more interested in Jesus being alone with a woman than in what He actually said.

Second, these guys will rip on any pastor who spends time alone with a woman not his wife, but then make fun of the Billy Graham Rule.

Mennenga responded and said, “Where does the Billy Graham Rule state it’s okay in public? The rule literally says, ‘Avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion.'”

As I said, this is common sense wisdom, not a law. It’s not some absolute, “You must do it the way Billy Graham said.” It’s not like the moment a man and woman not married to each other find themselves alone together, they’re doing something sinful. It’s ironic that the people who hate this code of conduct are the most graceless and ridged in its application.

I simply said to Mennenga, “Do you believe Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well had the appearance of compromise or suspicion?”

He said, “I’m sure had you been in that same situation, it would have been suspicious.”

That’s funny. He did exactly what I said: “These guys will rip on any pastor who spends time alone with a woman not his wife, but then make fun of the Billy Graham rule.” (In case this needs to be said, never EVER leave a teenager alone with a guy self-titled “The Internet’s Youth Pastor” who thinks it’s fine to be alone with your teen.)

James, a Christian financial advisor, said, “Paul says, ‘Treat the younger women as sisters with all purity,'” which is 1 Timothy 5:2. “If you would spend time alone with your sister, why couldn’t you with a sister in Christ?”

Has James really thought through how unsettling it is to reason this way? Essentially, he is making an argument for why I should be okay with him being alone with my wife or teenage daughter, on the basis that he considers them sisters in the Lord. That kind of reasoning makes me trust him even less.

I pointed out to James that “Paul told Titus to teach the older men, older women, and younger men. But it’s interesting to note that he said to leave the discipling of the younger women to the older women (see Titus 2:3-5). There’s wisdom in that.” A pastor can still preach and teach to women—I do. Women must also be subject to their pastors (Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:5). But when it comes to one-on-one discipleship, let women teach women, as God commands.

A fellow named Tad said that the Billy Graham Rule “also applies to not only in-person encounters, but text messages, email, or online” social media. Also a great point. An affair can begin with private conversations on the internet. Or a man can have adulterous lusts for pornographic images. It’s important to have accountability there also.

Mo in the Carribbean said, “As a childless widower, I no longer have a spouse nor daughters. So on the face of it, the BG rule would seem to make it well nigh impossible for me to cultivate a close relationship with any woman ever again.” Nonsense. See again my dating advice for young people.

Sarah from Dallas said, “I just finished a week-long work trip with my boss where I met a number of higher-ups and presented to them. My boss is a man. Under this rule, he would have taken a lower level male attorney and hurt my career.” And he has that right. No one’s career should come at the expense of someone else’s integrity and purity. Time will tell how wise that was.

A professor named Scott said, “I had a pastor friend accused of being inappropriate with a teenage girl on a team he was coaching. She had a lot of trauma in her life. He follows the Graham Rule, so people were always present whenever he was around her. Imagine if they’d ever been alone. He’d be in jail.”

Melanie from Canada said, “The thing is, the Billy Graham Rule also protects against false accusations. I expressed this to my husband. It’s not so much a trust factor with him but a protection for his reputation against false accusations, to not even give an appearance of impropriety.”

Another Canadian named Phil said, “The Billy Graham Rule makes so much sense that being against it is like being against voter ID.” That made me laugh.

Daniel from Portland said, “Next time I’m in a patient’s room and a female RN comes in, I’ll tell her to leave since apparently Christian men are so morally bankrupt and weak they can’t stand to not sexualize women.” First of all, if a doctor and nurse are with a patient, they’re not alone, are they? Second, he mocks, but a doctor having an affair with a nurse is a story I hear a lot.

A Harvard grad named Allie said, “In an age with sexual assault and false allegations, the Billy Graham Rule protects both men and women. Does everyone need it? No, you do you. But I can’t even remotely fault someone, especially in work environments, who wants to protect themselves or their marriage this way.”

A guy by the name of Antonio with a Weird Al avatar in a mask said, “Where is the Billy Graham rule in the Bible? Asking for a friend.”

Again, it’s wise, not law. The law is, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Do not even have the desire for it in your heart (Colossians 3:5). “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know to control his own body in holiness and honor” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4). The Billy Graham Rule is simply good counsel for practicing self-control.

Though it is not a law, biblical support is always good. So consider also Romans 12:17, which says, “Give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” Or Romans 16:19, which says, “Be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.” Some other commenters shared Romans 13:14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Jay at American Torah said, “Do not be deceived! Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). “Sometimes ‘bad company’ isn’t just a bad person, but a good person in the wrong moment.”

Chris from Jacksonville said, “I believe there should be boundaries for married men. But the Billy Graham Rule that views any woman who isn’t your wife or family as a threat to be avoided ain’t it. It’s become a legalistic addition to the Gospel that Jesus Himself would not have practiced.”

The Billy Graham Rule is not under the assumption that every woman is a threat. I’ll expound on this later. No matter what, you are responsible to discipline your thoughts. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

He went on to say, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better than you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matthew 5:27-30). That’s even more extreme than the Billy Graham Rule. Would you have called Jesus legalistic for saying so?

In Proverbs 5, Solomon advises his son to keep away from the adulterous woman. Verse 8 says, “Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.” In other words, do not put yourself in a position where you would be anywhere near the temptation. That’s in the spirit of the Billy Graham Rule.

Casey who is a Mountaineers fan said, “The Billy Graham Rule is cowardly and an excuse for a lack of self control, while placing blame on ‘temptresses’ instead of self.”

This is one of the most common criticisms against The Billy Graham Rule. Cynics will say it’s for men who lack self-control. On the contrary, the Billy Graham Rule is an act of self-control. It does not place blame on the “temptress” as if the man was not at fault. As I just referenced Proverbs 5, Solomon warns of the temptress, but if his son is seduced by her, it’s his own fault, and the consequences he brings upon himself are deadly.

Nonetheless, it is utterly foolish to diminish the danger of a “temptress.” Proverbs dedicates three consecutive chapters of warning against her wiles, and then some. Do not for a moment think that a woman in an adulterous encounter is not to blame. The woman that a foolish pastor committed adultery with is herself an adulteress. She’s a seductress. She’s a home-wrecker.

She is the forbidden woman whose lips “drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is better as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it” (Proberbs 5:3-6).

She played a role in bringing down a man and his ministry. And she will have to stand before God for that. The Scripture is crystal clear on this: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4), whether that is the man or the woman.

But the greater blame is on the preacher who fell. As I said to this matter last week, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). He knows better. And instead of being a shepherd who protects and guides the flock, he has devoured them with his fleshly appetites.

The Common Sense of the Billy Graham Rule

The world hates purity and holiness, especially when it comes to sexual purity. They’re not going to congratulate you for setting up boundaries to honor God and others, no matter how noble your intentions may be. The Billy Graham Rule is one of those things where you’re doomed if you do it and doomed if you don’t.

Los from Virginia said, “This is truly pathetic. What kind of marriage do you have if you can’t be trusted not to cheat on your spouse simply because you are alone with a member of the opposite sex?” Again, this line of argumentation is weird and kind of creepy. Why do you want me to be alone with other women not my wife so bad? Why does it offend you so much that I won’t be?

Going back up to what I said to Mennenga, these people will rip on the Billy Graham Rule, but what do you think their reaction will be when they hear of a pastor spending time alone with other women who are not his wife? Do you really think they’re going to say, “Hey, everyone. We can trust him. He’s married. He can be alone with members of the opposite sex. He’s not cheating on his wife. It’s no big deal. Stop thinking the worst of people.”

Oh, absolutely not! You know it and I know it. Even if every woman he’s ever spent time alone with comes forward and says he was a gentleman, he loves his wife, and there was absolutely no infidelity between them, the public will still accuse him of grooming and being a predator. Faithful friends and followers will come to his defense, but the court of public opinion will have none of that.

Karl from Huntsville, AL said, “To keep the policy fair, he would need to have the same rule for members of the same sex. Otherwise, women will never have equal access to him.”

If a pastor were to go out to lunch alone with another man, no one would raise a single question. If that same pastor were to go out to lunch alone with another woman, there would be all kinds of questions. It’s common sense. We all know this.
The first qualification of a pastor is that he must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6), meaning that he is above blame, unable to be credibly convicted of wrongdoing when accused. How is a pastor able to uphold and maintain that requirement if he doesn’t have some kind of safeguards like the Billy Graham Rule?

Mya of Great Britain said that the Billy Graham Rule is dehumanizing: “A woman in a working relationship with a man who follows the Billy Graham Rule feels ignored and dehumanized,” she said. “If he can’t be in the same room with her, he doesn’t see her as a person, just an object of temptation.”

I told Mya that my wife and daughters and the women in my church do not feel that way at all. None of them feel dehumanized because I won’t spend time alone with a woman who is not my wife. In fact, they would feel disrespected if I kept having meetings alone with other women. Mya remained insistent the Billy Graham Rule is dehumanizing.

“That’s pretty dramatic,” I said, “to say, ‘My pastor won’t go out alone with me, so I feel less than human.’ I would advise someone to never be alone with anyone who acts like that.”

The last time I remember the Billy Graham Rule blowing up on social media was back in February. A woman named Kristie said, “When the Billy Graham Rule goes too far—A man refused to ride an elevator with me. He said he’d wait for the next one. I rode the elevator alone, humiliated, remembering my body is dangerous to men.”

First of all, we have no idea the reason that guy didn’t want to get on an elevator with her had anything to do with the Billy Graham Rule. What if she smelled bad? What if he was passing gas and didn’t want to bomb her on an elevator? What is he was still concerned about China viruses?

Second, she has to be alone with a man on an elevator, or she feels humiliated? “Ride the elevator with me or you’re a sexist pig!” Okay, crazy Kristie. I wouldn’t get on an elevator with her either!

These accusations that the Billy Graham Rule is dehumanizing or it’s sexist or it’s legalistic or anyone who follows it lacks self-control are just gas lighting. I won’t for a second re-think its usefulness.

Several years ago, there was a woman who came to my church whose husband was deployed overseas—I’ll say her name was Harper. She asked to speak with me and said she had some questions about the church. She forewarned me that some of the questions were sensitive in nature. I asked her if it was okay that my wife was present, and she said that was fine. So I told her to pick a morning that was convenient, and she could come to our house and speak with us.

When Harper came by, she told me and Beki how much it meant to her that my first response was to include someone else in our conversation. She had been abused at her previous church, she said. The pastor had hit on her and tried to make a move on her. For a long time, Harper blamed herself, thinking that she had led him on somehow.

Then he did the same thing to another woman and got caught, and that brought on guilt of a different kind. Now Harper realized it wasn’t her fault, but what if she had said something sooner and prevented this from happening to someone else?

Do you know who appreciated that I practiced the Billy Graham Rule? Harper.

Do you know who else appreciates it? My wife. One of the reasons she trusts me is precisely because I put boundaries like this in place. She’s not reading the reactions of these squawking harpies and thinking, “You know, they’re right. I should let my husband go out with other women so those women can feel better about themselves.” No, she does not want those women alone with her husband.

There is nothing sexist or dehumanizing about this. If the shoe is on the other foot, the reasoning is no different. Where there is a woman who wants to be alone with another woman’s man, that is every bit as concerning as if a married man wants to be alone with other women.

This does not have to be a mandatory, legalistic imposition. It is a good and practical idea with common sense application. To have safeguards like the Billy Graham Rule is to respect one another and be considerate of all persons. The one who opposes such safeguards raises suspicion, and rightfully so. This is also wise.

Conclusion

Yesterday, Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke to the student body at the end of their chapel service to address the news about Lawson’s unfaithfulness. There were students who were astonished and hurt by what they had heard, and so Dr. Mohler took the opportunity to comfort with the gospel and give wise counsel.

“I want to speak to those who are called to the ministry: those who will preach and teach the word of God, those who will shepherd the flock of God. Look at this and be absolutely horrified,” he said, referring to the matter with Lawson. “And look at this and by the grace and mercy of God, make certain there are protections and policies in your life, which means the avoidance of certain patterns in your life, that would expose you to this kind of vulnerability and this kind of temptation and this kind of sin.”

Dr. Mohler went on to say that early in his ministry, a man gave him this advice: “You will not have sex with a woman not your wife if you are never alone with a woman not your wife. Okay? That’s simple math.” This was not just for pastors, but for every man or woman, “regardless of your calling as a Christian in the church and in the world. There are certain protections we must put into place, but it is particularly urgent for the one who teaches and would preach the word of God.”

Eternal souls are at stake, but also the purity of the church. How much it tarnishes our witness whenever one of us falls into sin so serious and public, bringing a reproach against the gospel. After David sinned by taking another man’s wife, the prophet Nathan told him, “By this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme” (2 Samuel 12:14).

There is forgiveness for our sins by faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. There is power to resist temptation through His Spirit who dwells within us. It is by that Spirit that we must also be considerate of one another, upholding each other in whatever way is obedient and wise.

I opened with Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, which says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” Verse 12 says, “Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”