SBC President J.D. Greear Receives Major Pushback for Attending White House Dinner

Photo: Twitter/@Scavino45
Photo: Twitter/@Scavino45
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On Monday night around 100 evangelical leaders gathered at the White House for a dinner that some compared to a church meeting mixed with a Trump campaign rally. Leaders came from all around the U.S. to attend the “state dinner,” which the Trump administration held in”honor of evangelical leadership,” the Christian Post reported.

Well-known evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham, James Dobson and Greg Laurie were in attendance, all of whom played active roles in advising the administration when it comes to faith matters.

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The evangelical leaders who attended have already received criticism for going to the White House event, while the Trump administration is being critiqued for holding such an explicitly religious function.

“My trouble w/ the Trumpvangelicals is that, when the President invites them to dinner, they don’t go like Esther to make a plea for immigrant sisters & brothers who’ve been separated from their families,” author and “moral activist” Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove tweeted.

“Instead, they go in like the court prophets Jeremiah challenged for saying, ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace. If your provide religious cover when the President is in political trouble, your biblical title is “false prophet,” he added in a second tweet.

Author and Atlantic contributor Jonathan Merritt took specific aim at Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear, quote tweeting a picture from the dinner.

“Who is that I spy with my little eye? Why it’s , the president of the SBC,” Merritt wrote. “He was elected on a new non-partisan platform. But since then has endorsed SCOTUS nominee and now this. The ghost of Lord Acton yawns.”

Greear responded to the backlash he was receiving for attending the event in a message posted to Twitter.

He defended himself, stating, “I weigh every decision carefully and consulted with a number of leaders across the political spectrum. In this case, I chose to attend in order to listen and meet other leaders and offer perspective where asked.

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He added that even though “witness in the public square requires some presence in it,” he’s still committed to detaching the church from partisan politics. He added that his “desire for SBC remains what it always has been — promoting a culture in which the gospel is above all.”

He ended by stating that sometimes we, as believers, must get out of our comfort zones “for the sake of the gospel.”

Andy Rowell, Ministry Leadership professor at Bethel Seminary responded to Greear in a since-deleted tweet, “It was damaging to your reputation and that of Jesus but I appreciate the sobered tone here as an indication that you will be more wary in the future about celebrating the association between Trump and evangelicals.”

Merritt also quote tweeted Greear’s statements, summing up his position:

“SBC President JD Greear says he attended the dinner for evangelical supporters of Trump to ‘listen and meet other leaders and offer perspective where asked.’ Despite his confusing actions, he says he still hopes for the denom to be more non-partisan under his leadership.”

Still, the event received praise from numerous people and outlets, who commended the Trump administration’s decision to hold the gathering.

Radio host and bestselling author Eric Metaxas tweeted that the event was “a celebration of the contribution of evangelicals to America.”

Greg Laurie, president of Harvest Church, tweeted his thanks to Vice President Mike Pence, who invited the leaders.

Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Dallas Church, appeared on Fox News Monday, offering praise for the event.

Speaking at the dinner, President Trump addressed the promises that he had made to evangelicals during his presidential campaign, and how he has fulfilled them.

“We are here today to celebrate America’s heritage of faith, family and freedom,” Trump told attendees. “As you know in recent years, the government tried to undermine religious freedom but the attacks on communities of faith are over. We’ve ended it.”

“The support you have given me has been incredible but I really don’t feel guilty because I have given you a lot back — just about everything I promised,” Trump said. “As one of our great pastors just said, ‘Actually, you have given us much more than you have promised.’ And I think that is true.”

Franklin Graham also spoke at the event, stating that there is widespread concern about impending spiritual warfare that the church should be preparing for.

“We need to maintain our vigilance in the upcoming days. The concern is that this is a spiritual warfare, this is a battle and ultimately battle is won on our knees,” Graham said. “It is very clear, we voiced to the president that we need to pray, pray for him, pray for our country.”

Vice President Mike Pence was also in attendance, as well as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback.

(H/T: Christian Post)