Franklin Graham gets ganged up on for his Evangelical belief system.

Attack dogs surrounded Christian leader Franklin Graham on Tuesday morning February 21, 2012 on the Morning Joe round table on MSNBC. (Here’s a video of the show.) Keep in mind they INVITED this evangelical leader and founder of Samaritan’s Purse ministries as their guest, and Graham thought he was going to be talking about the atrocities of Christian persecution around the world, a recent story in Newsweek magazine.

During the show, co-host Geist asked Graham some unexpected and really tough questions:

GEIST:  ”Do you believe President Obama is a Christian?“ 

GRAHAM: ”Well, I think you have to ask President Obama.”

Smart answer! Graham repeatedly said…

GRAHAM: “I can’t answer that question for anybody” and “If he says he is a Christian than I accept that.”

Later, Geist asked him another tough question…

GEIST: “Do you believe that Rick Santorum is Christian?”

GRAHAM: “I think so.”

GEIST: “Why is it different for Rick Santorum?”

GRAHAM: “Because his values are so clear on moral issues….no question about it. And I just appreciate the moral stand he takes on these things. I believe he is. He comes from a Catholic faith. I’m a Protestant so there are differences between what we believe.”

HEILEMANN:  “That’s an amazing double standard…the question about Rick Santorum and President Obama, I think, just exposes an incredible double standard you’re applying to the two people. They’re exactly the same situation.”

GRAHAM: “I have no idea what he really believes. And I have no idea other than what Rick Santorum stands for.”

So that’s it. Franklin Graham was just expressing the standard Christian view that no one can see inside someone else’s heart with any real certainty, because after all, only God knows. We do see, however, the fruit of their faith in action because the Bible says our actions reveal what’s going on inside (Js 2:14ff). That’s standard Christian teaching. Graham said the next day he has a hard time understanding how infanticide (abortion) can be reconciled with a Christian worldview. And he is entitled to his opinion, even if you disagree with him. And if you’re wondering “well what about the Christian teaching about social justice and caring for the poor?” I would ask you to consider the global impact of Samaritan’s purse.

The point is, throughout the show, they were cornering this evangelical leader like a pack of wolves around their isolated prey – and they were going for blood. A little later, Alex Witt, another co-host,  asked him:

WITT: “Reverend, what about Mitt Romney…is he a Christian?”

GRAHAM: “I like him. He’s a Mormon. Most Christians would not recognize Mormons as part of the Christian faith.”

As you might guess, they didn’t like that answer either. But what is the matter with making a clear distinction in what people believe when its different? Fact: Mormonism was founded 1800 years after Christianity was founded, they follow a different scriptural book than historic Christianity, they have totally different doctrines of God, Christ, the devil, man and salvation. Protestant evangelical Christianity and Mormonism are NOT the same, and any Mormon would agree with that. It is not being intolerant simply to point out differences, we don’t want to declare jihad or anything on Mormons, we just want to be able to freely recognize the differences, is that still OK or should we pretend everyone is all the same?

After hearing about this round table discussion, that evening Chris Matthews said on his program HARDBALL that Franklin Graham should not be invited back to any political conversation. Wow. Really? Why not? Because different opinions are not welcome there? That seems rather um…what’s the word? Intolerant?

Then, Chris Matthews had the nerve to say, “He ain’t his father’s son!” Double wow. What? How insulting to both Billy Graham and Franklin Graham! And what nonsense is that?! How can you (in the same breath) hold onto some kind of honor for the Rev. Billy Graham but then utter such blatant disrespect for his son and ministry successor when they share the exact same belief system! (I realize there have been different views on Billy Graham’s exclusivism/inclusivism, I see him as exclusivist, if you don’t, you and I can talk about that some other time.) The real truth is, Matthews knows its not yet socially acceptable to bash the faith of Rev. Billy Graham on public TV because he is still a national hero, but yet going after his son is somehow OK, a strange inconsistency indeed that reveals more cowardice than courage.

So after I turned off the TV, my jaw simply dropped. I stay out of politics, but this wasn’t about politics. It was about my faith and I could not believe the level of disgust for “us” displayed on this political talk show. As part of the group being attacked, I was feeling pretty ganged up on myself. Maybe it was the arrogance in their tone. Or the hatred. Or the unfair portrayal of us as somehow intolerant simply because we have the audacity to delineate legitimate differences. How dare we so rigidly define ourselves!

Despite the apparent anger on their faces around the roundtable, my guess is they were actually as happy as could be with Graham’s exclusivist answers that morning. Fully convinced that they were right to expose what they see as their opponent’s awful pride and judgmental views for all the world to see and condemn as just plain WRONG.

Where exactly they get this moral high ground is a mystery to me. Who determines what’s right and wrong in their worldview? Them? Why is it even wrong to be exclusivist in their worldview again? Why is it even wrong to be intolerant in their worldview? (Although they are certainly intolerant of us.) But the point is, they are appealing to some kind of a moral code when they have no real moral standard to appeal to – except their own opinion. The truth is they want to decide who God is and who God accepts. But who are they? They reminded me of Psalm 12:8 which says, “The wicked strut about when that which is evil is honored amongst men.”

So, here we are, what is an evangelical like me (and you?) supposed to do these days? It seems like such an uphill battle. Two things come to mind…

1. First, expect to be attacked. Be ready to stand firm for the faith passed down to us once for all. Our culture is not tender toward exclusive Christianity. Stand anyway and pray for resolve for those on the public stage, like Franklin Graham. God bless him. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” (Luke 6:22)

2. Second, we need to pray for this country which calls evil – good and good – evil. This should break your heart. ”My eyes shed streams of water because people break your law.” (Ps 119:136) Let this incident move you to pray for America. And if you’re wondering exactly what to pray for…it is time to pray for revival beginning with a sweeping spirit of repentance.

May God have mercy on us all and bless us with another awakening of who He really is.