Photo From MSNBC

This morning in my personal devotional time, while reading through my Bible as I do every morning, I was amazed at how this daily routine centers my life. If I were to cease my time with the Lord in the morning, my day would go far different from how it normally proceeds.

The world doesn’t understand this reality

When I finished my time in the Word of God, I perused the news of the morning. In an article titled: “Jen Psaki bashes GOP Speaker Mike Johnson for Being a ‘religious fundamentalist,”[1] I was reminded of how this present world feels about people like me.

The following is the text from this article and my personal observation of these comments:

“Former White House press secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki bashed the new Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, for being a “religious fundamentalist” on her show, “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Sunday.

“At first glance, Mike Johnson does seem fine,” Psaki said. “Fine-ish. Conservative, yes. But he once started a civility caucus with a Democrat. And I mean, if nothing else, he wears a suit and has glasses,” she continued. “How threatening can this guy actually be?”

Psaki played a clip of Johnson describing himself as a “Bible-believing Christian.”

“I am a Bible-believing Christian,” Johnson said. “Someone asked me today in the media, they said, ‘Well, it’s curious. People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?'” he said in the clip. “I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”

“You heard that right,” Psaki said in response to Johnson’s comments. “The Bible doesn’t just inform his worldview, it is his worldview.”

In an article for MSNBC, Psaki warned her audience that Johnson is a scary speaker for more than just his political beliefs. “Most Americans might not be able to pick Mike Johnson out of a lineup, but in reality, he’s far from benign,” Psaki wrote.

“It’s not just his political ideology that should scare us. Johnson is basically a Christian fundamentalist,” she continued.

Johnson has received a polarized reaction online for invoking God and the Bible during appearances following his election to speaker of the House.

While conservatives on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, have praised Johnson for wearing his Christianity on his sleeve in his new role, some liberals argued that he is offending the “Constitution and the New Testament” with his appeal to God inside the House chamber.

Speaking to Congress following his election, Johnson declared, “I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that Scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time. This is my belief.”

“I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country and they deserve it,” he added.”

The first problem we notice with Jen Psaki’s observations of Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is that his firm belief that the Bible is true and the Word of God is not understood or believed by many people.

Jesus had a similar problem with the religious Pharisee, Nicodemus when he came to Jesus by night to ask Him who He was. Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus was a religious Jew but he had not yet understood who Jesus was and had yet to place his trust in Jesus as the promised Messiah. I think that in the process of speaking to Jesus and finding out who He was, Nicodemus did place his trust in Jesus and he was born again by the Spirit of God.

It is the Spirit that gives us life; it is the Spirit of God that enables us to understand the truth of the Bible and become fundamental in our faith. Contrary to the world’s opinion, a fundamentalist is not a bad thing. There are many people in the world without God who are fundamentalists in their own thoughts and beliefs about life. We do not patronize or put down people who are firm in their beliefs in the secular world.

Only in cases where a person is firm in their belief that the Bible is true, do people in the world use the term, “fundamentalist,” in a negative way.

When Psaki played a video of Mike Johnson and his worldview, again this young woman failed to understand what Mike was saying:

“I am a Bible-believing Christian,” Johnson said. “Someone asked me today in the media, they said, ‘Well, it’s curious. People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?'” he said in the clip. “I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”

“You heard that right,” Psaki said in response to Johnson’s comments. “The Bible doesn’t just inform his worldview, it is his worldview.”

When a person comes into a saving knowledge of Jesus, their entire world changes. Their entire view of the world changes. Mike’s view that his opinion of this world and the people in it is the same as God’s view as revealed in the Bible, is correct. As the followers of Jesus, we should have no other opinion than what God has already revealed to the world—through the scriptures of the Bible.

A concerning statement by Psaki regarding Mike Johnson expressing his faith while acting as the Speaker of the House is equally alarming:

“While conservatives on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, have praised Johnson for wearing his Christianity on his sleeve in his new role, some liberals argued that he is offending the “Constitution and the New Testament” with his appeal to God inside the House chamber.”

Like many misinformed persons in the world today, the idea that a public government servant cannot express their religious beliefs while in office, is in direct contradiction to the First Amendment of the Constitution.

We learned recently that the Supreme Court upheld a Christian’s right to express their faith in God and the Bible while serving in the government.

“Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. (2022). the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held, 6–3, that the government, while following the Establishment Clause, may not suppress an individual from engaging in personal religious observance, as doing so would violate the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. The Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal; the Constitution neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression.”[2]

Mike Johnson, though he is the Speaker of the House, according to the liberty given to him by the First Amendment, and supported by a recent Supreme Court Ruling, may express his religious faith while acting as the Speaker of the House.

This was the intended purpose of the First Amendment. Not to restrict personal liberty in expressing faith, but the restricting the Government of the United States, in preventing a Christian from making statements of faith while in office.

If there is a “wall of separation,” it exists only to prevent the government from restricting the expression of faith by Christians and other religious faiths, while serving in any capacity of government employment.

Jen Psaki is ignorant of this right, and the idea that a Christian cannot express themselves or use their faith in making decisions while in government, is unconstitutional.

The article ends with a firm statement by Mike Johnson that it is God who decides the leadership of nations and governments, not people. He guides and directs all the matters of human life on earth—while also allowing us our personal decisions:

“Speaking to Congress following his election, Johnson declared, “I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that Scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time. This is my belief.”

“I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country and they deserve it,” he added.”

In the historical and biblical records of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and King Cyrus of Persia, these records cite the God of the Bible as the One who raises up kings and leaders and removes kings and leaders—for His own purposes.

Mike Johnson citing Daniel 2:19-20, is asserting God as the one who controls human events:

“That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. He said, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.” ~Daniel 2:19-22

Personally, as one who has studied and taught the Bible for almost 50 years, I am quite impressed with Mike Johnson. One thing is certain: It is the Lord, the God of the Bible, who has raised up Mike Johnson as the Speaker of the House.

These present days in which Israel is being attacked by Hamas and the world is being drawn into a global war—likely described by Ezekiel 38, Mike’s place in the American government, is even more important.

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NOTES:

[1] Source: An article by Jeffrey Clark, Fox News, Monday, October 30,m 2023.
[2] Test from the Supreme Court Decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton.

Categories: Apologetics, First Amendment, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Robert Clifton Robinson, The Founding Fathers, The Founding of America, The U.S. Constitution, The War On Christmas, Wall of Separation

Tags: Christian Speech and the First Amendment, First Amendment, Framers of the Constitution