<TriceEdneyWire.com> — Two Southern Baptist leaders, House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, are lawmakers who publicly speak about their personal beliefs in Christian doctrine. As a result, these men share a baseline of Christian faith and knowledge, where both men claim the Bible as their governing framework for decision-making. Typically, a shared baseline of knowledge ensures that collaborating individuals speak the same language. It cuts through the nonsense by allowing individuals (often from varying backgrounds) to debate and solve problems without arguing from entirely different perspectives.
Despite this shared baseline, Johnson and Warnock sharply diverge when it comes to the political application of their Christian beliefs. This is particularly true in how they translate Christian theology and ethics into clear, measurable federal policies that impact the poor. Both men are Southern Baptist leaders from the Bible Belt and, therefore, byproducts of their respective environments. The personal influence from the culture they represent serves as the point of divergence and the theological split between the two men.
In 2018, Speaker Johnson drafted a summary outlining the seven core principles that reflect the central beliefs of American conservatives. The summary was written and intended to help anchor the work performed by the Republican Study Committee. Eventually, many other conservative organizations and lawmaking bodies nationwide have adopted Johnson’s list as ‘conservative talking points and marching orders.’ Most of us are already familiar with these principles, which include individual freedoms, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity.
Regarding human dignity, Johnson states: “Public policy should always encourage education and emphasize the virtue of hard work as a pathway out of poverty, while public assistance programs should be reserved only for those who are truly in need. In America, everyone who plays by the rules should get a fair shot.” This assessment of human dignity is not only a core principle of conservatism, but progressives share it as well.
According to World Vision, an international, evangelical Christian humanitarian and development organization, poverty is defined as a “lack of access to basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.” The term can also apply to those whose conditions prevent them from acquiring education, medical help, or stable employment due to a lack of money. Several factors affect poverty rates and levels of financial well-being, including unemployment, educational attainment, inherited poverty, and the systemic exclusion of certain populations from fully benefiting from the country’s institutions.
Speaker Johnson represents approximately 760,000 residents throughout Louisiana’s 4th congressional district. Like other conservative states throughout the South, Louisiana is filled with extreme poverty. Louisiana holds the distinction of being the second-poorest state in the nation, with 17.4% of its population at or below the poverty line. Louisiana also has the second-highest rate of childhood poverty, with 26.8% of its children living at or below the poverty line.
The state’s median household income is $50,935, which is the third-lowest in the nation. Education attainment rates are low, with 86.9% of Louisiana residents having a high school education and only 27.2% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. It is safe to assume that many of Speaker Johnson’s 760,000 constituents are not only experiencing the effects of poverty but also that the only relief they may have comes by way of liberal policies and government initiatives (e.g., Social Security payments).
While we continually hear these patriotic and religious themes from deeply conservative evangelical Christians, the suffering from social oppression is real in the lives of people of all races, religions, and political persuasions. Which brings us to the question of how Johnson and Warnock can subscribe to the very same Bible and yet be so different in their political application of Biblical teaching regarding the poor?
Sen. Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, recently called out the House Speaker with a public critique of his faith. During a New York Times ‘question/answer’ session, Warnock was asked about Johnson praying ahead of the passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. Critics contend that the GOP bill will cut spending on federal Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years. “For me, the acid test of one’s faith is the depth of your commitment to the people who are on the margins. And I’m a Matthew 25 Christian, Warnock said during the interview.
“I don’t understand how you read that, say a long prayer, hold hands with your fellow legislators, and then cut a trillion dollars, $1 trillion, out of Medicaid, calling it waste, fraud and abuse,” the senator said. “What are you saying about those people? And so, in light of that, for me, I have to ask whether the religion is more performative than substantive.” When Sen. Warnock says he is a “Matthew 25 Christian,” he understands that the heart of Christian faith is measured by how we treat “the least of these” (the hungry, the poor, the stranger, the sick, and those in prison) as Jesus teaches in Matthew 25:31-46.
Sen. Warnock noted that “the speaker has a certain agenda and a certain view,” which informs his decisions, but stated that “there were many Christians on the wrong side of slavery.” He was right to hold the Speaker accountable. When it comes to the poor living throughout Louisiana and across the nation, genuine Christian faith is proven not primarily by verbal confessions and public grandstanding, but by concrete solidarity with those who are suffering.
(David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body and the author of God Bless Our Divided America.)
