Q&A with Greg Laurie: America ‘ripe’ for spiritual awakening

By Jason Yates, Op-Ed Contributor Thursday, May 02, 2019

Evangelist Greg Laurie prays with people gathered at Pirates Cove Beach in Newport Beach, California on Sept. 8, 2018. | Photo: Harvest

SoCal Pastor Greg Laurie caught up with My Faith Votes recently at the National Religious Broadcasters convention. He talked openly with us about his new book, Jesus Revolution, America’s need for another spiritual awakening, the church’s role as salt and light and where our ultimate hope lies. For a few truly uplifting moments, watch the full interview.

Standing in front of the colorful Jesus Revolution bus, Pastor Greg Laurie shared his testimony of becoming a Christ-follower during America’s last great spiritual revival — the Jesus Movement — in the 1960s and 1970s. He believes America is in desperate need of spiritual revival today and that the apparent divisions in our country over race, economic status, politics, religion, etc., poses no obstacle to God. In fact, Laurie suggests the timing might be “more ripe” for spiritual awakening because most revivals “seem to happen during times of conflict.”

Laurie says Christians must pray for spiritual revival in their own lives as a catalyst for America to experience spiritual revival and must recommit to follow the biblical exhortation to live as salt and light in our culture. By comparing believers to salt, Laurie says the Bible calls Christians to be cultural preservatives, and the best way to do that is to “proclaim the gospel.” As light, Christians are to beat back the darkness and stop the spread of evil.

Along with prayer and preaching, Laurie suggests a practical way for Christians to oppose evil is to register and vote. No candidate will ever align perfectly with biblical values but, he says, “find one that is as close to biblical values as possible and vote for them.”

That’s our core mission at My Faith Votes. We work every day to empower Christians to put their faith into action. That means helping Christians to be informed and think well about the issues being decided at the ballot box, to pray for our country and our leaders and, ultimately, to live out our faith by voting.

There is no perfect political or cultural solution for America. “Our hope is in nothing that human beings can do,” Laurie says. “Our hope is in God. The Bible calls that our ‘blessed hope.’”

Jason Yates is CEO of My Faith Votes, a nonpartisan movement focused on motivating Christians in America to participate in local and domestic elections. By partnering with local churches, pastors and national faith leaders, My Faith Votes mobilizes and resources Christians to lead the conversation on the place of faith in culture and politics. Gov. Mike Huckabee serves as the organization's honorary national chairman. Website | www.myfaithvotes.org Twitter | @MyFaithVotes Facebook | My Faith Votes