Tullian Tchividjian Says Christian Brand Has Been Damaged by Evangelicals' Association With Religious Right
The grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham commented Tuesday that he believes Evangelicals' involvement in the conservative political movement "has done more damage to the brand of Christianity than just about anything else."
Tullian Tchividjian, senior pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, explained to co-hosts of the MSNBC program "Morning Joe" that American evangelicalism has been harmed by its association with conservative politics.
"Over the course of the last 20 or 30 years, evangelicalism, specifically their association with the religious right and conservative politics, has done more damage to the brand of Christianity than just about anything else," Tchividjian asserted.
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"That's not to say that Christian people don't have opinions on social issues and we shouldn't speak those opinions, but Sunday morning from behind the pulpit is not the place," he added.
Tchividjian also told those on the "Morning Joe" program that he feels his job, as a pastor, is to go beyond social issues and social solutions when preaching.
"It's not so much religion in the public sphere as much as religion in the pulpit, behind the pulpit, that's my primary concern," Tchividjian continued. "As a preacher, my job when I stand up on Sunday mornings to preach, is not first and foremost to address social ills or social problems or try to find social solutions. My job is to diagnose people's problems and then announce God's solution to their problems."
Tchividjian was on the program to talk about his soon-to-be released devotional, It Is Finished: 365 Days of Good News.
Slated for purchase on New Year's Day and published by David C. Cook, the book is a daily devotional centered on the Good News of God's love.
"God's radical grace is unbelievable, unexplainable, and definitely undeserved. But it's the foundation of our faith. In this new 365-day devotional, Tchividjian reminds you every day that the Gospel is good news," noted its Amazon description.
"It's God's message that He loves us even when we don't deserve it. These short readings each contain a truth from God's Word that will set you on a solid foundation for the day — a foundation of God's grace, goodness, and unconditional love."
In discussing the devotional with the "Morning Joe" co-hosts, Tchividjian said the book, It Is Finished, is comprised of "365 days of short readings."
"I am really trying to help people know that all of the meaning, all of the worth, all of the value, all of the significance that we long for and that we look for, we already have because of what God has done for us," Tchividjian explained in response to a question posed to him about New Year's resolutions.
