Michael Brown's Evangelical Pussyfooting

The WorldNetDaily columnist is reluctant to call out the offenses of fellow evangelical ministers, and he labored to downplay the threat of Christian nationalism while endorsing its goals.

WorldNetDaily columnist Michael Brown is loud and proud in his hatred of LGBTQ people. When it comes to scandals and other issues involving the evangelical movement he belongs to, he’s much less so.

For instance, WND has been a big fan of evangelical lerader Mike Bickle — in particular, columnist Larry Tomczak. In a February 2023 column, for instance, Tomczak promoted the movie “The Jesus Revolution” and noted that some leaders who came from that movement were Bickle and Brown. But in October 2023, allegations surfaced that Bickle was involved with sexual misconduct involving several women over decades in his ministry in Kansas City, where he led the International House of Prayer. The first WND columnist to address the controversy was not Tomczak but, rather, Brown, whose Nov. 1 column discussed the fallout but wouldn’t mention exactly what Bickle was accused of doing, offering only a link to them instead:

It was absolutely shocking to learn this past weekend that serious allegations had been brought against Mike Bickle, senior leader of IHOPKC. (This stands for International House of Prayer, Kansas City.) Mike is a personal friend and, to my knowledge, a beautiful example of devotion to Jesus. He spent hours daily in prayer and the Word, lived very simply, donating large amounts of money to the Gospel, and always embraced a message of repentance and purity. How could the charges be true?

Right now, we must pray for everything to come to light through proper, due process, and no conclusions should be drawn until then.

If the charges are true, focus must first be put on the victims themselves, working for their full restoration and healing. They are often forgotten at times like this, which only adds sin to sin and hurt to hurt. As for Mike, if he were found guilty, the focus should be on his personal, spiritual restoration, not on discussion about ministry restoration.

As for everyone else affected, let me speak as a father and elder, knowing how much mercy the Lord has had on me and knowing that none of us can boast in our own righteousness. All of us stand by grace, and none of us is too big to fall.

Brown then tried to spin things away from Bickle by claiming that other people’s faith shouldn’t be affected:

No matter who falls short, God remains the same – perfect in His goodness, His righteousness, His justice, His mercy, and His love. Only God is God!

If Mike’s writings helped you draw closer to Jesus, be thankful for that. The closeness you enjoy is real.

If Mike’s example motivated you to live sacrificially and devote thousands of hours to prayer and worship, be glad. Your prayers were not in vain. (And they were directed to the Lord, not to people.) Your worship did reach the throne of heaven. (You weren’t worshiping Mike; you were adoring the Creator and Redeemer.) Your sincerity has not changed.

[…]

As to whether you can trust your pastors or elders or spiritual leaders (after all, you think, if it turns out Mike Bickle was leading a double life, how do I know that others are not?), let me say three things.

First, the great majority of leaders are not involved in sexual or moral scandals. If they were, the church would have collapsed and died centuries ago. It makes good sense to believe the best unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Second, trust the leaders to the extent they have earned your trust. As far as they have modeled a godly life before you (or, before those who know them best), you can trust them accordingly. As Hebrews states, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7; see also 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Third, don’t exalt people. Don’t make servants of the Lord into superstars. Don’t give them status that belongs only to the Lord.

When pastor Robert Morris faced accusations from a woman who says he first molested her when he was 12 years old, Brown snapped into defense mode again — but was even more oblique about it. Brown’s June 21 column didn’t mention Morris at all — who just happens to have endorsed one of Brown’s books — but instead was all about declaring that “God is purifying His church”:

Without question, God is purifying His church, bringing the dross to the surface in the heat of His refiner’s fire. It is ugly. It is painful. It is grievous.

Many hearts are broken and many lives devastated.

God’s children are wondering, “Who can we trust? Where do we turn? Is anything we believed real?”

The truth is that we are witnessing the hand of God at work. We are witnessing the love of God in action.

This is a move of the Spirit. This is what happens when the Lord draws near. It is intensely difficult, but it is awe inspiring as well.

[…]

There are “Christian critics” who delight in finding fault, who are quick to repeat negative stories without factual verification, quick to stir up dissension, quick to look down at others who are not in their camp.

Careful, my friend! Your day will come as well. God hates a proud heart as much as He hates adultery. He detests bearing false witness as much as He hates stealing. You will be judged in the same way that you judge.

That’s why Proverbs urges us not to gloat when our enemy falls. That same judgment could quickly turn on us (Proverbs 24:17-18).

[…]

In these difficult days, there are non-believers who are mocking the church, as if every preacher was corrupt and every pastor immoral. They fail to recognize that this season of purging actually gives evidence to the reality of God. And they fail to understand that judgment begins with God’s household, “and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?'” (1 Peter 4:17–18)

So, this same Peter who taught that, if we grew in grace and pursued holiness, we would receive a “rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11) also said that “the righteous are barely saved” (1 Peter 4:18, NET).

Yes, the righteous, those who love the Lord, those who lead godly lives, those who seek to honor and obey Him, even they are “barely saved.” What, then, will happen to “the ungodly and the sinner.”

Let us, then, get low, asking God to cleanse us and purge us and make us like His Son, granting us true and deep repentance where we have fallen short.

His mercy is overwhelming and His redemptive power amazing. But He does not wink at sin. And He loathes a self-righteous spirit.

God is seeking to accomplish a very deep work in His entire body. And if we fixate on sexual sin alone, as critically important as that is, we will completely miss the comprehensive level of purity to which He is calling each of us. It is time to step so much higher in all the deep crevices of our lives. Let us not miss this opportunity when the Spirit is so graciously moving!

As the Morris scandal continued to unfold, with one of his attorneys outrageously blaming the girl for having “initiated” the abuse, Brown repeated this tone in his July 8 column:

In the American church today, we hear so much about God’s love for us that we sometimes think that the Gospel centers on “me” and “my needs” and “my goals” and “my dreams” and “my destiny.” Rather, the Gospel centers on the Lord – on His desires and goals and plans. And while He cares deeply for us, sending His Son to die for our sins, He is working to see His name glorified, not ours. Put another way, it’s not about us, it’s about Him. We are replaceable, He is not. And what matters most is not our reputation but His.

That’s why the first words of the Lord’s prayer are, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,” meaning, “May Your name be revered as holy by the people of this world.” Nothing is more important than that.

[…]

Right now, in America, the name of Jesus is being tarnished by one devastating church scandal after another. Yet rather than covering over our sins to protect His reputation, He is allowing our unrepentant sins to be exposed and judged. And while it may seem for the moment that His name is taking a hit, He is actually at work in all this to bring glory to Himself – by cleaning house.

Of this I am 100% sure: He will act for His name’s sake. He will get Himself glory. He will set the record straight.

He is God, and the entire universe, along with every created thing in it, revolves around Him, not us. Let us never forget that.

So, be glorified Lord, in us – whatever that means, whatever the cost. Your glory is what matters most.

Again, Brown censored any mention of Morris and the fact that Morris endorsed one of his books.

Downplaying Christian nationalism

Brown fretted over the idea of Christian nationalism in his March 8 column:

Have you noticed that, almost everywhere you turn, “Christian nationalism” is in the news? On March 3, a headline on the Christian Post stated: “John MacArthur denounces Christian nationalism as ‘faulty viewpoint’ linked to postmillennialism.” On March 7, a USA Today story announced: “As Trump support merges with Christian nationalism, experts warn of extremist risks.” Similar headlines could be multiplied by the hundreds. But what, exactly, is Christian nationalism? And is it truly a threat to democracy?

Already in November 2022 an article posted on The Conversation noted that, “Talk of ‘Christian nationalism’ is getting a lot louder – but what does the term really mean?” That remains a valid question: What does the term really mean? Or does it mean different things to different people?

Are you a Christian nationalist if you love Jesus and love your country? Are you a Christian nationalist if you are simply a patriotic Christian? Are you a Christian nationalist if you believe that America was founded on Christian principles and that, the more we adhere to those principles the more our nation will be blessed? And were the Founding Fathers Christian nationalists?

Or are you a Christian nationalist if you believe that our nation should be ruled by Christian law? Or that the only ones who have the right to govern America are Christians? Or that the current government should be overthrown because it is anti-Christian?

Brown cited a book on Christian nationalism co-written by Gab founder Andrew Torba while ignoring, as fellow WND columnist Scott Lively did, that Torba is a virulent anti-Semite. Then, much as he did with the definition of the right-wing New Apostolic Reformation movement, Brown quibbled over the a of Christian nationalism:

Two years ago, recognizing that Christian nationalism was going to be a very hot topic (along with the ubiquitous “NAR,” meaning the “New Apostolic Reformation”), I joined together with Dr. Joseph Mattera, a theologian and an international leader of leaders, to draw up the “NAR and Christian Nationalism Statement.” We recognized some dangerous trends in some Christian nationalist circles, the worst of which raised their heads on Jan. 6, 2021. But we also recognized that fine, God-fearing, America-loving, followers of Jesus would be tarred and feathered as Christian nationalists.

If you have the time, I would encourage you to read the entire statement, which is about 1,500 words long. For the moment, rather than giving my own definition of Christian nationalism, which I really can’t do, since it means different things to different people, let me cite the final two sections of our statement.

But Brown is very much giving his own definition of Christian nationalism — given that he co-wrote an entire statement trying to define it — and, as with his attempts to redefine NAR, his goal is to make it sound less scary. To that end, he offered a list from his statement identifying things that are “spiritually dangerous,” such as “We marry the cause of Christ to the cause of a political party (or leader) as if they were one and the same” and “We make a human being into a political savior.” Ironically, these are things Brown himself has violated, given that he wrote two booksencouraging his fellow evangelicals to support Donald Trump despite his record of amorality because he supported evangelical agenda items.

He also reproduced a list “contrasting the Kingdom of God with extreme nationalism,” with statements such as “Followers of the Kingdom of God are passionate about a Christ-centered global awakening. Adherents of extreme nationalism are focused primarily on a political/ideological awakening.” Yet Brown’s history is that he so demonizes anything even slightly liberal that he does, in fact, hitch his religion to right-wing politics. Brown concluded:

My suggestion is that, rather than debate the meaning of Christian nationalism we lay out what we do and do not believe, affirming what is right and rejecting what is wrong. Then, to the extent our convictions are biblically based, we seek to live out those principles for the good of the nation, without coercion, force, or, God forbid, violence.

Let’s honor Jesus in our own lives while we work for the betterment of the nation as a whole.

Of course, the entire point of his column was to serve up a more favorable definition of Christian nationalism to make it sound more palatable.

Brown expanded his efforts to downplay the threat of Christian nationalism in politics with his March 25 column:

With the ever increasing warnings about the alleged danger of “Christian nationalism,” however ambiguous that term might be, it is only fair to ask: Is America a Christian nation? And, just as importantly: Has America ever been a Christian nation? And how does this relate to Christian nationalism?

One of the latest fear-provoking headlines, this one posted on Mother Jones, stated plainly, “It’s a Good Time to Start Worrying About Christian Nationalism.” This contrasts with the assessment of the Catholic New York Times journalist Ross Douthat who noted that “today’s religious conservatives are mostly just normal American Christians doing normal American Christian politics, not foot soldiers of incipient theocracy.”

Is this what is meant by Christian nationalism? Earlier this month, I restated my own views on the subject. Here, we’ll focus on the question of whether America is (or was) a Christian nation.

Brown then rehashed the right-wing controversy over Barack Obama’s comments about whether American is a “Christian nation,” though he at least fully quoted Obama’s words in context, unlike many other WND writers:

In June 2007, President Obama created a firestorm when he said on CBS, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

Two years later, during a press conference in Turkey, he said that we Americans “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are, uh, bound by a set of values.”

This caused quite an uproar across the country, as many Christians raised their voice in protest. “Of course this is a Christian nation. Who doesn’t know that?”

Responding to Obama’s comments in April 2009, attorney and professor John Eidsmoe wrote, “There is a sense in which this writer agrees with him. Unlike England at the time of our nation’s founding, we do not have an official state church. And I don’t want one – I don’t want Barack Obama to be the head of the church.

Nevertheless, Brown tried to parse Obama’s otherwise clear words anyway:

Can we say, then, that America was a Christian nation?

If we mean that it had strong Christian foundations, that it was presupposed that the vast majority of Americans would be professing Christians, and that Christianity, in that sense, was privileged in our country, then the answer would be yes. America was a Christian nation.

If we mean that Christianity was the required state religion or that as Americans we conducted ourselves as fully Christian, the answer is no. Just ask the Native Americans and the early African American slaves to weigh in if you have any doubt.

What about today? Is America a Christian nation – or at least, was it a Christian nation in 2007 when President Obama made those initial remarks?

If we mean that America is (or, recently was) Christian in the sense of “majority Christian,” with Christian holidays and customs having a more privileged place in our society than do Islamic or Buddhist or Hindu holidays and customs, the answer is yes.

In that sense, America is a Christian nation just as Israel is a Jewish nation, even though the large majority of Israeli Jews are not observant. In the same way, some other countries are Muslim, rather than Christian or Jewish, even though many of their people are not religious Muslims.

Surely, America is Christian rather than Buddhist or Muslim or Hindu, even though the percentage of professing Christians in America has dropped from over 78% in 2007 to less than 65% today.

Or, to put this in the simplest terms, the statement, “Americans celebrate Christmas” is overwhelmingly truer than the statement, “Americans celebrate Ramadan.”

Of course, Americans do, in fact, celebrate Ramadan — just not as many of them. But that doesn’t make Ramadan less valid, as Brown seems to suggest. Brown concluded by claiming that it’s a bad idea for Christians to force their views upon others, even as he suggests doing just that:

Any effort, then, to seek to impose Christian values on others, not in terms of advocating for our values in the public square and in the voting booth, but in terms of forceful imposition, is misguided and dangerous.

What, then, should our attitude be as committed followers of Jesus?

First, we should view America as part of a fallen world, therefore in need of the Gospel. Our nation has been a ripe mission field for many years.

Second, at the same time, we should appreciate the many positive aspects of America, most particularly our freedoms, which are a direct result of the best of our Judeo-Christian roots. And we should use those freedoms to advocate for our values.

Third, because we are not a Muslim or Hindu nation, we should recognize that the key to America’s well-being is a healthy, thriving, life-giving church. Revival in the church could lead to awakening in society. Both are desperately needed.

It seems that Brown doesn’t really want non-Christians involved in government or even the nation as a whole — which suggests that he does, in fact, want to impose Christian ideology on all Americans.