Tucker Carlson hosted The 2023 FAMiLY Leadership Summit last Friday, interviewing six presidential contenders in Iowa in front of thousands of grassroots leaders and political activists.
Iowa is a particularly important state, as it will host the first-in-the-nation 2024 Republican presidential primary caucus on January 15, 2024.
The annual leadership conference was hosted by The FAMiLY Leader, Focus on the Family’s allied state family policy council for Iowa, headed by president Bob Vander Plaats.
After interviewing the presidential contenders, Carlson himself was interviewed by Vander Plaats, in which he spoke about his developing faith.
He disclosed that even though he doesn’t consider himself a “particularly faithful or virtuous person,” he began reading through all of Scripture in February for Lent. So far, he’s halfway through and has read the entire New Testament, and up to Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.
“It’s like the most interesting thing that I think I’ve ever done, actually,” Carlson said.
So far, there are two primary things that he has learned from reading Scripture.
First, he said he’s realized that every figure – except for Jesus – is “really flawed.”
“Like, flawed in a way where you’d be like, I don’t know if I could be friends with that person,” he said.
As an example, Carlson pointed out Abraham’s lie to Abimelech, king of Gerar, recorded in Genesis 20. Abraham told the king that Sarah – his wife – was only his sister.
“Abraham enters Egypt and he’s like, uh, it’s my sister actually, take her!” Carlson joked.
Carlson said that he asked his wife – who is a religion teacher – what the purpose of Scripture’s inclusion of that story was.
She responded, “Maybe the point is that God takes people, who are not perfect people … and uses them for these grander purposes.”
Indeed, Carlson – and his wife – are right. All major biblical figures – Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Rahab, Samson, the Prophet Eli, Saul, David, Solomon – and the list goes on, were remarkably imperfect.
And yet, God used them to accomplish His purposes.
Second, Carlson said he’s learned that “there are unseen forces acting on people. People, while they have freewill, are not really in charge of the arc of history at all.”
“People’s choices matter. You need to do certain things and not do other things,” he added. “On the other hand, you are not in charge. You are being acted upon by a world you can’t see.”
Carlson then applied that idea to the political realm, saying, “A lot of these issues are symbols of this much larger battle.”
Once again, Carlson is correct.
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes,
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (ESV).
You can watch Tucker’s full clip here:
Tucker on spiritual warfare: "Leaving aside elections, it's clearly a pivot point in history. There are unseen forces acting on people. People, while they have freewill, are not really in charge of the arc of history at all. A lot of these issues are symbols of a larger battle." pic.twitter.com/8YK5Bc90LA
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 14, 2023
Indeed, to Tucker’s last point, when it comes to the most pressing issues of our day, they are not political in the traditional sense. They are spiritual issues.
For example, laws over abortion restrictions may be debated in the political arena, but abortion is primarily a moral and spiritual issue.
This is also true for the issues of same-sex marriage, transgenderism, religious liberty, women’s sports, sex-segregated spaces, pornographic material in public schools, laws mandating the teaching of “gender identity” to young children and parental rights.
What else can Christians who try to exercise their citizenship in a responsible way take away from Tucker’s remarks.
First, don’t ever let someone tell you that religion and politics should be separated. Don’t ever concede the point that morality should not be legislated.
Far from it. Every law is a debate over morality. Everything that is illegal, should be illegal because it is immoral. You cannot separate these two areas of knowledge. The only question in terms of governing is, which morality will prevail?
Second, Christians should be involved in politics. Why? Because the issues up for debate are spiritual issues – they are all under the Lordship of Christ and His interest in creation. Therefore, Christians – and Christianity – has a lot to say about them.
Third, we must remember that there is genuine evil in the world, and this includes the area of politics. When Christians fight for or against certain political issues, ballot measures and the like, we do so because we have a moral obligation as followers of Jesus Christ to fight against what is evil, and promote what is good.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God (3 John 11, ESV).
Fourth, pray. Since our battle is spiritual, prayer must be one of our weapons, along with truth, righteousness, the gospel and the Word of God.
In response to Carlson’s speech, Yoram Hazony, a Modern Orthodox Jew, Bible scholar and chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation, tweeted, “Terrific that Tucker Carlson was willing to bring the Bible onto center-stage in such a humble and open-hearted way.
“There’s nothing America needs now more than to re-engage with the Bible.”
Amen to that.
If you’re having doubts about your faith, Focus on the Family is here to help. Consider the following resources.
Christian author and apologist Lee Strobel recently appeared on the Focus on the Family Broadcast to discuss his new book The Case for Heaven. On the broadcast, titled “Believing in the Hope of Heaven,” Strobel examines why our culture chases immortality and the evidence for the existence of the soul.
To watch or listen to “Believing in the Hope of Heaven,” click here. Additionally, you can get a copy of Strobel’s new book here or here.
You can also purchase a copy of The Case for Christ here.
To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
Related articles and resources:
The Proof You Need to Believe in Jesus Christ (Part 1 of 2)
Harvard Scientist: Wonders of the Universe Point to a Creator
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