Eric Metaxas

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. It's awesome to be with you here at this huge conference and to visit with you.

You've got some really tremendous insights that our listeners are going to really glean from. But, man, how are you? I'm doing great. You know this. Every time I see you, I get happy because I love you and you love the Lord and we just have fun.

So, I'm doing okay. This is a strange season in our history. I think if I did not have faith, I can't even imagine navigating this period in history without total faith in Jesus. I don't get it. I don't know how anybody else can make any sense of it. But I also think that we're in a huge spiritual battle because the dark forces are, you know, it's kind of like they know their time is nigh. This is nasty scorched earth battle for the soul of America. And you know, when you're talking about America, you're not talking about America.

You're talking about the West. You're talking about the torch of freedom for the whole world. That's the burden of this nation. And so, this is a big spiritual battle. So, I want Christians to understand that they must pray for this nation in this run up to this election. They must pray every day.

Just do it. Pray for this president because this is serious. This is an existential crisis like 1776, like 1860, like this is not, you know, there's no guarantee that it's going to go the right way and everything is riding on it. And look, this doesn't mean that Trump is the Messiah. He is not. He's a man. But I really believe that God has been using him in a way that is necessary for this season. You know, almost like Churchill. Where did he come from?

And where would World War II have gone without his unique leadership and skill set? That's kind of where we are right now. And I think that, you know, when I hear about Christians that aren't registered to vote or don't vote, I just want to die. I want to crawl under the couch and die because I cannot believe that they don't understand the privilege that God is calling on us to vote. Don't even vote for yourself. Vote for the poor kid who, if the wrong person gets in office, that poor kid will have infinitely less opportunity to thrive, to get out of poverty, to have a better life. I mean, we have a responsibility to the next generation. So forget about yourself and your pocketbooks and your rights.

This is about the future. This is about principles. And I've been very grieved to know that over the decades, many times the church has said, that's something else.

That's not for me. And I think you're getting it wrong. You need to live out your faith in every aspect of your life. And sometimes that means politics.

Politics. And that's an interesting thing because you and I spend a lot of time in the faith circles. We go speak. You speak.

You preach. You fill pulpits. And suddenly the name pops up, Donald Trump. And the invitation comes in the mail for Eric Metaxas to go to the White House to talk to him and to speak faith. And so on the one side, you're thinking, well, all my Democrat friends, they think I'm a sellout because this is the mean guy that has said some not so nice things and tweeted some things. But on the other hand, you're thinking, well, God's given me access to maybe speak some faith. Maybe Trump needs Jesus. If you hate him, maybe you say, well, God said love your enemies and he needs the Lord too.

I would say that people need to get this. OK, just forget about Trump for a second. If you vote for Trump, you're not voting for Trump. You're voting for a cabinet filled with serious Christians. Ben Carson, whom I know, Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, Mike Pompeo, Pence, the vice president, on and on and on. He has populated his administration with serious Christians.

Now, let me tell you something. That is not going to be the case on the other side. It's the opposite. And again, even if you're not voting for Trump, you think about what an administration does. Betsy DeVos is fighting for school choice. Let's say, you know, you live in a poor neighborhood in a city. You have no the Democrats don't want you to have school choice. This is a big issue to be able to say, why can't I send my kid to that school?

And they go, no, no, no. The teachers union, they give a lot of money to us and you can't do that. That is that is a huge issue if you care about the poor. We're commanded to care about the poor. It actually hates the poor. The welfare state is actually being mean to the poor. It's mistreating black people.

That's my point. In other words, I think the reckoning has come after 50 years of this. I think most black Americans are saying, OK, time is up. You have failed. You've taken us for granted. You have not helped us.

You've talked a good game, but you haven't done it. So so you're telling me I should vote for you when you I mean, we've got to be real about this. And so a lot of sound bites about, you know, the president's race is the president. You show me what he is doing. Is it helping black Americans or not? You show me who are the people he puts in his administration. You show me who are the judges that he appoints.

And, you know, you could go on and on like when he stands up against China, when he stands up against open borders. That you want to talk about the black community. Their jobs have been devastated by people coming across our borders, taking really low paying jobs. That harms black Americans. Like, why are the Democrats suddenly for open borders?

They didn't used to be. So there's so many issues. And I think that people have to kind of like ratchet down the rhetoric and understand that this is a sober decision that we have to make for the future.

You can't just go like, well, I don't like him or I don't. I mean, this is about way more than that. And these are very serious issues. And I, you know, I challenge Christians need to use their minds to look at this, you know, and of course, as you said, to pray. I mean, this president has a ton of, you know, black and Latino Christians around him, you know, and some whites, too. But I'm saying, like, he lets them pray for him. He's very open to that. And I got to say, like, he doesn't need to do that.

He doesn't need to do that. It seems obvious to me that he is very, very friendly to the faith community in a way that I think that in the last 20 or so years that the Democratic Party has changed. And they have been very hostile to serious Christians.

And I think that that says something. If it was 30 years ago, different story. Different party.

Democrats were a different party, but they have changed and they've gone so radically left. And you've got to deal with that right now. Our kids are going to face some nasty stuff ahead. So, yeah, for me, this is all obviously really serious. So lots at stake.

The election's coming. Let's go on a different little plane and talk about relationships. How to have healthy conversations with family members who have the completely polar opposite view. In other words, I've seen you hug people that are completely, you know, we've talked about mutual friends that are atheists. Adnostic, you know, fully friends that will vote. How can we have collegial conversations without being hateful? Yeah.

And how come a lot of Christ there? Because I really see that because a lot of folks listening aren't going to vote the way you may want to. But you still want them to know you love them. Well, see, this is the point is to me, I have friends on the other side of the political spectrum and I want them to know I love you.

And of course, we're going to disagree on some stuff. But but you should not break off friendship as a result of that. I have had people break off friendship with me as a result of my political affiliation.

And I thought, you've got to be kidding me. I mean, I have loved you for 30 years as your friend. And so I think this is key, is that to look at somebody as a human being, not as a vote, not as, you know, just a political ally or whatever, but to treat each other as human beings, because at the heart of everything, I mean, if we all did that, you know, none of this politics would matter very much. You know, so to me, that is key. And so I got out of my way in my life to love people with whom I disagree.

And you know what? One of the ways to deal with that disagreement is not to talk about it like there's so much else in life. Talk about sports. Talk about fishing.

Talk about what food. Talk about your kids. Or even central to what we believe. Talk about the gospel. Talk about the soul.

Talk about. Of course, that might get you in more trouble, but it does reflect the fact that whatever, you know, whatever you believe, if you're putting all the eggs, if you're putting all your eggs in the basket of a particular candidate or a particular party or a particular future, the fact is King Jesus is coming back. Now, we don't exactly know when, but give us some hope. Give us some hope on the fact that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Take us home with that in this last 30 seconds. I'll say this.

Yeah. When I hear anybody on the left or on the right give me the gloom and doom stuff and like, oh, it's all going to hell, I think, hey, Scripture commands us to rejoice in the Lord always and to praise Him and to give thanks in all seasons. And I think to myself, if you really believe in Him, you're going to live with that joy.

It's not about circumstances. There are people suffering in prisons for their faith around the world. Those people are praising Him. They think they're in the tribulation and we're trying to figure out if we're pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib. They think, hey, this is the tribulation.

Where's the coming King? So when I see Christians lacking joy and hope, we are commanded. I mean, the reason the Lord commands us is because He knows we're weak.

And so He says, I'm going to tell you very straight. I'm commanding you, rejoice in Me always. I'm commanding you, be anxious for nothing but take your problems to Me in prayer.

Why would He say that? He loves us. He does not want us to fret, to be anxious. And I really feel like Christians, we must live that way. You've got to ask yourself, do I really believe this?

If you say you do, you're going to live differently. You're going to live in the hope of Jesus. He's alive in us. His resurrection power is alive in us. We will never die. We're going to be with Him.

I mean, we need to live in that. Bonhoeffer clearly got that. And when he went to the gallows, he knew, you can't kill me. I'm stepping into the presence of the King now.

And you know, God wants us all to live that way. So that's kind of good news. That's good news from Eric Metaxas. He's writing more books than I can chase him down and interview him about. But his book, if you can keep it, is one they're giving away here at the Falkirk Center. This big faith summit that's really cool.

Just lifting up Christ as the faith intersects with culture and all that stuff. And then you've got other ones you're working on. But ericmetaxas.com, your website. You've got a radio show. You've got a podcast. You've got big time. Talk about ratings.

I try to talk about my ratings, but I mean, you know, I might get two likes to a post. So thank you for what you're doing. And we're praying for you as you speak the truth in love and lift up Jesus in a culture that desperately needs it. Amen. And you know how much I love you and your family. Thank you, my friend.