A North Carolina megachurch pastor pulled no punches when preaching to his congregation about false teachings, even name-checking the Trump-endorsed Bible and Christian Nationalists.
Loran Livingston, lead pastor of Central Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, was speaking on the importance of studying Scripture directly, without influence from false doctrine. He specifically mentions the danger of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” Bible, which was recently endorsed by Trump.
“I’m here to tell you that is a cheap ploy,” Livingston began. “If your spirit can’t tell the difference from your soul, you will think that is OK.”
He goes on to warn the congregation about getting faith involved in “political mess,” and it’s a three-minute long rant that’s worth every second of your attention.
Pastor Loran Livingston tore the church up with this one. pic.twitter.com/jwG9A0fkFL
— Howard Henderson (@hhendersonphd) April 22, 2024
Here it is in full:
“Some of you bring politics into the church. You think that politics is spiritual stuff. Politics is of this world.
You think it’s your duty to be political about this, that, and the other. No, your duty is to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, body, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Don’t be talking to me about my spiritual responsibility to vote. I don’t have a spiritual responsibility to vote. I have a civic privilege.
Don’t be telling me that voting is spiritual. See, that’s what happens when you don’t read and pray. When you don’t read and pray, you say, wow, there’s a Bible out now that includes the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Isn’t that wonderful? No. No, it’s disgusting. It’s blasphemous. It’s a ploy. Are you kidding me? Some of you are so encouraged by that?
Let me tell you something. The gospel is not an American gospel. It is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But pastor, I bought the Bible. Really? You’re telling me. That you’re encouraged because someone took a government U .S. Constitution, a document. That says. We are of the people by the people and for the people, the people, the people, the people. And you have put it right beside the word of God, which is eternal unchanging, which says, of Him, by Him, through Him, to Him, from Him are all things. And you’re going to put those together and be happy about it? God forbid.
Now you can get mad if you want to, but I’m going to tell you something. If you glory in that kind of thing, you don’t have a prayer life. If you glory in that kind of mess, political mess, you do not know what the Word of God says. I’m going to rare back and tell you something: This is not my home. This world is not my home. I’ve been sent out just like the 70 were sent out. You’ve been put here and sent out just like the 70 were sent out. We’ve been put here as strangers and pilgrims and we are passing through. I am just walking through.
I’m just renting an apartment for a little while in this strange and foreign land. No sir, my real citizenship is in heaven from which we look for the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Livingston is the lead pastor of Central Church of God in Charlotte, which brings in roughly 6,000 people, each weekend, according to the church’s website. At one time, it was even home to a young Steph and Ayesha Curry, who met in the church’s youth group.
