At RELEVANT, we don’t love talking politics. If you’re a Bible-believing Christian, you should be able to see where both parties get things right — and where both get things wrong.
Total allegiance to one and total dismissal of the other doesn’t make much sense. That’s why when RELEVANT does address current issues, we try to zoom out and look at them from a third-way, (usually) non-partisan, biblical perspective.
Because I follow the teachings of Jesus, I’m pro-life — and to me that includes human dignity and human flourishing at every stage. Which is why the political climate we’re living in right now deeply troubles me.
As Christians, we shouldn’t be comfortable with it. That’s why a talk I recently saw by former Republican President George W. Bush from 2011 grabbed me.
His warning about nativism and protectionism is a stark reminder that we need to learn from the past — and that things don’t have to stay the way they are today.
There is a path toward a more peaceful, inclusive and generous society. And as a Christian, those are ideals I want to be known for championing.
Take 90 seconds and watch it.
What makes this clip compelling isn’t that it critiques the current moment. It’s who it’s coming from.
For those of you too young to remember much about his presidency, Bush is in no way progressive. He governed from the right. He is pro-life. He understands why many Christians align politically the way they do. And yet, in this video, he draws a line.
Bush distinguishes between loving your country and drifting into nativism. Between prudent policy and a posture shaped by fear.
He talks about growing up in Texas alongside Mexican-Americans. He speaks about shared values — faith, family, hard work, service — and about America’s capacity to welcome people from different cultures.
It’s not a policy prescription. It’s a warning about spirit — about what kind of people we’re becoming. That’s why it matters.
Right now, the immigration debate is loud. Emotions are high. Churches are divided. Christians are trying to reconcile political allegiance with biblical teachings.
This video doesn’t tell you how to vote. It raises a harder question: Are we slipping into cultural fear?
For Christians, that’s not a small distinction.
Scripture obviously doesn’t offer a modern immigration blueprint. But it is clear about posture. Leviticus says the foreigner must be treated as native-born — grounding it in memory: “You were foreigners in Egypt.” Jesus, in Matthew 25, places the stranger alongside the hungry and the imprisoned, then says: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.”
That’s not a partisan statement. That’s the Son of God telling us that how we treat the vulnerable is how we treat Him.
Bush’s warning in 2011 wasn’t about abandoning conservative politics. It was about resisting cycles of fear that have surfaced before in American history — and the fact that his words feel urgent again is worth sitting with.
You don’t have to agree with everything Bush did as president to hear what he’s saying here. You don’t have to change your political affiliation to admit that tone matters. You don’t have to abandon your convictions to ask whether fear is shaping them.
After watching the clip, ask yourself one question: Is my faith forming my politics — or is my politics forming my faith?
