Greear: Evangelical Trump supporters 'winking at sin'

The current president of the Southern Baptist Convention suggests that Christians who support the president are not "hopelessly compromised," but are hurting their witness.

In his new book Above All, Dr. J.D. Greear (pictured) writes – in the context of voting for President Donald Trump – "Evangelicals have lost a lot of moral authority in recent years because of our apparent willingness to wink at sin when it serves our interests."

But Greear stops short of saying it's wrong to support Trump – which brings this reaction from Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas and one of President Trump's evangelical advisors:

"Leaders like J.D. and others in the Southern Baptist Convention were very accusatory, originally, not only of the president but of evangelicals who supported him," says Jeffress. "But I think they got lambasted enough by the rank-and-file Southern Baptists that they've had to pull their punches a little bit."

In a recent interview with The Christian Post, the SBC president was asked if evangelicals' "willingness to wink at sin" in 2016 was a bigger problem than in earlier elections or if it has always been an issue.

"I am not trying to say that anybody who voted for Trump or anybody that votes for any candidate, I am not trying to say that they are hopelessly compromised," he responded. "But I am saying that when we are willing to excuse and even brush away, when we're willing to not preach about sin because we're afraid that it will somehow put us out of favor with the powers that be, well that shows that we've got our priorities out of order, the Gospel is not above all. It shows that we've got power above all or we've got influence above all."

Also during the CP interview, Greear expressed admiration for the late Southern Baptist icon Adrian Rogers, who is rumored to have told one president during a White House visit: "I don't come here to be a stooge on the stage for you, to be a good photo-op or to make it look like Hey, the church is behind you. I come here as a prophet of God to say thus says the Lord."

Jeffress recalls a more recent White House visit. "What's interesting is last August, the president and first lady invited a group of evangelicals to the White House – and JD Greear was there," he tells OneNewsNow. "The president had an open mic night, so to speak, but I don't remember J.D. saying anything – and certainly not a 'thus sayeth the Lord' moment."

Instead, Jeffress says, the SBC leader was a model citizen. "When you go to the president's home, you act courteously to the president," the Texas pastor counsels.