Now that the 119th session of the U.S. Congress is underway, political news outlet Roll Call examined the religious faith of the lawmakers. Citing their biographical data, it reports 99% of Republican members identified with a religious faith compared to 91% of Democrats.
Among those who claim to be Christians, that figure is 98% among Republican members and 75% of Democrats.
Pastor Jim Garlow knows many of those lawmakers through Well Versed, his ministry that exists to counsel and encourage lawmakers. He tells AFN those numbers are probably inflated because there is always spiritual fruit that comes from being a Spirit-filled Christian who walks with Jesus.
“If you've come to Christ, you have eventual changes,” he says. “Those changes affect every single aspect of your life, even including your political view.”
In a city built on politics, which is often unseemly already, Capitol Hill create a difficult test for every person there who faces temptations over pride, greed, and lust on a daily basis.
Garlow says the two parties’ views on religious faith can be traced to their core beliefs. At the moment it’s politically advantageous to call yourself a Christian in the current Republican Party, he observes, because the lawmakers’ red districts back home are filled with churchgoers who elected them.
It's also disadvantageous among liberal Democrats.
“How long can a person vote for killing babies in the womb, or for cutting off little boys' privates and calling them girls, or encouraging that for which God destroyed Sodom,” Garlow asks, “and continue to call themselves a Christian?”
Back in the Roll Call story, a political science professor similarly described a “God gap” in the two political parties. A Republican candidate who cites their Christian faith will be welcomed in the party, he said, but many of the Democrats who cited no religious affiliation are likely trying to appease a political party with a diverse voting base.
Garlow’s advice for lawmakers is there is a cost to following Christ, even for the Washington elites.
“Whether you're Republican or Democrat, regardless of what your party platform says,” he stresses, “you have to be fiercely committed to the things of Jesus, the things of the Word of God.”
