John MacArthur on Kamala Harris rallies after VP response to Christian protesters: 'Jesus isn't there'
'In this kind of election, you can't be on that side,' pastor adds
Pastor John MacArthur says the response by Vice President Kamala Harris to the phrase “Jesus is Lord” at a recent campaign rally is all Christians need to know about who to vote for in November.
The 85-year-old MacArthur shared his thoughts during an on-stage conversation at Grace Community Church Sunday night with Jim Pfaff, president of The Conservative Caucus, who asked MacArthur to help “shepherd our hearts” ahead of Election Day.
After taking a jab at Harris for her “this is the most election ever” comment last year, MacArthur pointed to her response to a pair of protesters at the Harris-Walz rally at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse last week when they shouted phrases like “Christ is King!” as Harris spoke about abortion rights.
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Harris paused her speech to address the students, quipping, “You guys are at the wrong rally,” which drew loud applause from the audience. The moment quickly went viral on social media.
While recounting the incident, MacArthur told Pfaff, “Somebody said ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and she immediately said you're in the wrong place,” he said. “What else do you need to know?”
After Pfaff replied, “Jesus is not Lord in that place?” MacArthur clarified, “No, I'm not saying that Jesus is not Lord over the universe. I'm not saying that Jesus is more Lord over the Republicans, but I'm telling you He's not there, not when you kill babies and mutilate children and destroy marriage.
He then appeared to endorse Harris’ opponent, former President Donald Trump, by adding, “in this kind of election, you can't be on that side.”
While MacArthur didn't mention the former president by name, he appeared to acknowledge Trump’s personal shortcomings in contrast with his political priorities.
“You take the best of maybe not the best choices,” he said. “Who would do the most damage to the family? Who would do the most damage to children? Who would do the most damage to the culture? Who would do the most damage to morality? Who would put us in a most insecure and unsafe position when [the] government is designed to protect law-abiding people and punish evildoers?
“I mean, it's a clear-cut choice.”
MacArthur made similar comments in 2020 when he said “any real” Christian would vote for Trump because they cannot support the policy agenda of the Democratic Party. He also previously dismissed the notion that political figures like the former president could be the solution to the nation’s moral and spiritual decline, although he considered a second Trump presidency a “huge move in the right direction.”
In his conversation with Pfaff, MacArthur also spoke publicly for the first time on the fall of former Master’s Seminary professor Steve Lawson, who was removed from his pastoral role at Trinity Bible Church in Dallas over what was described as an “inappropriate relationship with a woman.”
Lawson formerly served as the dean of Doctor of Ministry Studies at The Master's Seminary and was a frequent speaker alongside MacArthur in front of MacArthur's congregation at Grace Community Church for The Shepherds Conference and other events.
Speaking on Lawson, MacArthur explained that one of the ways God purifies the Church is “to expose someone in a position they have no right to be in.”
Calling the exposure of Lawson's behavior a "blessing" for Grace Community Church, MacArthur explained that God's hand of protection was on his fellowship even while removing Lawson from ministry.
"It is fatal to a church to have that kind of behavior in leadership, and while none of us knew it or expected it because of the soundness of the theology, the Lord knew. And the Lord said, "For Grace Church, that's enough."
Despite the scandal, MacArthur called Lawson a “friend” — “I don’t love him any less than I’ve loved him for 25 years” — and said his conscience must have been “seared” to allow Lawson to continue preaching in spite of his infidelity.
“I don’t know how you preach past your conscience unless it’s completely scarred over … ” he said. “ ... I find myself almost every night praying for him.”
