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Pastor Ray Ortlund Receives Backlash for Deleting Social Posts Endorsing Kamala Harris

Milton Quintanilla

Pastor Ray Ortlund of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, received backlash over the weekend for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president in a now-deleted social media post.

"Never Trump. This time Harris. Always Jesus," a screenshot of Ortlund's deleted post said.

"I have deleted a post from earlier today because it was being misinterpreted. I should have foreseen it. My fault," Ortlund, the president of Renewal Ministries, wrote on Threads, which is a part of Instagram after he received backlash for his endorsement of Harris. 

Meanwhile, New York Times columnist David French congratulated Ortlund for his endorsement, writing, "This is the way." Others were less enthusiastic.

According to The Christian Post, one user took issue with Ortlund's remarks, writing, "How can you vote for Harris/Walz as a believer? Do you think that killing babies is something Jesus would support?"

"Put your personal views on the person aside and vote for the party that is going to support your morals and religious beliefs. I believe that any party that has ANY association with murdering children of GOD should be immediately out of the question," the user added.

In response to the user, Ortlund seemed to suggest that Trump is a greater threat than abortion.

"Abortion is a horrible evil. But the evils on the other side have risen to levels that jeopardize the foundational rule of law in our country. I am thinking long-term and voting for us to have a national renewal in the future," he replied.

Others who criticized Ortlund's stance include Vice President of Discovery Institute John G. West, who wrote that if Ortlund "is truly concerned about not jeopardizing the rule of law in America, one has to wonder where he has been during the past nearly four years..."

"Politically-motivated prosecutions of one's electoral opponents, government-encouraged censorship of dissenting voices on social media, prosecutions of peaceful pro-life protestors, executive orders that have no basis in laws passed by Congress, the refusal to enforce laws already on the books," he continued.

"This is only a short list of what has been happening. But Ortlund assures us that in order to protect the rule of law we must vote for the same people responsible for these things. His comments are exceptionally [sic] revealing about the echo chamber in which some leading evangelicals live."

Samuel Sey, a Christian blogger, wrote: If Ray Ortlund really believed abortion is a horrible evil, he wouldn't be voting for Kamala Harris. This is shameful."

Former GOP North Carolina lieutenant governor candidate Allen Mashburn criticized Ortlund, saying, "Those two statements are diametrically opposed to each other and not biblically cohesive," added Masburn, who was defeated in the 2024 primary against current GOP candidate Mark Robinson.

Ortlund also received repeated pushback from William Wolfe, who serves as executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership.

"Remember, this is Gavin Ortlund's father and Russel Moore's pastor," Wolfe wrote, "He's the quintessential 'Big Eva' pastor. And he's using the name of Christ to endorse a pro-abortion, pro-trans communist."

Even after Ortlund deleted his post, Wolfe continued to go after him, writing: "Now Ray Ortlund is backpedaling, claiming his post was 'misinterpreted.' It was crystal clear: He's voting for Harris *this time* Classic subversive doublespeak."

When one user on Threads asked Ortlund to explain why he deleted his post, Ortlund replied, "I'm sorry. But answering your question could risk reversing my decision to delete."

Photo Credit: ©YouTube/The Gospel Coalition

Milton QuintanillaMilton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.