Evangelist and author Greg Laurie is defending his decision to pray at a rally for Republican nominee Donald Trump, saying he would do the same at a Kamala Harris rally because his "primary objective is to point people to Christ."
The senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California spoke briefly at the rally in Coachella, Calif., last weekend, telling attendees he will pray for the winner of November's election, no matter who it is. He then led the crowd in the Lord's Prayer.
Laurie says he was invited to pray at the rally.
"My job as a follower of Jesus, and specifically as a pastor, is to represent Christ," Laurie said in a video on his social media accounts. "And I understand that when I go into any setting, I'm there as a representative of the Kingdom of God, and my primary objective is to point people to Christ."
Christians, Laurie said, "must permeate, we must saturate our culture."
"Our job is to shine as bright lights and function as salt. Jesus said, 'You're the light of the world. You're the salt of the earth.' We show our light through good works and the things that we do to help others in preaching the gospel, and we are salt by stopping the spread of evil because that's what salt did back in biblical times," he added. "They would rub it into meat so it would not rot. So that's where voting comes in, that's where speaking out and issues comes in.
"Christians must be involved in every aspect of American life."
Prayer is bipartisan, he added.
"If I was asked by the Harris campaign to come to one of their events and do a prayer, I would gladly accept that," Laurie said. "You give me a microphone and an opportunity to speak, I'd be happy to do that."
At the rally, Laurie told attendees he would pray for "whoever is elected to be the next president of the United States." He also thanked Trump for inviting him to the White House during his term.
"When President Trump was our president, he welcomed me and other pastors and evangelical leaders to pray for the nation, to pray for him, even in the Oval Office," Laurie said. "So he's been a true friend to the Christian community, and we thank him for that."
I was asked last Saturday to speak and pray at a Trump rally in Coachella. I agreed to do so. BTW, If I was asked to speak at a Harris rally I would do so as well. When I go into settings like this, I go as a representative of. God’s Kingdom. Some would say that Christians should… pic.twitter.com/39teQpt7x9
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) October 16, 2024
Photo Credit: ©X/Greg Laurie
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.