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Amid rising political tensions and cultural shifts, this edition of Washington Watch addresses poignant social issues facing American communities. Virginia State Delegate Jerry Higgins provides insights on controversial school policies while David Claussen tackles the pivotal issue of biblical worldview among modern churchgoers. As young Americans return to church in unprecedented numbers, the role of pastors becomes ever more crucial in addressing foundational faith questions and societal concerns.
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
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As Speaker of the House, it is my responsibility to lead the House of Representatives and to do what is right by the American people. And that’s what we did today in two very important votes. The first was a common sense, very reasonable, nonpartisan effort to keep the government open. This is a very short seven-week holdover of government funding. We are going to allow more time for the appropriations process to continue.
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That was House Speaker Mike Johnson after the House passed a temporary measure to keep the government open past September the 30th. And then the Senate rejected the bill. Welcome to this September 19th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heist. So glad to have you joining us today. Coming up, we’ll have more on that story. Congressman Morgan Griffith from Virginia will join me to discuss what efforts are being made to keep the government open. And President Trump, he says that he and China, the president of China, Xi, they talked today about TikTok. And what does all this mean for the app’s future here in the United States? We’ll hear in just a few moments. Asian expert Gordon Chang will join me to discuss this. And in other news today, two male Virginia students who were suspended for speaking out about a biological female who was in their locker room, they just want an emergency relief in federal court. I’ll be talking more about this with Virginia State Delegate Jerry Higgins a little bit later in the program. And then to close out today, as we always like to do on Fridays, I’ll be joined by David Claussen for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment. All right, a government shutdown is looking more and more likely every day, especially now that Senate Democrats have blocked a stopgap spending measure earlier today. The GOP-backed bill had passed the House and aimed to keep the government open running through at least past October 1st. Joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper, who’s been following this story. Casey, what more can you tell us about this whole budget discussion that’s taking place on Capitol Hill?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, thanks Jody. As you said, a bill to keep the government open passed October 1st, just failed in the Senate. It needed 60 votes, but only got 44. Of course, most Democrats voted no. They say the bill didn’t include enough funding for health care programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Now, the bill had already passed the House and would have kept things running through November 21st. It also included $88 million for security, which of course comes after the recent assassination of Christian conservative Charlie Kirk.
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If Chuck Schumer’s negotiation is that he wants to add $1.4 trillion in new spending, the answer is, heck no, we’re not doing that. And we’re not going to pay for health care for illegal aliens. That’s against the law. We’re not doing that. They’re not being reasonable at all. A short-term CR is not a partisan exercise. We could have loaded this up with partisan provisions, but we’re not doing that because we’re governing in a responsible manner.
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Now that clip was Speaker Mike Johnson after the measure passed the House. With Congress going into a break, it’s unclear if they’ll return next week to try again. If no deal is made by September 30th, we’re looking at a government shutdown. But also in big news and a win for President Trump, Senate Republicans yesterday used the nuclear option, Jody, to overcome Democrat obstruction and confirm 48 of President Trump’s nominees in just one vote. The move fast-tracked key picks and filled important defense and agency roles, cutting through months of gridlock, Jody.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. Thank you, Casey. We’re actually going to be talking a little bit more about that later in the program with Congressman Morgan Griffith. What other things are you tracking right now, Casey?
SPEAKER 12 :
The US vetoed a UN resolution yesterday, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The measure ignored key security concerns for Israel and didn’t provide enough guarantees to stop violence from Hamas. Fourteen nations backed the resolution, but the US stood firm in defense of Israel’s right to protect its people. That war, of course, was started infamously by Hamas, a terrorist organization whose members brutally attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 civilians and taking hundreds of hostages. Now, other news today came out of the White House, actually. President Trump had an important phone call with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, earlier today. President Trump said that he and Xi made progress on a TikTok deal and agreed to a face-to-face meeting as soon as next month in South Korea. Now, President Trump said on True Social that, quote, we made progress on many very important issues, including trade, fentanyl, the need to bring the war between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok deal, unquote. So, you know, President Trump also said Xi would come to the U.S. at a later date, which is a big development, Jody.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. Thank you so much, Casey. Appreciate that as always. All right. I want to go now to my first guest for a further analysis of President Trump’s call with China’s Xi Jinping today. And joining me to give his assessment now is Gordon Chang. He’s a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and also author of Planned Red, China’s Project to Destroy America. By the way, you can follow him on X under the handle at Gordon G. Chang. Gordon, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to have you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so much, Jody.
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Okay, so we’ve got the phone call between Trump and China’s President Xi today, and they say that progress was made in regard to TikTok as well as other very important issues, including things like trade, fentanyl, and the Russia-Ukraine war and so forth. But I’ve got to tell you, Gordon, that kind of makes me scratch my head of what would be considered progress, both for America and maybe progress for China? It seems like we’ve been at a standstill for a long time. What does progress look like at this point?
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Well, progress, according to President Trump in his Truth Social posting today, said that Xi Jinping actually approved the TikTok deal. But we don’t know the terms of the deal, Jody, and that is absolutely crucial. There are three things here. There’s ownership, data security, and the curation of the algorithm. And it appears on the first two that President Trump got a really good deal from the Chinese. The third one we don’t know about, and that’s the most important by far. That’s the curation algorithm. This is the algorithm that determines what you see and what you don’t see on the site. And clearly, China’s been using the algorithm to create division in America, to meddle in our elections, to promote things like suicide and illicit drug use. This is really bad stuff. Now, the Wall Street Journal had some reporting a couple of days ago that suggests that this is going to be OK from the U.S. point of view. But there were no details in the Truth Social posting, so we’re going to have to wait to see what it’s like.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, you’re exactly right. I mean, the devil’s in the details. Any idea when those details may be coming out?
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Well, President Trump just gave a fourth extension to the federal ban on TikTok, and that extension expires December 17th. So apparently there’s supposed to be a deal. We heard from Treasury Secretary Besant a couple days ago that there will be further negotiations, but only really on very minor points. The major points have been agreed, according to the Treasury Secretary. So probably there won’t be a fifth extension if all of these reports are true. But, you know, TikTok is really important. We know that the Chinese have used it to steal data from Americans. That, by the way, is a violation of federal law, which means under federal forfeiture statutes, we could actually just seize TikTok without compensation. So I’m not exactly sure why we feel we need to negotiate with the Chinese. I think that if we’re going to negotiate with them, quote unquote, we ought to be just telling them what the terms are and then telling them they’re either going to take it or leave it. And if they leave it, we’re going to expropriate it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. And if a deal is made, what assurances are there that they would not continue using it as an instrument to gather information? I guess that, again, will be in the details that we’ll find out in the weeks to come.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, the data security provision, apparently Oracle, which is one of the three companies that will own a combined 80% of the TikTok, will continue to provide cloud services. If that’s the case, then Oracle should be able to provide data security to prevent the Chinese from doing what they’ve been doing. But then again, as you wisely say, it’s the devils in the details. So I’d like to know what those data security provisions will be and how much control Oracle will have over the app.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know President Trump said that he and China’s President Xi will be meeting face-to-face here, I think in about six weeks in South Korea, and also said that he, by the way, will be visiting China. And at some point, President Xi will be coming here to the U.S. By the way, this is something that former President Biden didn’t do his entire presidency. He never went to China. But what do you make of the plans for these two leaders to be meeting face-to-face in the future?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I don’t have any problem with Trump and Xi getting together on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in South Korea, but President Trump should not be the first to travel. You know, he said that he was going to go to China in the early part of next year and that eventually Xi Jinping would return the visit at an appropriate time. The Chinese are going to view this as Trump acknowledging his submission to the grand celestial Chinese court, because this is the way the Chinese have been thinking about things for centuries. Two millennia, actually. So although I know President Trump doesn’t believe that he is a subordinate to the Chinese, that’s the narrative that they are going to propagate around the world. And by the way, it makes it much harder for President Trump to actually be effective in diplomacy because people around the world accept the Chinese narrative. And that means they are going to be much more resistant to President Trump’s initiatives than they otherwise would be. because they feel that China has the whip hand. So at this particular time, I think President Trump should not go to China.
SPEAKER 15 :
Good point. So let me ask you this. With all the escalation that there’s been between the U.S. and China over the recent Liberation Day tariffs that President Trump instituted, what’s your feeling on the overall stand of things right now? How does it look?
SPEAKER 10 :
I think we’re doing a fairly good job and President Trump deserves kudos for this because as it stands, our tariffs are about 20% higher on Chinese goods than Chinese tariffs on our goods. Normally delay, and there’s been a lot of delay in the final settlement of a tariff deal, normally delay helps the Chinese because it means they can continue their predatory trade practices and continue to steal our intellectual property. This time, Trump has set these things up so delay helps us because Trump is negotiating these trade deals with others. And that means we’re directing trade away from China. So I think that this is a good thing for us. And I think the White House has been doing a good job on this when you consider unbalance.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. Last question for you has to do with Taiwan. What’s your feelings on where things stand or where things may be going as it relates to China and Taiwan?
SPEAKER 10 :
I’ve always been much more concerned about Chinese aggression against the Philippines and the South China Sea, specifically Scarborough Shoal, where there’s been some very dangerous incidents in last month and this month. You know, if a war starts in East Asia, it’s almost certainly going to start against the Philippines, not against Taiwan, because Taiwan is too hard a target. And there are a lot of other reasons why I don’t think China would initiate hostilities by launching an invasion of the main island of Taiwan. But in any event, Taiwan will get involved in a crisis if there is a war against the Philippines, because the whole region probably will go to war for various reasons. So we’ve got to be concerned about Taiwan. But more important, we’ve got to be concerned about the Philippines.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. There’s so many hot potatoes out there that we’re tossing back and forth. Thank you so much, Gordon Chang, Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute. Always, always an honor to have you. We deeply appreciate the tremendous insight that you bring.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, it’s an honor for me to talk to you, Jody. So thank you very much and God bless.
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All right. God bless you as well. Have a great weekend. All right, friends, we’ve got a lot more to cover as we continue unfolding multiple issues here on Washington Watch. Coming up next, it’s been a difficult week, if you will, for school officials at Loudoun County, at least, in Virginia. That is where a couple of students were suspended, a couple of male students who were uncomfortable having a girl in the locker room. Well, we’ve got a lot to share about what’s happening there, and we’ll do so right after the break. Stay tuned.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple. The abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum long-standing safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
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Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Always glad to have you joining us as well. Last month, officials at the Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, you may remember they suspended a couple of male teenage students for expressing discomfort with having a biological female in the boys’ locker room. Well, in response, a lawsuit was filed defending the students. And this week, a federal court granted a motion for emergency relief, which temporarily blocks the district’s suspension while that case moves forward. And on top of that, the U.S. Department of Education announced this week that the school district had been in violation of Title IX. So it’s not been a good week for Loudoun County school officials. We’ll just put it that way. But the question is, have they learned their lessons? Joining me now to discuss this is Virginia State Delegate Jerry Higgins. He represents the 30th District, which includes parts of Loudoun County. He’s also a former Loudoun County supervisor and school board member. Delegate Higgins, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s our honor to have you.
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Thank you, Jody. It’s an honor to be with you all and get a chance to speak with you tonight.
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Yeah, let’s talk about this. Let’s begin with what came out of the court. The school district appears to, quite frankly, be putting indoctrination over education, if we can put it that way. But it’s good to see that the court is stopping this wrongful punishment so that education can go forward. Your thoughts on all of it?
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Yeah, it’s really a shame. I’m not a lawyer, so I may not be discussing all the ins and outs of the case, but basically they ruled that the school board, in their decision to suspend these young men, did not consider the young men’s case at all, only considered the woman’s case. that they put a stay on it. They also, I think, question the overall policy, generally speaking. So it’ll be interesting to see what comes out. And they have been consistently, which I find very distasteful, spending… tax money for uh… these fights against uh… the court fights in the courts both against their policy eighty forty which has uh… you know brought this situation around with the two young men and uh… and you know in defending this case where they’ve thrown these two out of school one of the ironies of this is there was three young men involved and uh… one of those young men was uh… exonerated or not prosecuted under the Title IX complaint. So it seems very strange. And actually, in the original situation, when it first came down, I had spoken with and talked with all three of these families, and you got to hear from them directly.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. That’s very interesting. I know you’ve been heavily involved in this in the meetings and different things, as you just referenced. Is this an issue, do you think, that the school district might actually be in process of turning around on, or are they going to be dead set on hanging on to their radical gender ideology and forcing kids to do the same?
SPEAKER 09 :
Um, I mean, I would hope and frankly, I hope that their response to the, um, determination from the Department of Education would have gotten them to turn around. But that’s not the case. They had a chance a couple weeks ago to withdraw that policy and to withdraw these actions against these two young men. And I just don’t see it happening. I’ve been to the school board to speak on numerous occasions, and frankly, I don’t think, and I think parents should show up and certainly voice their concerns, but I think it’s fallen on deaf ears.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. That is just so hard to comprehend. I know I mentioned also happening this week, the U.S. Department of Education weighed in and their Office of Civil Rights actually did an investigation and said that they had found that sex-based investigation, there was a double standard there where Loudoun County failed to meaningfully investigate complaints of sexual harassment by the two male students concerning the presence of a female in the locker room, that they did go the opposite direction in investigating the female students’ complaint about sexual harassment. So are we witnessing here sex-based discrimination?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I think that’s for the courts to sort out, but it appears that way. If you’re going to look at the whole incident, it would seem to me that you would look at the story of the young men and the young lady that was in the boys’ locker room. One of the things that I don’t know has come out in all of this press about this incident was one of the families have moved out of the county and moved to another state so that their son would not be branded in this… kangaroo court that they have held in Loudoun County. And you talk about something that I think is absolutely ludicrous, and they don’t have any problem with that and have proceeded with the hearings and whatever to make the decision that they did, that these young men had, in fact, committed a Title IX violation. Wow.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, thank goodness for what’s happened this week. What is your, before I let you go, what is your message to both the school district officials in Loudoun County, as well as, let’s take it beyond Loudoun County, other parts of the nation. What would your message be to those who are claiming, quite frankly, that the Trump administration is breaking the law and demanding people to break the law, and that the Trump administration is actually the ones discriminating against students. You’re right in the middle of all this. What’s your message in the midst of that argument?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I think that this recent decision is telling to that extent that because that if I remember correctly, the recent decision was issued by a district court judge. And that’s not you know, that’s on the way to the full circuit. And so that judge has determined that they were not operating properly with their policy. So I think it speaks volumes at the at the excuses, frankly, that the school board has made. I am trying to remember the case. There was a case in the Fourth Circuit, and this is what they’re hanging their hat on. I think it was Meeks. I think it was Chesterfield County versus Meeks, but I can verify that for you.
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We’ve got about 30 seconds.
SPEAKER 09 :
They have used that case to justify all of this stuff when all that case did was deal with one specific set of circumstances that were very specific and did not cover all these things, locker rooms, sports, gyms, showers, and all the rest of that stuff.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you so much, Virginia State Delegate Jerry Higgins. Incredible case developing there. Appreciate you joining us.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
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All right, coming up, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding measure today. So are we headed to a shutdown? Stay tuned. We’ll discuss that right after the break.
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Download the new StandFirm app for Apple and Android phones today. You can join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective. Read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events, and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family, and church members. And of course, stand firm wherever you go.
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At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting-edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
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Through my work at the Washington Stand, I passionately defend what God has defined for marriage and family. I don’t see the Washington Stand as just a place to talk about cultural events. It’s a place to share biblical truth with the perfect outlet to advance and defend what God has defined as good, true and beautiful.
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Because of you, we’re able to frame things in such a way that help Christians stand for truth on the things that matter most, like life, faith, family and freedom. Thank you for standing with us.
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Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss, and we welcome you aboard. All right, it seems at this point that Congress has no clear path forward to avoid a government shutdown. That is all because of what happened today in the Senate where they failed to pass a stopgap funding measure. that actually had cleared the House earlier this morning. And that Republican plan, which has been described as a clean CR, a nonpartisan CR, it fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate. In fact, all Senate Democrats, except for John Fetterman, voted against that bill. And by the way, the Democrats were joined by two Republican senators, Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski. So a competing Democrat plan received 47-45 vote along party lines, and there were seven Republican senators who were missing the vote. So all of that said, to ask this question, where does it all stand right now? Are we headed towards a government shutdown? Well, I don’t know of anyone better to discuss this than my next guest, Congressman Morgan Griffith. He represents the 9th Congressional District of Virginia, and he joins me now by phone. Congressman Griffith, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, it’s good to be with you. Sorry I can’t be on the television screen. I’m actually racing home, so I’m on Interstate 81. I apologize for any traffic noise. What? Yeah, it looks like we may be in for… Now, they’ve got next week. In a few days, next week, they may be able to straighten it out. But here’s the bottom line. This is definitely a Democrat-caused shutdown. And it’s kind of amazing because there’s several issues floating around, but the Democrats really want to try to fix this cliff related to the premium tax credits on Obamacare plans that was created by the Democrats… It was originally a temporary program for people in the period of COVID. And it was supposed to end December 31st, 2025. And now they’re claiming that even though they set it up as a short-term program, that we can’t get rid of it. It’s one of those Washington things that once you start something, you can’t stop it. And I do agree that, unfortunately, the sticker shock for so many families will be great. And so I think we need some kind of a glide path, and it needs to be negotiated. But shutting the government down doesn’t help solve that problem. And yet that’s where the Democrats are going. And what’s amazing about it is, and we witnessed this, you witnessed it, when you have a government shutdown and you have the president of the other party in place, you’re giving that president a whole lot of executive authority. They’ve been complaining he’s been using too much. Well, they’re about to. The Senate Democrats are about to end. the people to shut down, and the president, a tremendous amount of authority to, that’s right, lay off people that he thinks aren’t essential and aren’t doing the job, and close down things that the president thinks shouldn’t probably be getting federal money. So they’re handing President Trump something that I think he’s probably getting to get, and that is the ability to take a pen and start striking out federal expenditures.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow, great point. So let me make sure that I’ve got this right. What was being proposed and voted on by the Senate today and the House earlier was a clean CR, so no changes. This was not a bill that was full of GOP policies. It was simply a continuation, if you will, of the status quo. but the democrats just are they just throwing a public tantrum against president trump why would they reject such a short-term measure that does not have any additional gop policies well i think it’s because yes and deep down it’s because they’re just mad at president trump and they don’t know what to do about it he won the election and they still haven’t gotten over it but
SPEAKER 16 :
at least their argument is, is that they want to see a permanent extension of the premium, those premium tax credits for some Obamacare plans. And it was really interesting this week in Energy and Commerce. Democrats were arguing that you had to have these premium tax credits because if you didn’t, the Obamacare exchange insurance rates were too high. They were unaffordable. So I put out a column today saying Democrats are arguing. I don’t think they meant to say it, but it’s what they said. They’re arguing without a special program that was created during COVID, the average American family can’t afford an insurance policy through the exchange. In other words, they have now admitted that Obamacare did not lower your insurance rates. We know they went up, but they’ve admitted that it’s unaffordable insurance. And their legacy plan for making things more affordable for the United States families is a failure.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow, incredible what’s happening. Listen, we’ve only got about a minute left. The House also, if I can switch gears real quickly, passed today a bill honoring the legacy of Charlie Kirk. Most Democrats supported it. Quite a number, in fact, 58 voted no. What were your thoughts on what unfolded this week?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well… You know, political violence has no place. And I will tell you that a lot of Republicans and Democrats in Virginia agree with that. And that’s why you saw a majority of Democrats vote for it. You’d have to ask each of the 59 or 58 who didn’t vote for it why they didn’t. A lot of times it’s because they disagreed with Charlie Kirk’s opinion. Well, I disagree with a lot of Democrats’ opinions, but I would immediately… vote for a memorial resolution honoring the fact that they were a part of our process in a democratic republican form of government and that while i disagreed with them i respected their right to speak their minds and as long as they’re not spewing uh affirmative things about creating more violence or encouraging more violence
SPEAKER 15 :
Got to leave it there. Morgan Griffith. All right. Thank you for joining us. All right, friends, coming up next, our biblical worldview of the news of the week. Stay tuned.
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, right? Because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 15 :
Happy Friday. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thanks for tuning in. Before I get to my final guest, I want to encourage you, if you have not already done so, to be sure to register for our upcoming PrayVoteStand Summit. It’ll be taking place October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California. And if you have registered, I want to encourage you to go ahead and tell others to do the same and be praying for this. It’s going to be a powerful event, of course. PrayVoteStand.org is the website to visit. Details and registration information is all there. PrayVoteStand.org. Also want to encourage you, if you have not already done so, our Stand Firm app. FRC’s Stand Firm app is one of a kind. You can get it at your App Store or Google Play or wherever it is that you get apps. You can also text the word APP to 67742. This is an app that you will cherish. It’s indescribable in so many ways. So much information available there for you. Check it out. APP to 67742. all right this past sunday all across the nation churches were rocked after the assassination of charlie kirk pastors from all around the country reported an increase in church attendance and much of that appears to have been fueled by young people That’s a segment of the population, of course, that Charlie particularly had an impact on. And in addition, just from a more personal perspective, over half a million people engaged with an FRC social media post that mentioned how Gen Z is now attending church at a higher rate than any other generation. Did you catch that? Gen Z. is now attending church more than any other group in our country. This topic has clearly attracted a lot of attention. And so how should we think about what’s happening, this most recent development? And what should pastors, quite frankly, with so many new faces that they’re seeing in the churches, how do they respond to this? There’s a lot we can discuss, and joining me now to talk about this for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment is David Claussen. He’s the director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at the Family Research Center, and also the author of Life After Roe, Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. David, as always, hope you’re having a great Friday, and welcome back to a great Biblical Worldview discussion.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s great to see you, Jody, and it’s, as always, great to be with you.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, so let’s talk about this whole Gen Z increase in church attendance. In fact, them leading the way, it’s just incredible what we’re seeing across the board. I mean, we’re seeing so many people return to church right now, but particularly that group. But I have to tell you, David, something that’s been heavy on my heart for a long time, and I guess now being amplified even more so, is what are these people going to hear from the pulpits when they go back to church? I want to bring this up to you because I know you’ve recently done some, you’ve got some recent research information about the worldview of church goers. And so could you just kind of break down what you can share with us, data that should perhaps inform pastors when they’re having conversations with so many new people?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, Jody, absolutely. And, you know, it has been a hard week for many of us, I think, especially those of us who work kind of in these social conservative spheres and do work similar to what Charlie Kirk was doing. And I just imagine if Charlie could look down and see most churches across America this past Sunday, I imagine he would have smiled. You know, anecdotally, I’ve heard from pastors, like you said, all over the country who said they were packed, standing room only. My own church here in D.C., the balcony was completely full. It was just really encouraging. But I share what you said, Jody, that although it’s really encouraging that people who have maybe not gone to church in a long time or people who are coming for the first time, what kind of content, what are they going to be receiving from the pulpit? And so we’ve been working, George Barna and I, on a massive nationwide research project. And we’re going to roll this out in a few weeks. But for those who are kind of tuning in today, you do get kind of a preview. Because I thought it was kind of, and the producers of this program agreed, that it would be helpful if we kind of, as folks are going into this second weekend after Charlie’s assassination, as so many people are having conversations with people who are searching for meaning and transcendence, to be aware of some of the things that we found. Because some of what we found, Jody, this research is on regular churchgoers, so not just those who identify as Christians, but those who actually show up in our churches. Frankly, much of what we found was discouraging. Let me just give you just a couple examples. We did, again, a similar survey two years ago in which 59% of regular churchgoers told us they thought it was very important for Christians to have a biblical worldview. The research now, two years later, shows that number has dropped to 47% who believe it’s very important for Christians to have a biblical worldview. We’ll give you one other statistic, Jody. We asked several questions related to kind of social issues, issues in the public square. We asked in 2023, do you believe the Bible is clear and decisive on issues related to marriage and homosexuality and transgenderism and abortion? We asked the same questions this year, and in every category, the number fell. I’ll give you one example. In 2023, 75% of churchgoers, Jody, told us they believe the Bible was clear and decisive on the definition of marriage. Only two years later, that number went from 75% to 65%. So again, what the data seems to show is that there is confusion on basic doctrinal issues and implications of the Bible in amongst churchgoers.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, confusion, that’s stunning information, David, that confusion on basic, as you say, Christian beliefs, Christian doctrine. I hear this, and immediately my thoughts go to one of two problems, and probably it’s both problems. Number one, these individuals themselves are not in the Word. enough to see what it has to say for themselves. But secondly, they’re not hearing it from the pulpits. I mean, is this kind of what your research is pointing towards when it comes to what opportunity really lies before church pastors and leaders right now?
SPEAKER 13 :
I think so, and we’re still diving into it and producing this report. And I would just say if anyone’s interested kind of in a report like this, you can go to frc.org slash worldview and sign up for our newsletter and be the first to receive what will probably be about a 30-page report on the regular beliefs of churchgoers. But as far as these basic issues, you know, George Barna has identified what he calls the seven cornerstones of a biblical worldview. Again, these are just doctrine of God, doctrine of Scripture, doctrine of salvation, the human condition, the issue of absolute truth, a general purpose, and the definition of success. George has shown that if you have all seven of these cornerstones, Jody, the likelihood that you have a biblical worldview, a consistent, comprehensive biblical worldview is it’s 83 percent if you only have six of them it drops uh your likelihood goes down to two percent that you actually have a consistent biblical worldview and uh again the data is showing us that again on these basic cornerstones uh the percentage is going down and so again my encouragement to pastors those with preaching teaching discipleship responsibilities Don’t think you can just move on from Christianity 101. This is what even people who’ve been coming to church actually need some clarity. They actually need some instruction. So again, it is an unbelievable opportunity we’re in right now. And my hope is that pastors and teachers lean into the opportunity to teach God’s word on these, again, basic theological questions.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, we’ve got these basic seven cornerstones that you just mentioned, and it is frightful to hear that there’s so much confusion on those things. One of them that just kind of jumps out to me is the basic question of God’s identity itself. I mean, can you go further into detail on that question?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, happy to, Jody. And I believe it was the theologian A.W. Tozer who once said, the most important thing about you is what comes into your mind when you think of God. And we might actually have a graphic of it. I tried to send it to the producers right before the… the program. But we asked this question, which comes closest to what you believe personally about God? Again, these are regular churchgoers. 3% said that they, again, they saw these options, Jody, and they opted for the position that everyone is a God. 17% chose that second option that says God refers to the total realization of personal human potential or a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach. Again, Jody, I actually have no idea what that means. And yeah, I kind of want to almost laugh at it, but 17% of regular churchgoers saw that option and said, yeah, that makes sense. 4% chose the option. There are many gods, each with different purposes and authority. 61% chose the orthodox view that Scripture teaches, that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect, loving, and just creator of the universe who rules that universe today. And then another 11% said a higher power may exist, but no one really knows for sure. Jodi, when we asked the same question two years ago, It was actually 68% of folks who chose that orthodox response. So we’ve actually lost seven points in just two years. We’ve seen a rise in Eastern mysticism and a rise kind of in agnosticism, even in the church. And very briefly, my encouragement would be, you know, if you were teaching this, You know, God is all-powerful. Go to Genesis 1. Go to Isaiah 40 that depict God’s power. The idea that God is all-knowing, well, that’s Hebrews 4.13. It says, nothing in all of creation is hidden from God. You want to teach about God being love? Well, that’s the whole book of 1 John. And the idea that God is ruling and sustaining his creation today, well, that’s Colossians 1.16. And so again, I would just encourage folks who have opportunities to have theological conversations, go back to the basics and go back to what God’s word reveals about who he is.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, getting back to the basics, really you never depart from the basics throughout the entire journey of spiritual maturity. You just get more and more grounded on those basics and build upon them each and every day. And I know in addition to all these cornerstones that you’ve mentioned, there’s… confusion, and you’ve alluded to this heavily, about what the Bible teaches on social issues is going to be known. And of course, these are things that Charlie Kirk did so effectively, taking the Bible right into the public square and exposing, revealing, connecting the dots as to how the biblical truth relates to social issues, political issues, all these kinds of things. Does your survey indicate where regular churchgoers stand on some of these social issues, be it marriage, homosexuality, transgenderism? Did you dive into any of those specific areas?
SPEAKER 13 :
We did, Jody, and this is similar to what we did two years ago. And so that’s what’s neat, that we’ve done this project two years ago, and we were able to ask almost all of the same questions. We added some new questions to try to measure some certain things. But we did ask, and I believe we have a graphic for this as well, as far as asking regular churchgoers if the Bible addresses certain issues. We asked on the issue of marriage, whether homosexuality is morally acceptable whether transgenderism is morally acceptable what the bible teaches on religious liberty as well as the morality of aborting an unborn child and once again these numbers are all down from where they were two years ago jody i do see actually some opportunities in here for example uh 24 so a whole quarter of folks said that they didn’t think the Bible addressed the issue of whether transgenderism is morally acceptable. And then another 13% said they just didn’t know. Well, what an opportunity, again, for preachers and teachers to actually say, hey, the word transgender might not appear in the Bible, but guess what? Genesis 1 and 2 actually really clearly define what it means to be made in God’s image, male and female, he created he them. What an opportunity to go to a text like Ephesians 5 and unfold God’s plan for marriage. On the question of the morality of aborting an unborn child, again, there’s about 17% told us they don’t think the Bible addresses it. Another 11% says they don’t know, and I appreciate the honesty there. Well, again, what an opportunity for Bible teachers and just really any Christian layperson to take people to places like Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16, or Luke chapter 1, verses 39 through 45. You know, there’s a degree of honesty here, Jody. You know, the Bible doesn’t speak on every single issue we deal with in the public square, although there are principles, there’s information there that we can construct kind of a moral framework for pretty much any issue that you engage in the public square. But there are some issues that God has spoken very clearly, including issues of family and sexuality and the dignity of human life at the very beginning and at the end. Again, my hope is that as so many people now are flooding into our churches and we have opportunities to have conversations, let’s take people to God’s word. Because again, the Bible is really clear on a lot of issues that people have questions about.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, so we’ve got less than two minutes here. Let’s wrap these up. Very sobering numbers that you’ve presented. What is the way forward? How do we reverse some of these statistics?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, Jody, when we did this first research project in 2023, I had opportunities to travel around the country. We did events in Alaska, California, Massachusetts, everywhere in between. And I remember the big message I wanted to have with pastors and ministry leaders. I don’t want to hit you on the head with a cudgel. This isn’t meant to depress you or to make you frustrated. I’m never one to gang up on a pastor. I think pastors are heroes on the front line doing what God has called them to. But this survey information can be a guide or we can teach to the test, so to speak, especially on those seven cornerstones. And one of the things I think is helpful is digesting this information and then preparing kind of a sermon outline around maybe each cornerstone. and helping people see what God’s Word teaches on these issues that are fundamental to the Christian life. So again, I just encourage folks, go to frc.org slash worldview, sign up, and be the first to know when this report comes out. And my prayer is it will serve people all over the country who are engaged in Christian ministry.
SPEAKER 15 :
Outstanding information. Thank you, David Claussen, Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at the Family Research Council. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. All right, friends, that wraps up this edition and this week of Washington Watch. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Go to church. Keep the torch ablaze. We’ll see you next week here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 02 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
