Robb Ryerse, the Republican pastor who ran against Congressman Steve Womack in 2018 and whose book “Running for Our Lives: A Story of Faith, Politics, and the Common Good” is set for release Feb. 18, has a piece on Time magazine’s website in which he urges evangelicals to abandon Trump, who he describes as “anathema to everything I was taught to love about Jesus.”

His disdain for decency, disrespect toward basic tenets of right and wrong and complete disregard for the most vulnerable among us could not be more fundamentally un-Christian. To vote for him because he sees the political expediency of supporting restrictions on abortion is a Faustian deal with the devil that is ultimately more likely to exact greater cost than reward. Case in point: the astounding about-face in evangelical support for refugee resettlement since Trump took aim at the program.

Ryerse is pastor of Vintage Fellowship in Fayetteville and works with Vote Common Good, a group that targets people of faith and evangelicals to vote for what’s best for all — and that is not Donald Trump — and is working to “train Democratic candidates to engage religious voters more effectively.” He writes:


If a critical percentage – say 5% – of evangelicals who voted for Trump in 2016 don’t this year, he can’t win. That’s why I’ve decided to dedicate much of my time and efforts in 2020 to reaching those voters. Because a deal with Democrats is better than a deal with the devil.