A Christian Speaker

Penna Dexter

Most politicians — even those with strong religious faith — don‘t necessarily make that the first thing they want you to know about them. They want to appeal both to voters who will trust them more because of their faith and also to those who will trust them less or who want faith and the Bible left out of politics.

Politicians often publicly explain how their faith informs their position on a social issue, like abortion, or gay marriage, or religious liberty. But few clearly articulate how their faith informs their politics the way Mike Johnson the new House Speaker does.

Within days of his election, he did just that in an in-depth interview with The Daily Signal. Speaker Johnson said he doesn’t find his openness all that remarkable. He said, “It’s who I am. It’s how I think.”

Some media took issue with remarks Mr. Johnson made to Congress minutes after his election as Speaker. Especially his words claiming, “God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time.” He explained this to The Daily Signal: “It’s a central promise of the Bible that God invented civil government.”

People used to know this. Speaker Johnson warned that we must pay attention to the fact that we are “a more secularized society.” Our founders were clear that, to maintain a constitutional republic, “there has to be a consensus on virtue and morality.”

Mr. Johnson recognizes a growing sense among Americans that “we are adrift…in uncharted waters.” He explained, “We live in an age of moral relativism, which has become postmodernism, which is gradually becoming nihilism, the idea that if there is no truth, then you can believe anything or everything, or nothing.”

Speaker Johnson is not going to push his faith on the country. He will live it. He’s known for treating colleagues “with dignity and respect.” On that foundation, he will forge consensus to enact wise policy.