As debate swirled around the storming of a Minnesota church during Sunday worship by anti-ICE agitators, journalist Don Lemon decided to offer his own theological commentary on the event.
Lemon insisted on the “I’ve Had It” podcast that the protesters—who forced their way into a service—were attempting to hold the church accountable for its lack of compassion toward immigrants. “These people are hurting,” he said. “These people that ICE are targeting are suffering. They’re marginalized.”
Lemon also invoked Jesus cleansing the temple as justification for storming the church: “Jesus turned the tables over in the temple,” he said. “He flipped the tables because He was tired of them… not living up to the tenets of Christianity.”
Lemon’s absurd statement is a tactic we see many people who do not truly follow God attempt to use Scripture out of context. They attempt to make the Bible all about human justice and our own ability to make things right, rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ, which tells us to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand.
The Bible never endorses forcibly interrupting worship as a legitimate expression of compassion or justice. In fact, Paul repeatedly confronts disorder and disruption in the Church to maintain the holiness and purity of worship.
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Furthermore, Lemon reframed the First Amendment as the higher authority within the sanctuary. “This is what protest is about—discomfort,” he argued. “We welcome dissent… we welcome the right to peaceably assemble.” Yet these rights apply to the public square, not to invading a worship gathering. Storming a church in order to disrupt worship is not “biblical protest”—it is chaos at its finest.
Lemon then claimed Christianity has been captured by “supremacy… a white supremacy,” describing evangelicals as believing “this country was built for them” and as a movement where religious freedom applies “only if you’re a Christian and only if you’re a white male.” This is a flat-out lie. Christianity is about the Son of God coming and giving His life for the world. That includes people of every race, language and tongue. Scripture says every knee will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is not a limited club. This is not exclusive to just a few. The gospel is for everyone who will believe.
This news comes as a federal judge rejected the Department of Justice’s charges against Lemon, as Fox News reported. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that “no one” was above the law and that it was possible to explore “other avenues to charge Lemon.”
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the upcoming book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment.
