An ordained title, a pulpit and a church building do not make someone a Christian. Faithfulness to Jesus Christ and His Word does.
Romans 10:9 declares, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
That distinction has become impossible to ignore at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, where ministers connected to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico have been recorded denying foundational truths of the Christian faith.
The Rev. Babs Miller, an openly lesbian minister who reportedly identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, explicitly rejected Christ’s atoning sacrifice in undercover footage first reported by The Daily Wire.
“Jesus was put on that cross, not to save us; Jesus was put on that cross because Rome hated Him and they thought He was a threat to their domination of that area,” Miller said. “He didn’t die to save our sins.”
That is not a minor theological disagreement. It is a rejection of the Gospel.
Miller also dismissed the virgin birth as a teaching rooted in paganism and questioned whether Jesus ever lived.
“We have no way of knowing if Jesus really existed, any more than we have of knowing that the original Buddha ever existed,” Miller said. “And whether or not Jesus existed doesn’t really matter to me.”
These are not the words of a Christian shepherd. They are the words of an apostate teacher denying the identity, mission and saving work of Jesus Christ.
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The Warnings of Scripture Are Unfolding
Miller is not alone at St. Andrew’s. Lead pastor Jim Rigby, whom Talarico has described as a spiritual mentor, has questioned the literal Resurrection, rejected the virgin birth and atonement, and denied belief in “an actual devil.”
Miller previously said she did not “have a need for a God” and described St. Andrew’s as “not a worshipping church.” She also likened Christianity to a 12-step program in which people can “take what you want and leave the rest.”
But Christianity is not a spiritual buffet. We do not get to retain the Christian label while discarding Christ, the cross, the Resurrection and the authority of God’s Word.
Jesus warned in Matthew 24:11, “Many false prophets will rise and will deceive many.” The apostle Paul likewise warned that a time would come when people would reject sound doctrine and gather teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
That warning is no longer confined to obvious enemies outside the church. False teaching is being proclaimed by people wearing clerical collars, standing behind pulpits and presenting themselves as Christian ministers.
Talarico’s political record and relationship with the church deserve public scrutiny, but the greater issue reaches far beyond one candidate. Apostasy is being repackaged as ‘progressive’ Christianity, while biblical truth is condemned as archaic, cruel or unnecessary.
We must refuse the counterfeit. Anyone who denies who Jesus is, rejects His sacrifice for sin and treats Scripture as disposable is not faithfully representing Christianity. Such teachers are leading people away from Christ, exactly as the Bible warned would happen in the last days.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
