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Focus on the Family with Jim Daly

Living Out Your Christian Faith in Public Service

Living Out Your Christian Faith in Public Service

Jim Daly sits down with the Speaker of the U.S. House, Mike Johnson, to discuss his personal family story and Christian faith, pro-life and family policy issues, our nation’s great history and heritage, and the importance of civil engagement with political opponents on divisive issues.

Speaker Mike Johnson: It’s a recognition of who we are before a Holy God. All of us, every single one of us have fallen short of His glory. And, uh, we’re in a need of a Savior, and we’re in need of His grace every day, every minute of every day. And, um, recognizing that puts you in position to have the kind of eternal perspective and the humility that’s necessary to do difficult things and to do difficult jobs.

Jim Daly: Well, that’s the Speaker of the US House, Mike Johnson. And he’s my special guest today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. It’s a privilege to connect with the Speaker to discuss his faith, his family, and how his work in the government, uh, kinda gets accomplished day by day. It’s not easy to be in leadership. I have seen that over my 35 years at Focus on the Family. And we’ll talk about that and how his faith guides his daily decisions. Mike Johnson became the Speaker of the House in 2023. He’s served in Congress since 2016. And before that, he was a representative in the Louisiana State House. He and his wife, Kelly, have been married for 25 years, and they have five children. Mr. Speaker, welcome to Focus on the Family.

Mike: Well, thanks for being here and thanks for having me.

Jim: Now, I’m gonna ask you some questions that I think take you back before we get into kinda the political landscape and some of the issues we’re facing as a nation. But this is, uh, my wife, Jean, she loves to know more about the person, whether we’re watching football or watching the news and, and political figures, so I’m doing this for her. But I wanna go back to your parents were teenage parents. They weren’t-

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: … married when, when they had you.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: Probably thought about maybe not being able to keep you, an abortion. Describe that revelation as you grow up, you find out your parents were, you know, not in the best place to have you.

Mike: Yeah (laughs). Yeah, I’ve shared this story a few times in recent years. Um, it, it never, had never been relevant. We didn’t talk about it a lot til I got into politics. But, um, I’m the product of a teen pregnancy. My, my parents were, uh, not high school sweethearts but seventh grade sweethearts, and they said they dated from junior high on, middle school on. And, um, their junior year of high school, I was conceived. And it was ex- exactly, almost exactly, Jim, a year before Roe v. Wade, January of ’72.

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Mike: I was born January 30th. Um, and during the pregnancy, of course, their friends said, “You know, you can go get that taken care of.” And, uh, my parents were both raised, uh, Catholic, nominal Catholic, uh, families, but they just knew somewhere deep in their heart that was not right. And thankfully, um, I was allowed to be born. And so, uh, they dropped out of high school, got married to start a family. That’s what you did in the ’70s, uh, if you were gonna take that, um, that step. And so my dad became a firefighter, and, and, uh, I’m the oldest of four children. They had three others in, in, in pretty, uh, close succession. And we had a, a great, uh, loving family. And I’m, I’ve always been very deeply committed to the issue, the sanctity of human life, because it’s so real to us. And, um-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … you know, that’s, that’s the story of a lot of people.

Jim: Well-

Mike: It’s just not spoken of.

Jim: And I think in that context, that’s what, uh, confuses people who oppose life ’cause they think we’re just in this for a political fight.

Mike: Right.

Jim: It’s much deeper.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: This is a moral crisis in the country. When you look at the states that have been restrained, uh, from doing abortion through their state legislatures, I think there’s 22 or so, similar to Florida-

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … Florida’s one with Governor DeSantis. I saw a report not long ago, about 83,000 babies have been saved in these 22 states because of those restrictions. Being a child who could have been aborted, I mean, what, what do you say to those 83,000 kids that it was due to the law that was changed that, you know, kinda persuaded those parents in some form or fashion not to have an abortion and now they’re alive? They get a chance at life.

Mike: And every single one of those children, their, their lives have inestimable dignity and value, you know? Um, our declaration, uh, for our country, our nation’s birth certificate states that so clearly. And I like to remind audiences that all the time. That’s what makes our nation different and distinct is that we boldly proclaim what we said was a self-evident truth, that all of us are created by God. And you and I both know, we’ve talked about it before, I mean, that is the foundational premise. It’s in the second paragraph of the-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … Declaration of Independence, and we abandon that premise at our peril.

Jim: You know, you said something a moment ago that caught my attention, which is your parents knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. And I think part of the challenge today is fewer and fewer people understand that. It was so interwoven, it was a necessary evil that they talked about back in 1973-

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: … because of these certain circumstances that abortion had to be available to women. But most people felt this is not a good thing. Now they’re doing TikTok videos celebrating their abortion, taking the life of a child. And I thi- My question is more centered around the change of culture-

Mike: Mm.

Jim: … the idea that everybody kinda, even back in the Clinton era it was rare, legal and s- and safe.

Mike: Right.

Jim: I mean, I used to say, “It’s not safe, obviously. Someone dies through abortion.”

Mike: Right.

Jim: But this idea of rare, it seems to be out the window now, and they’re celebrating this idea that-

Mike: Well-

Jim: … abortion is the way to go.

Mike: It’s, um, it’s depravity on parade, and they’re celebrating it-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … as you said. I- in a cultural sense, society wide, that’s what’s been happening for the last several decades.

Jim: Yep.

Mike: It’s been working, you and I and all of us, uh, working to push back against. But, um, it is a cultural tide, and we have, we have long since abandoned the idea of a culture of life. And now our challenge today, all of us, is to rebuild that, reach out a renewed hand of compassion, explain to people the facts, uh, and that every life is, is, is valuable. As we said, we have a lot of work to do.

Jim: Yeah. Uh, I just wanna go back to your parents, um, and close that chapter.

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Jim: But your dad was a firefighter.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: Uh, my brother-in-law was a firefighter in Beverly Hills. That was a nice place to-

Mike: Mm, yeah.

Jim: … be a firefighter. But in that regard, he had a tragic accident and went on disability. You’re the oldest son. You kinda learn to take on responsibility. How old were you when that happened, and what did those years look like afterward?

Mike: Yeah. September 17th, 1984-

Jim: Ah.

Mike: … my father was the, uh, assistant chief training officer of the Shreveport Fire Department at my hometown in northwest Louisiana. And he was also, uh, the co-leader of the hazardous materials team. They got a call they thought was routine, and they went to a cold storage facility in the southwest part of our city. And, uh, uh, it was an anhydrous ammonia leak. And in hindsight, we all know the facts now, but the, uh, owners of the plant were trying to cover, uh, their own back sides because they were supposed to report that within hours of the leak. But they let it go for about two weeks.

Jim: Mm.

Mike: And so when my father and his coworkers showed up, they put on their rubberized chemical suits and went inside the building. And, uh, as his coworker, his co-captain was driving a forklift to lift my father up, uh, to, to cap the leak, um, an explosion happened and the building blew. And my dad got burned 80% of his body, third-degree burns.

Jim: Wow.

Mike: Uh, and his co-captain, sadly, uh, perished from his injuries in the fire. And, uh, it changed our, you know, whole lives. It was a, a different trajectory we were on. P- prior to that, I was 12 when it happened, uh, my whole aspiration was to be the chief of the Shreveport Fire Department. And, and, uh, I grew up at the fire and police training academy. We literally lived across the street from it. You know, I, I loved the fraternity of the, of the, you know, fire service and all of that. And, um, that was the culture that we grew up in. But after that, they, they encouraged, uh, me to take another route. And I was the first person in my family to go to college and wound up at law school and, and somehow wound up here.

Jim: I’m sure they’re proud of you, and we’re proud of you. But dad passed away. Is your mom alive?

Mike: Mom’s alive, yes. She’s, um, you know, she’s only, uh, 17 years older than me, so-

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: … she looks like my sister to thi- this day.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: My, my father passed away, tragically, three days before I was elected to Congress-

Jim: Wow.

Mike: … in, um, in 2016, December. And, uh, he wanted to be there on election night so badly, but he, he got cancer in his latter days and, uh, just couldn’t, uh, couldn’t make it. But I, you know, I, I feel a certain sense of his, I don’t know how to say it, but I feel like my dad knows from Heaven, you know, uh, what’s happening here, and he’s sorta enjoying it that way. I have to think that way. I think that’s-

Jim: Well, in some ways, you are the captain of the fire department ’cause there’s a fire burning-

Mike: (laughs)

Jim: … in the culture, and-

Mike: Well said.

Jim: … God’s called you to put the fire out.

Mike: And metaphorically speaking, it burns here like a wild blaze-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … every day. Yes.

Jim: Yeah, it’s crazy.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: Let me ask you this most important question. Of course, our viewers and listeners are gonna appreciate this. The mystery of becoming a Christian.

Mike: Mm.

Jim: Y- you know, your faith in Christ, why don’t you describe it for us, when that happened, what it meant to you, and what He means to you, um, especially for the Christian listener, but many, many non-Christians listen. Last year, we had 193,000 people come to Christ.

Mike: Awesome.

Jim: So you’re gonna have people hearing you right now that-

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: … are gonna be hearing this for the first time.

Mike: Well, I was blessed in that regard, Jim, is that, um, my father when I was two years old, my, my father, uh, uh, was led to Christ in a dentist’s chair.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: Yeah, no kidding. Yeah.

Jim: That is a miracle.

Mike: It is a miracle.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: And, uh, that dentist named Larry Weeks, Dr. Larry Weeks, uh, became a formative figure in our household. And so, uh, my, my parents, uh, he invited them to church, and they began going to a nondenominational Bible church, uh, out in the, out in the country out where we lived. And, um, that’s what I grew up in, that environment. And it was, um, it was real. It was a, a committed group of believers. And, um, you know, the, the lessons we learned from the Bible were not something you just talked about on Sunday morning, but we were told that that was part of a full worldview. We didn’t know the term worldview at the time. That, I think that was developed later, but it was, uh, a way of life that you don’t… It’s not a, a one day a week, uh, you know, s- thing. It’s a, it’s, it’s seven days a week, it’s 24/7. It’s who we are. And so faith was very real to me. I saw my dad miraculously, uh, you know, healed and recovered from his injuries, so much as one can be after being burned so se- severely. You know, faith was very real to me. And, and that’s, I grew up with that, uh, understanding. I was, I was, got saved when I was seven years old and baptized in a horse trough behind our country church.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: And, uh, it’s been a very real thing to me ever since. And, and, uh, when Kelly and I got married 25 years ago, she was raised, we were blessed, she was raised in a Christian household as well. And it’s just been who we are.

Jim: When you became the 56th Speaker of the House, again, congratulations on that. I was telling everybody, “Man, this is a God thing.”

Mike: (laughs)

Jim: ‘Cause he just got elected in 2016.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: And here you were kind of in a junior spot, it seemed like. You know, you weren’t in Congress that long, and eyes turned on you. Why do you think that happened?

Mike: (laughs)

Jim: I mean…

Mike: Uh, look, it’s not a job that I ever aspired to or expected to have, um, for some very practical reasons. I’m from a small state, Louisiana, was trying to be a loyal lieutenant. And, um, w- everyone knows, I don’t have to recount all the series of events that happened last October, but, uh, I, I just wanna say, I mean, I was, I was, we were all deep in prayer at the time.

Jim: I-

Mike: It was a very dangerous time-

Jim: Yeah, I could imagine.

Mike: … for the country. And I just felt very clearly, the Lord has spoken in my heart to just be prepared and, and, and be ready. And I just assumed I was to be prepared to be a lieutenant to whomever the next speaker was gonna be. And over the series of three weeks when Congress was closed down, we, you, under our Constitution, you can’t operate if you don’t have a speaker of the House. It was a serious situation.

Jim: Oh yeah, I remember that.

Mike: And remember October 7th, what happened in Israel and, you know, China was making provocations. You know, we were concerned about them maybe invading Taiwan. I mean, it was a crazy time.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: Um, and, and, and so ultimately, uh, I, I, I’ve, you know, it became clear to me that the Lord really spoke to my heart and said, “It’s, it’s time to step forward.” And my colleagues nominated me, and we were elected. We s- Somehow, we got the first unanimous vote for speaker for our party in decades. Uh, it really was a God thing. I mean, I, look, there’s a passage of Scripture that I only halfway jokingly share. People say, “How do you explain that?” I said, um, the passage of Scripture says, “God chooses the lowly things to confound the wise.” It’s, it’s, God gets the glory when the unlikely person is, is elevated. And th- there’s no better explanation than that. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called, as we’re often reminded.

Jim: Right (laughs).

Mike: Um-

Jim: I kinda know what you feel like in-

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: … coming behind Dr. Dobson.

Mike: Yes.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: Yeah, right, right. Yeah.

Jim: Uh, let me ask you this, Mr. Speaker. When you were made the speaker, people immediately, media immediately attacked your Christian-

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Jim: … faith. Tell me, you know, there’s so many wonderful attributes to being a Christian that, you know, benefits not only you personally, your family, culture. What is the deal? Why do people attack us the way they do because we believe in love, joy, peace, goodness, mercy? I mean, these aren’t bad things.

Mike: No, the principles of-

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: … righteousness, truth, and brotherly love, you would think-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … would be embraced by everyone. Um, they were, by the way, previous generations, as we know. In fact, if you go back and read the annals of our history and you read the, the floor speeches and the, uh, even the speeches of presidents and certainly leaders in Congress, they all spoke openly about their faith, about the importance of how we’re one nation under God, you know, that they, they made it our national motto in the, uh, mid-part of the 20th century. Uh, prior to that, it was always understood, so they, they formalized it f- and, uh, finalized it. And, uh, all those things were just a, a deeply embedded part of our country, our, our, this deep religious heritage about who we are dating back, as we noted earlier, to the birt- the Declaration of Independence, our nations’ birth certificate. But it’s, it’s, uh, it’s gone out of fashion now. And so, um, I think the, I think the reluctance and I think the, the pushback is because truly Bible-believing Christians, uh, espouse the idea of moral absolutes-

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Mike: … and truth. There is a truth. There’s not a million truths. It’s not your truth. There is the truth. And if we’re bold enough to stand for that principle, which is good for individuals, families, communities, states and nations, um, then, uh, that is somehow an affront to people. And, uh, I, you know, I understand it. Um, it’s a sad thing. But if you’re a person of faith, get ready, the arrows will come. Certainly, if you are, are, are given a position and a platform, uh, of this nature, um, that’s gonna happen. We knew it would. And, uh, it’s no fun, but you know, we, we learned as, when we were young the biblical admonition to bless those who persecute you, you know? A soft word turns away wrath. You know, all those, all those ideas that-

Jim: (laughs) That all sounds so good.

Mike: Oh, yes. It did back then.

Jim: Hard to do.

Mike: Oh, yes, yes.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: I didn’t know we’d have to practice it every minute-

Jim: Every day.

Mike: … of every day.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: Um-

Jim: Especially you.

Mike: Yeah. But it, those principles actually work.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: You know? And, um, and it does change the atmosphere. And when you react that way, it has an effect on others. And you know-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … um, uh, we’re just living it out.

Jim: In response to the duty of a Christian, um, you point to Micah 6:8. What does that Scripture mean to you, and what is it?

Mike: Well, it’s, it’s a pretty simple formula. “He’s shown the, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your, your God.” I mean, the idea is that, uh, we have to do all those things, and we can’t do it in our own strength. John 15:5 says, “I’m the vine, you’re the branches. Without me, you can do nothing.” But then over in Philippians, we learn that with Christ, we can do all things. You know?

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: So it’s a recognition of who we are before a Holy God. All of us, every single one of us have fallen short of His glory and, uh, we’re in need of a Savior. And we’re in need of His grace every day, every minute of every day. And, um, recognizing that puts you in position to have the kind of eternal perspective and the humility that’s necessary to do difficult things and to do difficult jobs. And all we’re respo- responsible to do, Jim, is our best and our duty every single day-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … as flawed as we are, you know, and trust that, that God is sovereign and He’s working on His will. And, um-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … that’s what allows me to sleep very soundly for the four hours I’m allowed every night (laughs). Like, that’s… Because I know that our country is in desperate just times right now.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: I mean, these are, this is the most dangerous time since World War II. People have lost sight of the, of the, the, the foundational principles of the country. They’ve been eroding. And we need steady hands at the wheel. We need people who understand these eternal principle and will, and are willing to stand on the truths that our country was built upon.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: It’s never been more important than it is right now.

Jim: I think it’s so difficult. You know, I… 2 Timothy 2:22-26 is a really tough part of scripture ’cause it-

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Jim: … says, “Don’t get caught up in-

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: … ridiculous quarrels ’cause they lead nowhere.”

Mike: That’s right.

Jim: And endure evil. Endure evil, I mean, really, Lord? Do you know the evil we’re under?

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Jim: You know, that kind of thing. And then at the end, it’s saying simply so that those who are taken captive by the enemy might escape his snare, this is my paraphrase, and no longer serve him, you know, serve God.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: And, uh, you know, there, very few people have a chance in their vocation to see it quite the way you can see it as Speaker of the House. I mean, and again, not everything Republican and Democrat is wrapped in that bubble. Um, but spiritually speaking, there’s so much in that of good and evil and discerning the right thing to do. And I think, you know, personally, it is a struggle ’cause you wanna get up, and I played football, you wanna do some-

Mike: (laughs)

Jim: … head whacking, you know?

Mike: Yep, yep.

Jim: ‘Cause you’re going, “Come on, this is-

Mike: Yep.

Jim: … right, so obvious.” But God calls us to a higher standard.

Mike: Tha- that passage-

Jim: And it’s a tough standard.

Mike: It is a tough standard for us.

Jim: I think it’s harder to do that standard, which is to love your enemy-

Mike: Yes.

Jim: … than it is to hate your enemy. That’s pre- That comes pretty easily.

Mike: Oh, of course. That’s our fallen nature. We, and we’re, we’re prone to that. And, but you know, what I’ve found is when you practi- That passage in 2 Timothy rings so true, and it is so applicable. And I, I have it posted on my desk to remind me every day. It says, “The servant of the Lord must be gentle to those who attack them.”

Jim: Yes.

Mike: Right? B- be- because the whole idea is you want-

Jim: To everyone (laughs).

Mike: To everyone, right. And love your enemy like-

Jim: Even the minority leader.

Mike: Y- Right. Exactly.

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: But the thing is, when you take on God’s perspective and you see people the way He does, then it allows you to go past the barbs and the arrows and to go to the heart and to l- love that person as, as Christ does, you know?

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: And, um, it is a truly liberating way to live.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: I mean, I don’t, I don’t carry grudges. I don’t, I don’t keep a record of wrongs. You… And, and, and it turns out that’s exactly the (laughs), the approach that m- must be taken right now. We’ve had the smallest majority in US history, right? Had a one vote margin in our majority for five months. I don’t, I don’t have the luxury of carrying grudges. I, you know-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: I have to y- practice those principles every single day. And you know what? It works. The Biblical formula works-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … because it was written by the One who made the rules and, you know.

Jim: And let me ask you this because, uh, again, the division in the country’s so high. And cable news, you know, we tend to watch one station over another. And family members even watch one station. And y- y- y- you know, you say to your spouse, “Boy, they’ll get it now.” And they say, “Yeah, they don’t watch that channel.”

Mike: Mm-hmm.

Jim: You know? So the information is very bifurcated in the country. And I think, uh, all that to say ho- how do you cope in your role with persuasion and talking with people behind the scenes, trying to get them to… Well, let me, let me go to the movie Reagan.

Mike: Mm.

Jim: Did you see that yet?

Mike: I haven’t seen it yet.

Jim: Okay.

Mike: I haven’t had time, but I can’t wait.

Jim: So I interviewed Dennis Quaid.

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Jim: I think-

Mike: Good.

Jim: … that was the last person I interviewed, so there you go.

Mike: Yep, there you go.

Jim: But he talked about, and I saw it in the movie itself, there’s a scene where your predecessor, Tip O’Neill, went to Reagan’s bedside when he was shot-

Mike: Yep.

Jim: … and prayed for him.

Mike: Kissed him on the forehead, in fact.

Jim: Okay. Would that happen today?

Mike: (laughs) Well, it’s funny because I told that story several months ago when someone was asking me about my relationship with Hakeem Jeffries, who’s the Democrat Leader, right?

Jim: Right.

Mike: He’s my, you know, opposing force in the House.

Jim: Right.

Mike: And, uh, and, and, and Hakeem is a professing Christian as well. And I said, “Well, he’s my brother.” And they went, “What?” You know. And because no one talks like that anymore.

Jim: No.

Mike: We’re supposed to be at war. Listen, we do have to fight for our principles. We never, we will never, we can never compromise core principles, Biblical truth. We’re not gonna do that. We’re supposed to fight, but there is a Biblical manner in which we are to do that, you know, uh, uh, f- fight the good fight of the faith. But there’s a way to do that. Contend for the faith, yes, but you do it in the right spirit. So, um, even though Hakeem and I agree on almost nothing policy wise, um, I respect him as an individual. I love him as a friend. We’re supposed to even love our enemies, much less our colleagues in the building. But it changes the atmosphere of the place when the two leaders are willing to-

Jim: Mm-hmm.

Mike: … sit down across the table. We debate and argue, but we do it in the right spirit. And that was the Reagan, Tip O’Neill model. They-

Jim: That’s good to hear.

Mike: They didn’t agree about much of anything, but-

Jim: Right.

Mike: … but they, um, at the end of the day, they knew that work was different than how they treated one another. And they were actually great friends. We need more of that in the country. When I, when I told the example of Tip O’Neill going to Reagan’s bedside to kiss him on the forehead after the assassination attempt, which is a famous event in history, I started getting… Somebody heard the clip. I don- It was on another podcast I did. And, um, and, and people were, “Oh, so you wanna go, you know, kiss, uh, kiss Joe Biden on the forehead.”

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: What? No. We’re talking about the principle.

Jim: Uh, yeah.

Mike: And, and, uh, it, the, the idea that it’s, that it is so foreign to people to hear that story now is, is very telling about where we are-

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: … in society.

Jim: In the last few minutes, separation of church and state, there’s such a misnomer, you know? I went and read the letter that Jefferson had written-

Mike: To the Danbury Baptists.

Jim: … uh, Danbury Baptists. It actually is quite clear.

Mike: Yes.

Jim: I don’t think it, it lends itself to separating the state from the church (laughs).

Mike: Of course not.

Jim: But, uh, I mean it has, like, taken over the culture.

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Jim: Even for us, you gotta be thinking about how much can we say in public about our faith in Christ. We’re the ones on our heels. The others, those that oppose us, would speak about anything all day. Why do we have that perspective? And you used to be a religious liberty lawyer.

Mike: Yeah, yeah.

Jim: So, w- w-

Mike: And I had to explain that concept everywhere I went all over the country.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: The, the so-called separation of church and state, people believe, is in the Constitution. And it, it’s actually the opposite. I mean-

Jim: Right.

Mike: … the first freedom we have in the Constitution, the first thing listed in the Bill of Rights is the free exercise of religion. And what Jefferson clearly meant in his letter was that they, they wanted to make sure there was not a, the, the government establishing one national denomination, one national church, like the Church of England, which had been taken over by corruption and which everyone had lamented. They didn’t want the state to establish a religion, but the converse was also true. They did want a vibrant expression of faith in the public square. So this is what the founders understood. If you’re gonna have a, a self-governing society, a self-governing people, a self-governing government, then you had to have a moral consensus beneath that to hold it together because they understood, ‘member, they were students of scripture, they understood that all men are fallen and fallen and, and, uh, prone to corruption and that power corrupts. And as Lord Acton observed, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Jim: Now with education, is there ever a chance we can get people to, again, look at these core foundational truths that will rejuvenate the country?

Mike: Well, let me be an ambassador for-

Jim: It’s kind of a rev- revival, really.

Mike: It is, it is. I, I believe, I believe that’s certainly possible and definitely needed. I do believe, I am an optimist. I, I believe our best days are ahead of us. I believe we can come out of the darkness. And the pendulum went so far, it clicked. And I believe it’s beginning to swing backwards.

Jim: Yeah.

Mike: We’re seeing that, uh, that dynamic-

Jim: I think so.

Mike: … around the country.

Jim: Yep.

Mike: You’re seeing it. Now, here’s the challenge though. We have to walk into that vacuum and share truth in a compelling way and a way that people understand. There’s nothing new under the sun, as scripture reminds us, right? But we have to, we have to present the, the, the timeless, eternal truths in a way that’s relevant to today so that people, uh, listen to that and it’s compelling to them and they’re drawn to that truth. That’s what 2 Timothy 2 is all about.

Jim: Yeah. So true. Right at the end here, Focus on the Family, we’re about marriage and parenting mostly. And we, you know, try to create and work with people like you to support policies that promote the family. When you look at all of the research right now, whether it’s Dr. Brad Wilcox at University of Virginia, Melissa Kearney, uh, a secular researcher, uh, economist out of MIT, who just wrote the book, The Privilege Two-Parent Family

Mike: Mm.

Jim: … all the research shows that the healthiest place for a child to be is within an intact mom and dad home.

Mike: Yeah.

Jim: That child has the greatest likelihood of success, finishing high school, going on to college, and having, uh, a good life-

Mike: Sure.

Jim: … in every way, spiritually, emotionally, financially. So why do, uh, why does the government seemingly fight those things that would undergird strengthening the family? I’ll give you an example. In Australia, if you’re going to file for divorce and you have children under 18, there’s a six-month moratorium while you get counseling as a couple. That’s kind of interesting.

Mike: Um, public policy should advance strong two-parent families. I mean, that’s the idea. The social science has never changes, it’s always said that. Uh, and we know it intuitively, and we know it biblically, certainly, because that’s how God designed it. The first institution is marriage and the family. Um, and, and any public policy that advances timeless, I think, self-evident truths is good. We ought to encourage, uh, stable families. We ought to have public policy and tax policy and all of the incentives that, that do that because it’s good, not just for those families but for society at large.

Jim: Yep, I agree.

Mike: And the data shows us that.

Jim: Yeah. Well, for us, we don’t care if there’s a D or an R behind the name, we’re so grateful that you’re willing to do the right things to support the family, to strengthen the family, because we think that’s where it all starts. That’s where society starts. And we are grateful to you for standing on those principles and for your faith in Christ. Thank you for your courage.

Mike: Well, thank you. Thanks for Focus on the Family’s just essential work. It’s, uh-

Jim: Yeah, appreciate that.

Mike: … the value of it and the importance of the ministry right now, I think it’s never been more important.

Jim: And you’ve done such a good job today. You get five hours of sleep tonight.

Mike: (laughs) Yeah. Yeah, I have jet lag, but, uh-

Jim: (laughs)

Mike: … maybe it didn’t come across.

Jim: (laughs) You did great.

Mike: We’ll see.

Jim: God bless you, Mr. Speaker.

Mike: Thank you, my friend. Great to see you.

Jim: To the listener and viewer, I want to say thank you for joining us and listening in on this great discussion with the Speaker of the House. I thought it was really informative, and it gave you a little deeper perspective about, uh, Mike Johnson, the man, and a little bit about his family. Jean always appreciates hearing more about the spouses and the kids and things like that. You know, politics is just a grueling vocation for those who undertake it, and I’m grateful that God has placed Mike Johnson in the role as Speaker. And I hope you got a sense of his commitment to the Lord and what is important to him. I think also, here at Focus on the Family, we’re trying to inform you. The Daily Citizen, which is a free e-news letter, you can subscribe at that. Just go to Focus on the Family website. You’ll find your way to it. Again, it’s Daily Citizen. It’s free. It’ll give you an update on what’s happening on a daily basis in the news. And then also, I wanna mention our great Option Ultrasound Program, which is $60 to save a baby’s life. We’ve been doing this for over 20 years now. We’ve saved over half a million children from abortion. It’s a great program. It has multiple prongs, such as helping the pregnancy resource centers to staff up, to give them the help that they need to help that woman in need and, ultimately, to help that woman choose life. $60 saves a baby’s life. I hope you can do that. If you’ve never given to Focus before, why not give to that as the starting point of your support to the ministry? Also, you can subscribe, as I mentioned, to the Daily Citizen or donate to Option Ultrasound by calling 1-800, the letter A and the word FAMILY. Or online at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. Thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Please join us again tomorrow when we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.

Today's Guests

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