Charlie Dates, the newly-appointed charismatic pastor of Salem Baptist, one of the largest black churches on Chicago’s Far South Side, has a history of association with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and involvement in events like the MLK50 conference. Co-organized by Russell Moore and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the MLK50 conference was a commemorative event that sought to elevate Martin Luther King Jr. to the status of prophet and what transpired at the event was nothing short of idol worship.

This conference also included such well-known names as John Piper and plenty of other Southern Baptist and Evangelical leaders. Eventually, while he was still the pastor of Progressive Baptist Church (a fitting name), Dates had a meltdown and left the Southern Baptist Convention because, believe it or not, it wasn’t progressive enough for him. To this day, Charlie Dates is still listed as a major contributor to The Gospel Coalition.

One of Dates’ first maneuvers as the new lead pastor was to invite the pro-abortionist lesbian Mayor who absolutely abhors the God that Dates claims to serve to preach in His pulpit earlier this year. Former Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who can only rightly be described as a literal circus clown, took the pulpit to preach about how Joshua is now taking over for Moses in the pulpit at Salem.

“Do they really think I was going to come up here and talk to this congregation and not know my Bible?” Lightfoot screeched. The entire spectacle was quite a sight to behold.

But that wasn’t the end of it as Dates recently invited Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, to the stage to receive worship and praise and honor by the idolatrous left-wing congregation. Johnson has raised serious concerns among actual Christians who hold to actual Christian values. At issue is the contradiction between Johnson’s vocal support for abortion rights and the fundamental teachings of Christianity, which uphold the sanctity of life.

The prayer, delivered during a recent church service attended by Johnson, was nothing short of a PR campaign for another far-left, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-Christian politician who will lead Chicago in the same direction it’s been headed under Lightfoot’s leadership. There is a significant disconnect between the sentiment of the prayer and the mayor’s policy agenda.

Johnson’s pro-abortion stance, touted as part of his “Plan for Gender Justice,” is completely at odds with biblical teachings, which many conservative Christians interpret as being fundamentally pro-life. The Bible teaches that all life is sacred, created in the image of God. Therefore, the advocacy for and celebration of policies that permit and promote abortion are irreconcilable with the Christian faith.

Nevertheless, Dates explained before the prayer, “Y’all. We gonna pray for him every chance we get. I told him we took those 500 men downtown because our kids and our young people are our collective responsibility. We’re not going to let the media eat him alive and make him responsible for everything when he is one person to leave the city.”

Dates then prayed, asking God to not “let him get in that office and be talked out of his Christ-given convictions,” and “Help him to be unashamed about having a wife, about being a father, about being black and Christian.” 

The incongruity between the principles being prayed for—strength of conviction, divine guidance, the courage to make right decisions—and the policies being pursued is striking. It is deeply concerning to see a church leader who has been platformed by Southern Baptist leaders publicly endorsing a political figure who promotes policies that are diametrically opposed to fundamental Christian teachings.

This prayer event raises important questions about the alignment of faith and politics within the Christian community. The support of policies that contradict the sanctity of life principle as taught in the Bible are a betrayal of the very essence of Christianity and we can safely conclude that by his fruits, Johnson is not a true Christian. And we can further conclude the same about Dates, who has no problem advancing such a filthy, anti-Christ agenda, and baptizing it in Christian garb.