Ralph Reed: How Christians Can Win the Spiritual War for America’s Soul in 2020

I believe there’s a spiritual struggle for the soul of America. It manifests in many ways, but one of the places in which we have to defend ourselves and engage in this struggle is the political arena.

Thankfully, people like Ralph Reed—one of the savviest political strategists in the Christian community—are helping to get strong conservative candidates elected. But Reed says if Christians want to see spiritual victory in the upcoming presidential election, we have to work harder than ever before.

You may know Reed as the original executive director of the Christian Coalition. He also founded the Faith and Freedom Coalition in 2009 to help strengthen the conservative evangelical vote. I recently interviewed him for my “In Depth With Stephen Strang” podcast, which you can listen to right here. Reed’s advice and warnings about the 2020 election are so insightful that I think every believer should pay attention to them.

“I think [the 2020 election] is going to be a very close, very hard fight and a very competitive contest,” he says. “I think President Trump is well-positioned for reelection by historic terms. He has no more foreign policy crisis, he’s an incumbent, he’s got a united party, he will have no primary—at least not one to speak of—and he’s got one of the strongest economies in the post-World-War-II economic history of our country. [We’re seeing] 3.6% unemployment, roughly 3% GDP growth, wages and income growing at about 3% a year, and the stock market up overall.”

But that in no way means Trump is guaranteed a reelection. On the contrary, Reed says, the Democrats are going to do everything in their power to make sure the opposite happens.

“Whoever [the Democrats] nominate, their party will be united,” Reed says. “You will see a record turnout. I think there are some projections that as many as 155 to 160 million votes will be cast for president [in 2020], … an increase of 25 to 30 million over the highest turnout ever. I think that’s entirely possible.”

So how should Christians respond? Reed tells me that Christians have to realize that everything is at stake in the upcoming presidential election.

“In terms of the Christian community, what’s on the line is pretty much everything—whether it’s religious freedom or support for Israel or America withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the life issue, the future of the courts” he says. “If a Democrat is elected president in 2020, they’re going to reverse everything the president has done. And I predict that within 90 days of a Democrat president taking the oath of office—if not sooner—Ruth Bader Ginsburg will announce her retirement, and they will put a liberal on that court who is pro-abortion and anti-religious freedom.”

That liberal judge would then sit on the Supreme Court for the next 30 to 50 years, making it extremely difficult to achieve the true conservative majority we would like. Reed offers a serious warning to Christians who sit back and relax because they think Trump won by a landslide in 2016.

“If you look at 2016, the Republicans lost the popular by, give or take, 3 million votes,” he says. “And in the Electoral College, Trump was elected by, give or take, 80,000 votes spread out over three states. … This is not a blowout. Now, you could have a blowout in 2020, but based on Democratic intensity and turnout in 2018’s [midterm election], it seems unlikely to me. I think [Democrats] are coming in the biggest numbers ever recorded.”

Reed says that anyone who doubts his assessment should look at the difference of voter turnout between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections. He says in 2014, 83 million voted, whereas the voter turnout last year was 118 million. In some states, the increase was as much as 50-60%.

In light of these statistics, Christians can’t afford to be passive in 2020. Nor can we merely do our due diligence and cast a vote. That’s why Reed is encouraging every believer to somehow get involved on a grass-roots level.

“Our plan [at Faith and Freedom] in 2020 is to have 500 paid staff and about 5,000 volunteers,” he says. “Some of these folks are knocking on doors eight hours a day.”

Volunteers can easily learn how they can help by visiting ffcoalition.com. Reed says that even if people can’t go door to door, they can still further the cause by calling voters, sharing information with their Bible study groups and talking with friends and acquaintances.

“It’s not just about paid ads anymore,” Reed says. “It’s about who can put more muscle and shoe leather into the neighborhoods and the churches of America. Whoever does will end up prevailing in 2020.”

I hope Christians across the U.S. will take Reed’s words to heart and pour both prayers and hard work into the upcoming election. If we want to see the difference we’re hoping for, we need to back up our prayers with action.

Listen to my full interview with Reed, where he shares more insights about 2020 as well as reveals more personal details about his life, including his fascinating testimony. Just click here or scroll up and click the podcast icon to listen!

And please share this article on your social media. Don’t underestimate the power of your influence to make a difference in our nation! {eoa}