Pastor Allen Jackson is calling on believers to openly challenge teachings he believes distort biblical Christianity, warning that what he described as a “false church” is manipulating biblical teaching.
Jackson, senior pastor of World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, made the remarks during a Saturday interview on Fox News, arguing that Christians who publicly affirm traditional biblical teachings are increasingly labeled “Christian nationalists,” while those with progressive views, such as Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, are often praised.
“If you hold views that are left-of-center, and you express those in the public square from a religious background, you're celebrated. If we go to the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, if you hold orthodox Christian views and you express those in the public square, we're told you're threatening and you're dangerous,” Jackson said.
He questioned why similar labels are not applied to public figures who advocate progressive political positions while speaking from a Christian perspective.
“Where are the labels of 'Christian nationalist' for Talarico?” he asked.
Jackson went on to claim that Talarico, who secured a decisive U.S. Senate primary win last week, is "hiding behind religious language" to make his far-left political and theological positions more palatable to the public.
Jackson argued that believers who maintain traditional biblical positions often face hostility when speaking publicly.
He also suggested that the situation caused by Talarico, who has appealed to the first verses of Genesis to defend his views supporting transgenderism for children, is one humanity has faced since the beginning.
“The reality of this is: heresy is not new or progressive,” Jackson said. “It goes all the way back to the Garden when they said, 'We're not going to cooperate with what God said or the boundaries that He's given us.' And unfortunately, I think Mr. Talarico is just kind of a modern-day reflection of rejecting the boundaries that God's given us with kind of a designer faith. It's unfortunate.”
Jackson further criticized comments Talarico has made regarding the biblical account of the Annunciation, arguing that using that passage to support abortion misrepresents the story of Mary and her role in the birth of Jesus.
He said Mary endured immense hardship and misunderstanding, including accusations of sexual immorality when she conceived Christ and remaining faithful even during the Crucifixion.
The debate intensified after a widely shared appearance last July on Joe Rogan’s podcast, during which Talarico suggested Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel illustrates a form of consent that he believes supports a pro-choice interpretation of Scripture.
Jackson rejected that interpretation, emphasizing that Mary’s response represented obedience to God rather than a broader argument about abortion.
“It is a step of courageous obedience on the behalf of a young teenage woman,” Jackson said.
He added that the broader biblical narrative consistently affirms the sacredness of life and warned against isolating individual verses to justify controversial positions.
“It is not by any means a diminishment of the sacred nature of life as presented throughout the broader context of Scripture. You can pull any single verse out of its context and prove whatever you want to prove. And [Talarico] has enough training and experience to know that, but he's ignoring those boundaries to make his point,” he said.
Jackson also criticized efforts to use Scripture to defend abortion, describing such arguments as attempts to manipulate biblical teaching.
Jackson said anyone attempting to use the Bible to justify killing the unborn is engaging in "theological gymnastics," and that such doctrines are indicative of "a false church" that must be exposed and resisted by Bible-believing Christians.
“It's not orthodox, and we're going to have to have the courage to make those distinctions,” he said. “We have been polite for too long. President Trump had the courage to say fake news existed. We're going to have to have the courage within the church to say there's a false church that exists, and be willing to call it out.”
Talarico, who is studying at a Presbyterian seminary and frequently references his Christian faith in public life, has drawn criticism from some theologians and church leaders who argue that his views are symptomatic of a deeper spiritual decline within mainline Protestant churches and seminaries.
