10 Reactions to Trump's Evangelical White House Dinner

By Samuel Smith, Deputy Managing Editor Wednesday, August 29, 2018

10. Ronnie Floyd

Vice President Mike Pence shakes the hand of Arkansas pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention president Ronnie Floyd during a meeting with dozens of Southern Baptist megachurch pastors and their wives in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 2018. | (Photo: TWitter.com/@VP)

Floyd, a former SBC President and pastor of Cross Church in Arkansas, attended the dinner Monday as well as a similar White House dinner held last May for a smaller group of evangelicals.

In an interview with The Christian Post Tuesday, Floyd defended Greear's decision to attend Monday's dinner.

"Anyone that would criticize J.D. Greear for doing that really needs to understand the big picture. We can do one of two things. We can sit on the sidelines and pride ourselves that we have never done anything wrong and we are sinless. But we are not sinless," Floyd said.

"We have all fallen short of the glory of God and not just a few of us. We can sit on the sideline with spiritual arrogance like we are too good for this and we will not be contaminated or we can get involved.

"Jesus Christ did not say we need to be distinguished by our spiritual arrogance or by our scholasticism or by anything else other than one thing — love," Floyd added. "[Christ] said, 'Just as I have loved you, you love another.' I think everyone of us need to support the office of the presidency. We honor the office of the presidency and we speak in love, even when we are encouraging truth to be followed. We need to speak with love and live with love and we can't do that if we don't get involved."