Should Christians Listen To Rush Limbaugh?

As I reflected on my last post, The Importance Of Character In Leadership, it occurred to me that there are leaders that we might not recognize as leaders at first glance. One such type of leader are media opinion leaders, the people who shape public opinion by radio, television or other media. The current leader in talk radio is Rush Limbaugh, whose program airs at least 15 hours a week and attracts a minimum of 13.5 million listeners. Limbaugh proudly calls himself a conservative and in effect defines what conservative means for millions of Americans. Thus the equation Limbaugh = conservative is true for many people. Some believers have extended the equation to become Limbaugh = conservative = Christian and listen to Limbaugh to understand how a Christian should view the issues and politics of the day. Should Christians listen to Rush Limbaugh?

I have listened to Limbaugh on occasion while driving and agree with some things and disagree with others. My question in this post is not whether a Christian should ever listen to him, but whether a Christian should listen to Limbaugh for hours weekly and take his opinion as how to think on current issues. Most people listen to their pastors for maybe 30 minutes a week on Sunday mornings. If they listen to Limbaugh for hours weekly, who will more shape their thinking and character? The answer would be Limbaugh. Whether you believe his talk is changing you or not, it is. Proverbs 13:20 (NIV) He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. In other words, whoever you listen to, whoever you spend time with, you become like.

My argument in my last post about character in leadership was that the qualifications that the Bible lists for church leaders are essential qualifications for any leadership position. If a person does not do well in this character test, then according to God's Word, they would not be a wise person who should be listened to or personally followed. As a pastor, I am unconstitutionally muzzled by IRS regulations from applying this test to politicians, but am free to apply it to a talk show host, such as Rush Limbaugh. How does Limbaugh measure up?

The first requirement of character is in relationships according to 1 Timothy 3:2-7. A leader must be "the husband of one wife" and "must manage his own family well." The reason is given that if anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he manage or lead anything larger? Although this character requirement is consistently ignored today, it is nevertheless true. How has Limbaugh done? Let's do some research by going to Wikipedia's article on Limbaugh. Under the paragraph on relationships, we find that Limbaugh has been married and divorced three times. He has certainly never learned to manage his own family or wife.

The second character requirement has to do with the qualities that make up a good reputation in God's eyes. A leader must be temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome and not a lover of money. This is a little more difficult to judge, especially as I do not listen to Limbaugh regularly. In my opinion, I would not want my children to grow up having the character of Limbaugh. He tends to see everything as black or white, either you are a conservative according to his definition or you are a liberal. Certains word such as humble, gentle, not quarrelsome and temperate do not readily come to mind when listening to Limbaugh. The whole issue of his problem with prescription drug addiction and fraud concealment of related information does not make for a postitive role model. Perhaps, an easier question to answer is whether you would want to spend a lot of time around someone with Limbaugh's personal character qualities. I would not.

The third character requirement is the leader's belief system. Where do the principles he lives by come from? Limbaugh has written The 35 Undeniable Truths that form his core principles. Truth number 20 says "There is a God." Nothing in the truths about Jesus or the Bible. Some of Limbaugh's principles could be derived from the Bible, others could not be. I have not seen any type of testimony by Limbaugh with regard to his personal salvation. His talk show certainly is not the place to learn a comprehensive biblical worldview despite some overlap of his truths with biblical principles. I believe that Christians would be far better off reading their Bibles and discussing it's implications with other believers in their churches than to waste significant amounts of time listening to Limbaugh.

I conclude that Christians should not spend much time listening to Limbaugh, God has much better ways for you to spend your time. Learn to think and reason from the Bible for yourself, rather than parrot the latest Limbaugh opinions. Limbaugh has filled a vacuum that existed in America for relevant biblical teaching on the issues of the day. It's time to recognize that Limbaugh does not have the character of a leader worth listening to. Christians should be known for thinking biblically, not whether they conform to anyone's definition of conservative or liberal. I encourage you to apply the leadership character test to political candidates to determine who to support and vote for. For my part, I am beginning to write this year about current issues from a biblical perspective. I trust that the conversation will be helpful.

Real Answers for Real People
Full Life Community Church - St Louis
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