Preachers Pick the Politicians?
Exhibit AKey Evidence
- Lorenzo Sewell is senior pastor of 180 Church in Detroit. He hosted Donald Trump’s June 2024 roundtable at the church, spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, and gave one of the benedictions at Trump’s 2025 inauguration.
- On the Worldview Matters podcast (host David Fiorazo), in a clip reposted by Right Wing Watch, Sewell said: “The preachers were always meant to pick the politicians, to anoint the politicians, and to appoint the politicians. It’s the preachers.”
- Sewell: “In the beginning … we didn’t allow people to run for office. The church picked people. That’s what happened.”
- The host’s characterization (not Sewell’s words): Wretched Watchmen calls Sewell a “Christian nationalist” in “the Dominionist movement.” His answer: “You won’t find anything in scripture about how that’s supposed to be run. You won’t find anything in the Constitution…”
- For fairness: in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from 1631, only church members could become freemen, who voted and held office. Even there, the church didn’t choose the candidates. The U.S. Constitution bans any religious test for federal office (Article VI).
- At a Turning Point USA “America: Love It or Leave It” tour stop at the University of Iowa (October 2026), Ben Shapiro said: “If you’re not Jewish, all you have to do is fulfill seven basic rules. They’re called the Noahide laws… If you do those things, you’re in heaven.”
- For fairness: this is a standard Jewish teaching about righteous non-Jews (traditionally listed in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a). Shapiro was explaining his own faith; he was not proposing law for anyone.
- The host’s objection is theological: “Do these things and you’re in heaven. So, works based… there’s no gospel, because he doesn’t even mention it.” He argues TPUSA’s church outreach “has everything to do with pushing politics.”
- The biblical lens: salvation comes by grace through faith in Christ, not by keeping a list of rules, and Christ’s kingdom isn’t won by picking politicians.
Exhibit BFrom the Word
“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.””
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
Source: Zak Spiro · Wretched Watchmen on YouTube
Prophecy Misfits with Wretched Watchmen, Episode 431. Segment runs about 1:35:08–1:44:40. Watch the full episode at the source.
ClassifiedFull Briefing
Preachers Pick the Politicians? Lorenzo Sewell, TPUSA, and the Noahide Laws
Source: Prophecy Misfits with Wretched Watchmen, Episode 431. Segment runs about 1:35:08–1:44:40.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHzSkKX5rz4
The claim
Lorenzo Sewell is senior pastor of 180 Church in Detroit. He hosted Donald Trump's June 2024 roundtable at the church, spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, and gave one of the benedictions at Trump's 2025 inauguration. He has also spoken at TPUSA Faith's pastors' summits. On the Worldview Matters podcast (host David Fiorazo), in a clip reposted by Right Wing Watch, he said:
"The preachers were always meant to pick the politicians, to anoint the politicians, and to appoint the politicians. It's the preachers. And as a matter of fact, if you look at the history of our church and the history of America, we know that in the beginning … we didn't allow people to run for office. The church picked people. That's what happened."
The response
Wretched Watchmen describes Sewell as a "Christian nationalist" in "the Dominionist movement." Those labels are the host's characterization. He answers: "You won't find anything in scripture about how that's supposed to be run. You won't find anything in the Constitution… You won't find anything in the Declaration of Independence about how that's supposed to be run."
Historical context, for fairness: some colonies did tie political rights to the church. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from 1631, only church members could become freemen, who voted and held office. Even there, the church didn't choose the candidates. The U.S. Constitution bans any religious test for federal office (Article VI), and it gives the choosing of officials to voters, state legislatures and electors, not to churches.
TPUSA and the Noahide laws
The host then points to a Turning Point USA "America: Love It or Leave It" tour stop at the University of Iowa (October 2026). There, Ben Shapiro answered a student's question about faith:
"As a Jew… we don't believe that you have to be Jewish in order to get into heaven… If you're not Jewish, all you have to do is fulfill seven basic rules. They're called the Noahide laws… If you do those things, you're in heaven."
This is a standard Jewish teaching about righteous non-Jews (traditionally listed in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a). Shapiro was explaining his own faith; he was not proposing law for anyone. The host's objection is theological: "Do these things and you're in heaven. So, works based… there's no gospel, because he doesn't even mention it." He goes on to argue that TPUSA's church outreach "has everything to do with pushing politics."
The biblical lens
"Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.'" John 18:36 (NKJV)
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." Galatians 2:16 (NKJV)
Salvation comes by grace through faith in Christ, not by keeping a list of rules, and Christ's kingdom isn't won by picking politicians.