Jesus was not perfect ..what?

By now you’ve probably heard the clip by Don Lemon, who is an anchor at CNN, declaring that Jesus, “admittedly was not perfect.” His cohost Chris Cuomo nodded agreeably only a few days after he declared, “You don’t need help from above. It’s within us.” 

Obviously, these two quotes caused a stir, especially the one by Lemon. Thousands of Christians responded with shock and horror as Don Lemon (who is staunchly anti-religion, though he claims to still keep a relationship with God) uttered words that clearly contradict the Bible.



If you go on Twitter (enter at your own risk) you will see many rebukes of Don Lemon. Many Christians responded in shock at Don Lemon’s claims about Jesus’ imperfections.

But I wonder if many stopped to think about what his declaration actually reveals about Christianity at large in America.  

Don Lemon might believe that Jesus Christ was imperfect and that the Bible teaches this fact. I mean technically he is in the majority. Only 31% of all adults in America disagree strongly with the idea that Jesus committed a sin during His life on earth. And that’s with the loose view of what sin actually is.

While I understand why Christians are disturbed with Don Lemon’s claims, I think that it sadly reveals more about Christians than it does about Don. I’d like to offer some thoughts about it - Christians don’t evangelize enough 

If Christians were regularly evangelizing the lost, they would know that most non-Christians actually agree with Don Lemon. Instead of reacting in sheer horror at the notion of a non-Christian believing heresy, they would expect it.

Most people I’ve talked to not only have a distorted view of sin, but they have no idea about the sinlessness of Christ nor the importance of it. The fact that people respond to Don Lemon with outrage is a sign that they have forgotten the truth found in 2 Timothy 2:26 that unbelievers are “ensnared by the devil, having been  held captive  by him to do his will.”

At the same time the fact that so many unbelievers  (how many of the 31% know the Lord?) can clearly articulate and even give mental assertion to the impeccability of Christ is what should be considered astounding.  

Christians haven’t evangelized Don Lemon. Don Lemon says that he felt relief the day that he finally stopped “praying the gay away.”  So quite clearly he was told growing up about the dangers of a homosexual lifestyle, and rightfully so.

But the question that I am wondering is did he ever actually hear the Gospel? 

I mean how many Christians has he come in contact with? How many Christians had the opportunity to share the truth about the great exchange with him but cowered away in fear?

I think his declaration about Christ’s imperfections actually might reveal more about the Christians’ cowardice in his life than about his cognitive ability. Because clearly, though I disagree with pretty much most of what he says, he is a smart man.

If, in fact, he actually believes that Christians can keep their Christianity while ditching the perfection of Christ, then he has clearly never heard why that isn’t so, he must read this post, and the Christians that God has sovereignly placed in his path must strap their boots and act like the ambassadors of Christ that they claim they are. And at the same time, we who have plenty of Don Lemons in our own life must take the opportunities that God gives us as well.

Many unbelievers see politics in everything 



I was struck by both Don Lemon’s answer as well as Chris Cuomo’s. Lemon and Cuomo both start with politics and let that dictate their theology. In Don’s case, in order to make the point that the founding fathers were imperfect, he says that Jesus, Himself, was imperfect.

He is so blinded by his political point that it is affecting his understanding about who Jesus is.





Chris Cuomo is similar. He is so fixated in the belief that people are inherently good, and that they can together make society more perfect, that he ignores history (it’s never worked before) and abolishes the need for God’s intervention and help.

But what is really telling is that time and time again they associate Jesus with Trump.

This shows the difficulty that we have in sharing the Gospel. While I think God opens many doors for us to be able to share the truth of His word, including truths that intersect with politics, I think that Christians will have to be even more careful over the next few months and years. We have to watch our social media accounts, as well as what we say when we talk to unbelievers.

The question is what is your goal? Are you trying to make your neighbour agree with your political allegiances or your spiritual ones? Honestly, I wonder how many Christians in Don Lemon’s life spent more time talking about the perfection of conservatism and never once mentioned the perfections of Christ. How many times did they declare the foolishness of communism while never declaring the ”foolish” message of the cross? (1 Cor 1:8)

Friends, instead of being outraged at unbelievers doing and saying unbelieving things, let us, instead, be heartbroken, and let it cause us to go and declare the truth with more abandon than ever before. The world is worse off than you think, people more sinful than you believe, and the Gospel is sweeter and more powerful than you could ever imagine. Believe it and share it with a dying, heretical world.

Author: Cripplegate