Jentezen Franklin on Why Pastors Must Speak Up About Immigration, Fentanyl Deaths, and the Battle for America's Pulpits
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Jentezen Franklin on Why Pastors Must Speak Up About Immigration, Fentanyl Deaths, and the Battle for America's Pulpits
Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of Free Chapel and one of America's most influential spiritual leaders, addresses why remaining silent on cultural and political issues is no longer an option for Christian pastors. Speaking candidly about the fentanyl crisis claiming church kids, illegal immigration consequences like Laken Riley's murder, and the targeting of children through gender ideology, Franklin makes the case that pastors have a biblical duty to be watchmen on the wall. He explains how the silence of pulpits has allowed America to lose ground, and why speaking biblical truth, even when culture calls it wrong, is not about politics but about justice, compassion, and protecting the next generation.
Jentezen Franklin pastors Free Chapel, a multi-campus church with locations primarily throughout Georgia, as well as in South Carolina and California. His ministry reaches millions through weekly broadcasts on Real America's Voice, where he combines biblical teaching with unwavering clarity on cultural issues facing the nation.
When asked about pastors who avoid political or cultural topics in favor of preaching only the gospel, Franklin offers a direct response: he cannot separate his faith from the nation, schools, and cities where his children and grandchildren live. He believes in freedom and has no anger toward those who disagree, but maintains that ministers have a responsibility to boldly proclaim God's word.
"If it's in the Bible, it's right. If the Bible's clear on it, then we should be clear on it," Franklin states. "The Bible's clear on life. The Bible's clear on marriage between a male and a female."
The Silence That Cost America Ground
Franklin argues that the primary reason America has lost cultural ground—ground that is now being reclaimed—is the silence of its pastors. He describes what he sees as a battle for the pulpit itself, asserting that as the pulpit goes, so goes the nation.
"It's our fault. Let's be honest. The churches and the preachers know deep down," he says. He points to cancel culture as part of a larger spiritual battle targeting the very place where truth should be proclaimed most boldly.
Franklin emphasizes that silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality—it's negligence. He references Deuteronomy's command to "pursue justice," arguing that pastors who witness evil and remain silent are failing in their biblical calling.
The Laken Riley Case and Border Compassion
Franklin specifically addresses the murder of Laken Riley in Georgia, just 45 minutes from one of his church campuses. Riley was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been previously arrested for a crime involving a child but was released. Franklin describes her death as both tragic and preventable—a beautiful girl with an amazing future, now gone because of failed policies.
"How do I as a minister... if preachers don't speak up? We're not mad and angry, we're just saying this is wrong. Justice, justice you shall pursue," he explains. He calls the situation insanity and emphasizes that it is not just to allow someone to trespass into the country, be arrested for a crime, be released, and then murder a college student.
However, Franklin is quick to demonstrate that his stand for border security does not mean a lack of compassion. His church has built homes on the border to house young girls who have been trafficked, providing shelter for those with nowhere else to go. "We can be both," he insists. "We can take a stand for what is right and fight and not back down, but at the same time have great compassion."
He notes that America is already a generous nation that allows millions to immigrate legally, and that open borders are an insult to those who have waited their turn and followed the law. He also emphasizes that nations have a right to know who is entering—their background, criminal history, and intentions.
Franklin references a verse from Deuteronomy that warns if a nation allows foreigners into the land improperly, they will soon become masters—one of Moses's final warnings to God's chosen people in his farewell address.
Pastors as Watchmen on the Wall
When asked why the vast majority of pastors avoid cultural issues, Franklin turns to Scripture. The Bible calls preachers to be watchmen on the wall—those who look out and see encroaching danger and warn the people.
"The Bible said it's a dumb dog that will not bark," Franklin explains. "He called preachers who see danger coming, who see death coming, who see disaster coming for the families behind the walls—if you don't speak up, you're like a dumb dog that won't bark."
He argues that remaining silent when you see wrong and evil goes against authenticity and what you truly believe. For Franklin, silence is not an option.
Funerals for Fentanyl Victims
Franklin's passion becomes especially evident when discussing the fentanyl crisis. As a pastor who regularly visits hospitals and ministers to real people—not just preaching from a stage—he has witnessed devastating loss firsthand.
"I have preached more funerals in the last four to five years of fentanyl deaths of church kids who went off to college, went off to university, and probably didn't even mean to take something," he shares emotionally. "They just got in the wrong atmosphere, took something, and they're gone. And it's devastating."
Franklin insists that this crisis could be stopped, that something could be done about it. The grief he feels as a pastor burying young people who should have had their whole lives ahead of them fuels his conviction that speaking up is not optional.
Standing Firm on Biblical Truth
Franklin's church is multicultural, and he acknowledges that taking clear biblical stands has brought struggles. Still, he has preached the same way for 40 years and refuses to change now because culture says it's wrong.
"I don't tell people who to vote for," he clarifies. "What they do know is I stand strong on where the Bible is clear. If the Bible's not clear, that's your opinion and your choice. And even if people disagree with me, I don't have a problem with that."
He describes a culture where men in dresses and makeup read fairy tales to children in libraries, and where children as young as eight or nine undergo surgery to change their sex. "I can't say that as a minister? What do you mean? I'm not going to change. That's wrong. That's evil. That's destroying lives."
Franklin references the biblical warning: "Woe to those who call good evil and evil good." He believes that is exactly where America finds itself today—one of the most clear teachings in Scripture being violated on a massive scale.
A Call to Courage
Throughout the conversation, Franklin's message remains consistent: pastors must speak biblical truth, even when it's unpopular. The cost of silence has been too high—lost lives, destroyed families, and a nation that has drifted from its moral foundations.
He calls for a return to courage in the pulpit, not out of anger or hatred, but out of love for the people in the pews and the generations to come. For Franklin, being a true pastor means being in the weeds of real life—preaching funerals, visiting hospitals, and refusing to stay silent when lives are at stake.
