CITIZEN: What does Governor Beshear’s faith actually teach him? Not much of anything.

A common refrain during remarks from Governor Andy Beshear is an appeal to his faith. Beshear, who is a deacon of an extremely liberal church in Louisville, will often situate his progressive ideology in the context of vague Scriptural principles absent their true context or authorial intent. Such an approach to God’s inscripturated word—ignoring context and authorial intent to justify political actions inconsistent with the Lord’s will as expressed through all of Scripture—is not only an act of unfaithfulness incompatible with a true Christian witness, but is a detestable lie about God’s character and His design for the created order that fails to accomplish the punishing of evil and promotion of good to which governing authorities have been commissioned (Rom. 13:3-4).

As an example, in signing a 2024 executive order (pictured) that prevented Christian counselors and pastors from sharing the Bible’s message on gender and sexuality, Beshear appealed to that same Bible’s words on the imago Dei (image of God). Beshear said, “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God, and where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act.” Beshear is certainly correct in saying that all people are made in the image of God, and that it is the government’s responsibility to step in and uphold public order and safety.

The problem with Beshear’s approach to these issues is that he uses faith as a means to provide what appears to be sincere cover for his radically progressive political ideology, rather than expressing, by faith, a coherent worldview and set of moral principles that are meant to reshape our minds and our actions in the world. In his comments on the executive order—thankfully nullified by the passage of HB 495 in the 2025 session of the General Assembly—he appeals to two distinct concepts that are worthy of attention: (1) the image of God, as mentioned above, and (2) the concept of harm.

As Beshear uses them, these concepts retain their worldly meanings while receiving a gloss of faith. To be made in the image of God is simply to be human—no more and no less. To be harmed is something as subjective as being told that what you want or what you feel is not good for you—a line of argument used by LGBTQ activists to seemingly discredit the biblical approach to counseling on gender and sexuality. The difference between Beshear’s use of these concepts and the Bible’s use of the same concepts, is that Scripture provides objective content and context for what these terms mean and how they ought to be understood in public discourse.

Everywhere that it is mentioned in Scripture, the image of God always refers back to Genesis 1 and 2, which provide a normative understanding that human biology is fixed and immutable. Using the image of God as an excuse to justify homosexual or transgender ideologies purposefully distorts how Scripture speaks about God’s image. Likewise, Scripture talks clearly on harm from a physical perspective. Physical harm brings a reciprocal punishment for the abuser, laws were instituted requiring individuals to protect others from physical harm on their property by fencing their roofs, etc. These are the harms with which government must concern itself under Romans 13, but Beshear again lies by leaving out such context.

What can this kind of faith teach someone? What kind of faith springs from fitting Scripture into a worldly mold rather than shaping the world by the mold of Scripture? Nothing. A faith that cannot tell you substantively what it means to be made in God’s image cannot account for the brokenness that befalls that image through sickness, disease, and disfigurement. A faith that cannot clearly delineate actual harm from hurt feelings cannot explain why government should lock up a serial killer if killing is what makes him happy.

It is only by submitting ourselves fully to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture that we can understand what is wrong with the world around us and how God has providentially ordered its restoration. As we recently celebrated the resurrection, that celebration was filled with reminders of two distinct, yet life-changing realities. First, the resurrection reminds us of our own profound brokenness. Following the events of Genesis 3, we are impacted in all facets by the presence of sin. Not only do our bodies age and fall victim to disease because of sin’s presence in the world, but humanity also suffers from sin’s noetic effects—a fancy theological term that refers to the impact of sin on our ability to think and reason rightly. As a result, the way that we think about ourselves and our neighbors can often be skewed toward ungodliness.

Second, Christ came as the only sufficient solution to humanity’s sinful state. Often connected with his comments on faith, Beshear will tell listeners that they are “perfect” just the way they are. If this was the case, why did Christ have to give up His life? The answer is simple: we are not perfect just the way we are, but Christ came to give His life as a ransom for many that we might then be freed to pursue a life pleasing to God despite our sin. While Beshear’s faith cannot account for the resurrection because it cannot admit the reality of human brokenness, a truly biblical faith affirms both man’s brokenness and Christ’s perfection. That biblical faith is what The Family Foundation fights for in Frankfort and throughout the Commonwealth. The faith once for all delivered to the saints.