Pray for Roy Moore, and the Church, to respond to recent allegations with upholding the Bible and honoring God as our  primary motives.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)

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While we wait for new evidence to come forward, let’s talk not so much about what Roy Moore did or did not do, but what those who attack or defend the 70-year-old candidate from Alabama are saying….

The first, if true, should disqualify him from becoming a senator. The importance of the second to Moore’s current election prospects depends on whether he has a self-righteous understanding or a Christ-righteous belief.

Let’s mull over the JMC Analytics poll—taken before news of lawyer Gloria Allred bringing forward a new Moore accuser—that shows nearly two-fifths of Alabama evangelicals saying the accusations (undifferentiated) make them more likely to vote for Moore. Almost another two-fifths said the accusations make no difference in their voting plans.

That’s troubling but unsurprising, for three reasons. First, a poll from Winthrop University shows nearly half of white Southerners feeling they are under attack—and thus more likely to welcome a defender like Moore.

Second, the old saying “In for a dime, in for a dollar” can now be reversed to “In for a dollar, in for a dime.” Evangelicals who voted for presidential candidate Donald Trump despite his sexually degrading statements and apparent actions are also more likely to support a marred candidate for a lower post.

A third reason is also significant: Four decades ago women, especially in the South, often married earlier than is now the custom. Moore was a West Point graduate in a hardscrabble part of Alabama, so it’s not surprising that one mother thought Moore was “good husband material,” and another thought her daughter would be “lucky” to date him.

This doesn’t mean it was right—I’ve seen professors taking advantage of college students, and I believe it’s similarly wrong for an assistant district attorney in Gadsden, Ala., to use that aura to kiss high school girls—but we should pay more attention to the testimony of Leigh Corfman, who was 14 in 1979, and not mix up the immoral with the inappropriate.

If Corfman’s testimony holds up, we should not give Moore a pass because his vote in the Senate could be politically important in the battle against abortion. Making decisions on that basis increases our cultural debasement—and that means more ruined lives and more dead babies. Basically, we need to be concerned more about the gospel than about any particular election. The Good News is not a favorable political poll but the Bible’s announcement that God saves sinners.

Overall, evangelical discussions about Roy Moore will be fruitful if the Bible rather than an election becomes foremost in our thoughts. If we pretend that we or our favorite candidates have not sinned, we are self-righteously proclaiming that we don’t need Christ—because only His sacrifice on the cross makes it possible for God to be perfectly just and perfectly grace-giving….

Bottom line: We do a disservice to God’s holiness when we minimize sin. We do a disservice to God’s mercy when we maximize it. We do a disservice to evangelism when we say or believe winning an election is more important than telling the truth about God’s glory and our sinfulness.” (Excerpted from World Magazine , opinion by Marvin Olasky.)