(Editor's Note: This article was first published in the January/February 2023 edition of the print version of The Stand.)
Jenna Ellis, a special counsel for the Thomas More Society (TMS), is a new voice on American Family Radio. TMS is a public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty.
Her show, Jenna Ellis in the Morning, debuted January 2 during morning drive time (weekdays, 7-8 a.m. CT).
Previously, she served as legal counsel to President Donald Trump during his term of office. She recently visited The Stand staff to share plans for the new show.
A Christian perspective on law
According to Ellis, being homeschooled and growing up in a Christian home provided mentorship and discipleship from her parents, grounding her in a Christian worldview.
In her teen years, she felt God calling her to pursue a career in law as a prosecutor. As Ellis began her legal studies, however, she was surprised to discover discrepancies between her Christian faith and what modern law schools were teaching.
“Law schools teach current and future lawyers that law is completely arbitrary with no measurable difference between right and wrong, good and evil – except what the legislature or the sovereign of any given government system sets,” Ellis explained. “That, of course, is fundamentally in conflict with the Christian worldview.”
That perspective of law did not sit well with Ellis, and in fact, created great disdain while she studied constitutional law.
Consequently, Ellis set out to discover if a solid argument existed for the idea that America is truly founded on Christian principles. The result of that study and research was her 2015 book, The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution.
“Christians not only have an argument,” Ellis said, “but we have the only argument that our government is required, by our Declaration and our Constitution, to preserve and protect the rights that God gives us.”
“That’s the sole purpose of government,” she added. “We can’t even have a conversation about defining our rights until we first define our relationship with God and who God is. That is what the founders recognized as truth that is self-evident.”
A calling, not a career
Ellis does not define her vocation as a career, but a ministry. She believes all Christians are ultimately fulfilling the Great Commission.
“Every job I’ve taken,” she stated, “including this one, has been because I have prayed, ‘Here I am Lord, send me.’ I
pursue opportunities I know God is giving me in ministry regardless of whether or not it’s the best career trajectory.
“I want to know that what I am doing today will best serve the Lord’s purpose, which is to win souls for Christ. Because if we’re forgetting that in the whole political and cultural conversation, then we’ve lost everything.”
“I want to help guide a conversation discussing political and cultural current events through a biblical worldview,” Ellis added. “I want to ask, ‘How as Christians should we be thinking?’ Not, what our feelings say, what the polls say, or any of that, but to ask, ‘What does God say?’”
Through that lens, Ellis believes listeners can ex- amine issues and determine truth. “I want to help people analyze issues and think through them, not in a way that’s just a talking point or headline, but more substantively,” she said.
“If we look at the span of world history, we’ve been at critical moments often, and we are at a critical moment now. This is nothing new. But God has ordained you and me to live in this moment, meaning He has a purpose for us.
“As Christians, this is our moment.”
