An Unlikely Convert
Jay Sekulow grew up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He studied law. He was sharp, ambitious, and headed for a conventional legal career. In his twenties, a series of conversations and encounters led him to an unexpected conclusion: Jesus was the Messiah his people had been waiting for. It was the kind of revelation that reorders everything.
He didn't abandon his Jewish identity. He embraced the fullness of it. And then he started using his legal mind for something nobody expected.
The Supreme Court
Jay Sekulow has argued 13 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, most of them involving religious liberty. He founded the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), one of the most influential religious freedom legal organizations in the world. He has defended the right of religious groups to meet on public school property, the right of students to distribute religious literature, and the right of faith-based organizations to operate without government interference.
But the story that matters most to Jay isn't a legal victory. It's what happened inside the courtroom itself.
During one of his early Supreme Court arguments, Jay describes experiencing something he hadn't anticipated. Standing before the nine justices, making his case about religious expression, he felt the presence of God in the room. Not metaphorically. Tangibly.
"I was standing in the highest court in the land," Jay later said, "and I realized I was also standing in the presence of the highest Judge. And He was the one I was really arguing before."
The Ripple Effect
The ACLJ now operates in dozens of countries, defending persecuted Christians, fighting for religious liberty, and providing legal representation to people who can't afford it. Jay's cases established precedents that protect millions of people's right to express their faith in public spaces.
He went from a Jewish kid in Brooklyn to one of the most consequential religious liberty lawyers in American history. Not because he had a plan. Because he followed a calling.
What This Means for You
Jay's story blows up the idea that faith and intellect are enemies. Here's a man trained in one of the most rigorous intellectual disciplines on earth, who encountered God and decided the rational response was to go all in. If you've ever felt like faith requires you to check your brain at the door, Sekulow is evidence to the contrary. God doesn't need you to be less smart. He needs you to be fully yourself, fully surrendered, in the exact arena He placed you in.