Sunday vs Bully – Two pulpits at odds
Support for President Trump by some of the Evangelical Christian community’s most well-known leaders has crossed a concerning threshold. Christian pastors must respond.
- In October, Franklin Graham stated that it was almost demonic not to support President Trump. He went on to justify his support for the President by citing the economy.
- Paula White-Cain, President Trump’s salaried spiritual advisor, has uttered similarly wild statements, such as “To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God,” conflating the truth that God appoints leaders with the untruth that it means we must support them at any cost and without question or critique.
- Jerry Falwell Jr regularly uses his platform as a Christian leader to antagonize democrats and non-Trump supporters on Fox News and Twitter (often times for matters unrelated to faith) under the auspices of Christianity, blurring the lines between Biblical teaching and political views.
These examples hardly scratch the surface, but they’re illustrative of a growing problem whereby prominent Christians are using their positions of spiritual authority to promote unqualified support for President Trump.
“Unqualified” includes minimizing shortcomings that might otherwise be levied against leaders of a different political party. It means writing off traits like unrepentant arrogance, lying/misleading or using crude and unkind language as personality quirks that may not be preferred but are treated as permissible despite the Bible’s clear teaching on the topics (Prov 16:5, Prov. 19:9, Matt 12:36, among many more).
This spectacle is exceptionally surprising and ironic if you’re familiar with Biblical teachings.
Trump is the antithesis of the example that Jesus set for us in the Bible. He is nearly void of apparent virtue, reckless in word and deed.
Of course, all people are sinful, so we should never expect anything near perfection from anyone, including Trump. But, as Christians, we know two things to be true.
First, the Bible instructs us to demonstrate our faith through our words and actions, so people will know our heart by the fruit it produces (Matt. 7:16-20, John 15:1-27, Gal 5:22-23).
Trump’s behavior raises serious concerns in this regard. If he harbors admirable qualities, they are kept hidden. Again, our sinful nature prevents perfection, but we shouldn’t have to dig up the garden to uncover some fruit.
In Trump’s case, evidence to the contrary abounds. It’s overwhelming to think about compiling an exhaustive list of his public misdeeds. With over 7,700 tweets in 2019 alone (21 per day on average), there’s literally not enough time for a normal working person to catalog his public indiscretions just on social media.
As president, his control of the “bully pulpit” – the largest platform in the world to promote beliefs – is squandered daily as he chooses to embark on arrogant rants, public bullying, name calling and conspiracy promotion rather than striking a conciliatory posture and kind tone, irrespective of the policies he seeks. (In fact, those who do the latter have been labeled “polished politicians” and “politically correct” by Trump supporters.)
Second, we know the only sin that is unforgivable is the one we refuse to repent of – the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Mark 3:28-29, Matt 12:31-32, Luke 12:10. This is the willful refusal to repent of sin as an admission of our depravity and need for salvation.
Donald Trump made it clear on more than one occasion (Interview, CSPAN) that he believes he’s not in need of forgiveness.
Only God can judge souls, so I won’t comment on his ultimate fate except to say I genuinely hope and pray he will be saved. And I would be remiss to label anyone a non-Christian for behavior alone, because faith is a matter of the heart. But at the present time, it’s clear President Trump is not a Christian.
Why is this distinction important?
I raise this only to expose the irony of the Christian church’s explicit support for him and call on Christians to hold those who use the Bible to defend President Trump accountable if, for nothing else, the sake of our non-Christian audience.
As David French recently said, “When Christians support Trump, they tell the world that they don’t really mean what they say. They tell Americans that the pursuit of power is more important than the preservation of virtue.”
Are Christians and Trump supporters mutually exclusive?
You can support Trump and be a Christian at the same time, just not because you’re a Christian. But it’s on you to explain how you square your faith with your political advocacy.
There should be room for Christian leaders to voice support for worthy candidates. But if Christians insist on believing Trump is worthy of the Church’s endorsement, there should be outspoken accountability regarding his bad behavior – meaning the criticisms should be equally as fervent as the praise.
Given that no human is perfect, it follows that no human deserves complete and undying defense by his supporters. Though God appoints all leaders – republican and democrat – he does not call us to blindly support sinful behavior.
Separation of church and state?
I’m a proponent of the separation of church and state. Christians can vote non-Christians into elected office without guilt. The reason this situation is different is because the Church is wrongly applying Scripture to justify their support of a non-Christian.
But he appoints pro-life judges…
I hear most often that Trump’s Christian support comes from his willingness to appoint pro-life judges. I too am pro-life and am sympathetic (though not in agreement) to single-issue voters in this regard.
But it doesn’t explain why Christians voted for Trump in the 2016 republican primary when every other candidate on stage also supported pro-life judges.
Either way, this transactional approach to politics is a dangerous one.
Matthew 16:26 and Mark 8:36 warn about prioritizing our pursuit of earthly power at the cost of losing our souls in the process.
In other words, what is the cost of attaining earthly political power by any means necessary – in this case by building a cozy political alliance with someone whose worldview is largely at odds with the Christian worldview?
For one, we sacrifice other equally important virtues the Bible teaches. Yes, the Bible calls for justice, so we should fight for the unborn. But it also calls for kindness, compassion, gentleness, self-control and to be slow to anger.
None of these virtues are mutually exclusive unless we choose to follow leaders who make them to be.
A “means justifies the ends” approach is not a position taken by those who are confident in the sovereignty of God. So when well-known leaders in the Church parrot arguments that require sacrificing many Biblical instructions for the sake of one, something is deeply wrong.
This needs to be addressed at the pulpit
Politics is rightly an uncomfortable topic for pastors to broach. Christians span the political spectrum, so church leadership shouldn’t choose sides.
Now is the exception. When untruths are parroted by prominent Christian leaders, it has the effect of misleading believers and deterring non-Christians from a faith they observe as being held by hypocrites.
When the debate was elevated to this level, it crossed a dangerous threshold and brought with it a serious need for pastors to courageously and firmly talk politics on Sunday morning.
Especially now that some of these prominent individuals not only give Trump their unqualified support but also call those who don’t demonic, the Church needs clarity and leadership to denounce these false claims.
That’s why I was so encouraged to read Christianity Today’s editorial that took an intellectually honest view of President Trump. (Jerry Falwell Jr’s response is worth reading too. Note the sharp contrasts in tone, reason and logic. Then ask yourself which version reflects Jesus more.)
Calling all pastors!
Pastors have a responsibility to care for their flocks and keep watch over their souls (Heb 13, Prov 27:23, Acts 20:28, I Peter 5:2, etc). With this in mind, it needs to be definitively stated from the pulpit on Sunday mornings that President Trump does not carry the flag for Christians.