Is there a biblical case for Trump (part II of III)
“…but what about abortion?”
Some Christians agree with my assessment that Donald Trump is an unsuitable candidate for Christians to support, but they feel compelled to vote for him anyway due to his pro-life positions. Their logic is that Trump’s personal misdeeds are tolerable so long as his pro-life policies can be leveraged to save lives, which they view as paramount.
I would strongly disagree that Trump is the pro-life hero republicans think he is (link 1 | link 2), but let’s assume their logic for now.
The ends don’t justify the means
The temptation to simplify our electoral choices down to one issue for which we sacrifice other values is a false dichotomy we have created. Christians are called to obedience (Psalm 119:4), which means there is a limitation on the ways we seek to protect life and uphold justice or any specific biblical virtue. We pursue them but not at the cost of sin. And not at the cost of joining forces with a man who claims Christianity while defying its teachings. If we have to give outward validation, tacit support or otherwise tolerate the brazen, unrepentant sin of a politician who claims the banner of Christianity in order to pursue a singular good, then we’ve made an idol out of pursuing that good.
In doing so, we wrongly elevate our own self-righteousness by appointing ourselves worthy to determine the relative weight of different sins. James 2:10-11 reminds us that breaking the law in one area is the same as breaking it in another. Thus, the passion and repulsion with which Christians oppose abortion is right unless it leads us to sin or be complicit in others’ sin, which includes partnering with politicians who misrepresent the Gospel by publicly claiming Christianity while living in unrepentant sin.
Efforts, not outcomes
The more we dedicate ourselves to any singular good that is not God himself, the more we risk warping our understanding of God’s purpose and role for us in the broader Biblical narrative. Certainly, Christians are to value life and pursue justice for the unborn, but the scope of our efforts to achieve justice are limited by ethical boundaries provided in scripture. Though we are to pursue justice, we must avoid panic positions that transfer our faith from God and his ultimate sovereignty to the result of a particular election or Supreme Court appointment.
We have been given great responsibility on earth, but we must operate within our God-given moral boundaries. It’s simply not our job to secure outcomes, which liberates us to pursue righteousness through obedience without being held to the ultimate result. Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s friend and partner in the Protest Reformation of the 1500s, was highly influential during the reformation but also prone to worrying. He worried about the fate of the reformation, which was monumentally important in Christian history, and their own lives. In these moments, Luther was known to say, “Let Philip cease to rule the world.”
Luther’s response reminds us that although we should work to end the practice of abortion in this country, we are not the unborn’s primary savior. Rather, we are God’s servants, faithfully following his commands but not expected to nor capable of instilling any particular justice in the world beyond God’s choosing through our best efforts under the law. It was never us who were in control of the world. We get to rest in the freedom that God is in control of all outcomes and won’t lead us into sin to complete His will.
But aren’t there some true moral dilemmas?
I recognize there are passages in the Bible where, presented with what appears to be a moral dilemma, the righteous character, such as Rahab who lied to protect the spies, chose an action counter to the letter of the law in order to serve a higher purpose (1 Sam 16:1-5,19:14; 21:2, etc). Opponents of my position could reasonably use examples like this to disagree. I don’t believe these examples constitute a like-for-like situation with the political landscape at present. Nevertheless, I acknowledge there are times when application of the law is not wholly clear. In these instances, I believe the Bible’s call to seek wisdom and discernment are critical as we aim to be led by the Holy Spirit for the best course of action (Rom 12:2, Heb 5:4, Eph 5:10, 17, Col 1:9).
So, although I’m confident in my position, I hold this singular and narrow argument against Trump more loosely than I do the others. Far be it from me to call sin what God may call right. But I would challenge readers who feel otherwise to give careful consideration to whether their inclination to practice selective obedience is, in fact, from the Holy Spirit or just an instinctual loyalty to the Republican Party or personal vendettas against abortion and, further, to reflect on how their support of Trump will translate to unbelievers.
So what then?
I’m not suggesting Christians should be less passionate about the unborn, but I would challenge fellow believers to consider the relative indifference towards other actions that God has called sin in equal measure. It seems we are rightly disgusted by abortion, albeit misguided in the means we employ to oppose it, but are wrongly dismissive, if not permissive, of other sins that are no less destructive. While it’s right to hold all sin accountable, we would do well to apply more scrutiny to those displayed by our party’s nominee. I suspect this approach may lead us to participate in politics in a manner that doesn’t conflict with our witness and may yield more fruit as the church builds credibility among unbelieving onlookers.
We must also re-define the meaning of ‘pro-life’, which should encompass the totality of human life. This should include seeking justice and care for all vulnerable populations and is addressed in welfare, immigration, health care, childcare and education policies. As Tim Keller has pointed out, neither party perfectly encompasses a Christian’s values as expressed in the Bible. Republicans do a better job of seeking justice for the unborn but fail in comparison to democrats in how passionately they support the poor, vulnerable and disenfranchised communities. Pledging unquestioning support to Trump for his pro-life policies sacrifices equally important biblical virtues that can be pursued through policy and politicians. Yes, the Bible calls for justice, so we should fight for the unborn. But it also calls for kindness, compassion, gentleness, humility, integrity, self-control and to be slow to anger, to name a few.
Conclusion
God gave us the blueprints and tools to pursue righteousness through politics while also operating under the law and character of God (Matt 4:1-11; 28:16-20, Gal 5:22-23). In these ways, we can participate in His kingdom work (John 18:36), not ours (Matt. 16:26).
This is not an exhaustive argument against Trump on the basis of pro-life matters. There are also legal and political realities that diminish any need to vote for Trump on these grounds. But for Christians, they’re secondary to the reasoning above.