The imminent revival, part 14 — leaving the cult of Donald Trump

I recognize that the very title of this entry will by definition upset a number of people because I’m suggesting that many folks who are followers of Donald Trump belong to a de facto cult. But, myself having been tangentially involved in one about two decades ago — just one conversation back then kept me from crossing over — I do believe that, following several recently-published articles and recent comments by such disparate entities as Dan Rather and George Conway, that’s the case.

In my case, a then-future, now-former girlfriend living in Chicago had gotten caught up in a local branch of the International Church of Christ. Normally I can spot spiritual frauds from a mile away, but racial diversity, which this church did have, in a church was and since has become important to me so I was initially intrigued. The church wasn’t yet in Pittsburgh, so a male friend of this friend wanted to recruit me long-distance, and I became suspicious when I challenged him and he retorted, “We're the only ones who teach [baptismal salvation],” which I knew to be false and I told him so. It's my conviction that any one group that claims to have ultimate truth to the exclusion of all others is by definition false.

This is part of what we’ve always seen with Trump. And he has never made any bones about that, saying during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, “I alone can fix it” — which, frankly, horrified me and should have been a warning to every Christian out there. In essence, with that line Trump tried to set himself up as God, which is essentially what cult leaders do. Too many believers, having gotten caught up in the culture war — which, ironically, was introduced into the church by non-believers — took the side of anyone, regardless of faith or moral stance or even the lack thereof, who would support “family values,” most notably an anti-abortion position as supported by God Himself.

The trouble is, of course, that God never actually says these things; in fact, He’s not remotely interested in having temporal political power so that Christians can operate unmolested (indeed, the Word of God indicates just the opposite, that true believers will eventually undergo persecution). If anything, the small but growing number of believers who are recognizing this danger to the faith are themselves being ostracized.

One thing about cults, however, is their leaders, often held above suspicion or even the law, eventually are taken down from their pedestals. Remember that God refuses to be mocked or take even second place in people’s hearts and thus such leaders, including the guy at the top of the ICC, always subject themselves to some type of scandal or utter collapse — which is what the current impeachment hearings are about. (No, Trump isn’t at all being “persecuted”; if anything, he’s finally being held accountable for the things he’s done and said over the time of his administration.)

So what does this have to do with “revival?” Well, one thing that it entails is the renunciation of other, false gods — and let’s be honest in saying that Trump has become one. Once he has been purged from our collective psyches we can get to the business of seeking the True and Living God.

My friend’s story does have a happy ending. I knew from the start not to inundate her with all the information I had, so I waited for her to discover the truth on her own about what she had allowed to take over her life, and she ended up leaving the ICC after three years. People later told me that I had done the perfect “exit counseling,” but it was small consolation to me that I was proven right because I knew that she would continue to suffer for a while longer.

We will need that kind of compassion toward Trump supporters who are now being led around by the nose but, once he goes down, will feel lost. This is where spiritual growth can start, with a renewed commitment to the will, plan and purpose of God.

Not being ‘bought off’

Recently the reelection campaign of Donald Trump, in his outreach to African-Americans, produced a meme touting the lowering unemployment rate and reduction of prison sentencing as a reason to vote for him next year.

He can quit right now, because the vast majority of us aren’t being bought off so easily. We have more character than that.

The reason is that much of our dilemma has always resulted from political, not economic, forces beyond our control. This goes back to the days of the civil-rights movement, when many of the day’s foot-soldiers belonged to the professional, academic and mercantile class — you know, the people who were already “making it.” (Most Southern cities had their share of black millionaires.) Yet they couldn’t vote and, in many places, found themselves harassed, perhaps even killed, by police or mobs were they to venture into the “wrong neighborhood.”

We see that today, and yet society refuses to address that issue. States controlled by Republican legislatures often gerrymander districts to dilute black voting power or create other barriers, most notably voter-ID laws, to suppress that vote. And let’s not forget that three years ago that now-former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to protest police brutality — and the haters, most notably President Trump, went ballistic. Some said, “Couldn’t he have found another way to make his point?”

The short answer is “no”; the longer answer is that they don’t have the authority to determine how someone else protests when they’re not affected. See, it doesn’t matter how much money you make if a policeman stops you for no real reason, and that needs to be addressed culturally and politically.

That’s why, to us, unemployment numbers don’t mean a hill of beans. We want the ability to live in peace without being regarded suspiciously, and that will take a lot more than a few more bucks in our pockets.

A trick of the devil

Some years ago I heard one pastor describe Islam as “Satan’s masterpiece.” That may sound good on the surface, especially if you’re anti-Muslim, but I would disagree with that wholeheartedly.

The real problem here is not Islam but the so-called religious right.

I say this because of one truth that often escapes us: The Enemy knows the Scripture better than any of us and would thus twist it ever so subtly to try to sabotage the Kingdom of God. After all, that’s what he did while tempting Jesus in the wilderness, recorded in Matthew 4:6. (Of course, He wasn’t having it.)

The thinking has long gone that giving more cultural and political power to Christians, most notably at the expense of their perceived enemies — primarily but not exclusively on the American political left — would result in a more prosperous society. Many have convinced themselves that with the right people in high political office spiritual revival would break out, so they contributed large sums of money to lobby groups and media “ministries” to bring that to fruition.

But over the last several decades — I first became aware of the “religious right” in 1980 — there has been zero movement in that direction; indeed, the TV evangelist scandals of 1978-88 put a serious crimp in that quest for hegemony. I can’t help but think that God Himself engineered that unmasking of corruption among His people due to the belief among some Christian “leaders” that they were the forerunners of renewal without understanding what that really took — humility in allowing God simply to use them in the way that He saw fit. That’s one thing the devil knows that he can’t duplicate because he hates the very attributes of God.

Sadly, many still haven’t learned that lesson, so they’ve gone back to the old playbook that never really worked in the first place, giving credence to the old definition of insanity as doing the same things and expecting different results. And if anything, they’ve redoubled their efforts to take power, which is why many support for president a scofflaw, failed businessman and serial adulterer who thumbs his nose at the commands of God. It’s no wonder why many of the millennial generation are leaving evangelical churches — their elders’ being distracted and seduced.

That’s just what the devil does — divide and conquer — and weakening the enterprise in the process.

At some point we’ll have to recognize that we’ve been hoodwinked with politics, encouraged to put our trust in it rather than God. I don’t pretend to know just what that will entail, only that our present path has already led to dead ends. And that doesn’t glorify God.