One thing that should be clear by now: President Donald
Trump is no friend to Christians or the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You’ve likely heard about the scathing article by Mark
Galli, who is stepping down at the beginning of next year as editor-in-chief of
Christianity Today magazine, calling in an editorial for Trump to be removed from office due to his corrupt behavior — and
Trump reacted by calling CT, which has always referred to itself as somewhat
centrist, “far left-[wing]” and also receiving criticism from Trump-supporting Christians.
They miss Galli’s ultimate point, however: Supporting Trump,
for numerous reasons rehearsed elsewhere on this blog, is a drag on the witness
of the Gospel. I don’t think there’s any question about that.
Which gets me to thinking: What are Trump’s supporters’
goals? Cultural hegemony and power for themselves? Do they believe that one
follows Christ through osmosis? Or do they fear being challenged on what they
believe and why they believe it?
More importantly and frighteningly, however, is that they seem to want to avoid persecution for practicing their faith, never considering that resistance would make it stronger — as it is in the rest of the world. I would even venture to say that such folks don't even know just what the “Gospel” — think “good news” — entails.
At least for me, however, it’s about reconciliation with God through the cross of Christ and then with others. How do you, or why would you want to, reconcile with someone you regard as an implacable enemy? And I see, and indeed have always seen, absolutely no desire for reconciliation on the part of the “religious right” in general and Trump supporters in particular. It seems that many of of us settle for mere indoctrination in Biblical truth rather than consulting the Holy Spirit. (That may be why so many folks lack “the joy of the LORD.”)
Many of Trump's supporters are convinced that he will usher in spiritual renewal in this country, but that simply can't happen as long as they refuse to humble themselves and consider that criticism of them, especially their selling out their stated convictions for the sake of power, is actually deserved. That’s the true lesson of the Galli jeremiad — at times we need to accept that we miss the boat.
