Occasionally I’m asked why so many people who criticize what he does and how he operates hate President Donald Trump. Wrong question, truth be told.
Truly, we critics don’t hate him. If there’s any hatred here, it’s on his side of the political fence.
It has dawned on me recently that, for all the talk about
Trump supporting Christians, he doesn’t respect us — at all. In fact, if we Christians were to call him
out on his immoral behavior he would persecute us; we know this because he falsely
called “Christianity Today” a “far-left publication” after its then-editor Mark
Galli did so late last year.
Bottom line, the “81 percent,” what exit polls refer to as the
percentage of white evangelicals who voted for him in 2016, are in fact trapped in a feeling
of unrequited love. Despite what they may say, Trump doesn’t love us or anyone else — he’s simply using
us for the sake of power.
“But we’re using him to get Christian values back in public
life,” you may protest. No, by supporting him you’re actually sabotaging
Christian values.
What Trump can really go for, and in fact was elected to promote, is a form of heretical Christian nationalism that, if anything, has been rendered obsolete by the Gospel. And yes, that nationalism is itself inherently based on hate of some “other” — no concern whatsoever for those who are suffering, especially under the current worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
What Trump can really go for, and in fact was elected to promote, is a form of heretical Christian nationalism that, if anything, has been rendered obsolete by the Gospel. And yes, that nationalism is itself inherently based on hate of some “other” — no concern whatsoever for those who are suffering, especially under the current worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
That is why, as much as many of Trump’s Christian supporters refer to some great spiritual awakening under a Trump administration, it can never truly happen. There’s nothing inherently attractive about those who spend their time and
energy spewing anger toward targets deemed “unworthy.”
Moreover, Trump clearly desires and demands worship but,
unlike our God, isn’t at all benevolent. In this crisis in particular he has
shown his proclivity to favor those who flatter him. And let’s remember the
doctrine of “common grace,” which God bestows on all people, His or not — that flies
in the face of Trump, who divides folks into friends and enemies.
Clearly, Trump doesn’t love God and for that reason can’t
love anything or anyone else. Let’s not be fooled into thinking that he loves us.
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