It still amazes me just how many evangelical Christians are
still angry that their preferred candidate, Donald Trump, lost the 2020 general
election to Joe Biden. And we’re talking seven months down the road.
Folks are still railing about Biden’s alleged senility and
dementia. They’re insisting that Vice-President Kamala Harris is the real power
behind the president. They’re still complaining about alleged wholesale election
fraud.
None of these have been or will be proven — because they
have no basis in fact.
Folks, we need to get over ourselves because these
accusations are the result of sheer bitterness that was always there but is now
coming to the surface. Trump himself was a bitter person in his own right, which
is likely why much of the equally bitter “religious right” supported him. And
we know, because of numerous Biblical teachings, the result of unaddressed bitterness
(as I have personally experienced and since dealt with).
I wonder how many Christian Trump supporters have sat down
with God since then and asked Him, “What are You trying to tell us?” To this
day I’m convinced that Trump’s defeat was sanctioned by God, especially after he
arrogantly held up that Bible in front of that church last year, perhaps trying
to indicate that “God is on my side.”
Well, He doesn’t work like that — He’s God in His own right
and thus endorses no one. For that matter, He’s not a tribal deity deigned to
confer political power on certain folks, nor is the Christian faith reducible
to a set of political positions.
But because the above question isn’t being asked and its
ramifications aren’t being addressed, what we’re seeing today is a massive sabotage
of Christian witness. We’re seeing the result of placing our trust in fallible
political leaders rather than God, which is straight-up idol worship. We’re not
seeing hearts and minds transformed, and we’re not seeing unity of the Spirit
under the bond of peace.
The beginning of Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer,”
recited at 12-step recovery meetings, goes as follows: “God grant me the
serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things
I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”
I understand that defeat hurts, but God is far more
interested in how we handle it — because in this life no one gets everything he
or she wants. Moreover, whatever we receive here we must understand to come
from God, Who alone understands all the ramifications.
And that’s why it does us no good to remain bitter over Trump’s loss. It’s a sign that we still have some growing up to do.
