Bitterness over Biden

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.