Life without Trump

Has anyone noticed just how quiet things have been in Washington, D.C. since now-former President Donald Trump has left office? It’s simultaneously boring and comforting not to have to notice the new regime in not only the White House but also in Congress.

And it’s not simply Trump and his political sycophants and enablers in the Republican Party that have gone virtually silent. We also have heard barely a peep out of evangelical leaders who not only supported him through these last four years but predicted — falsely, as things turned out — that he’d be in the White House for eight. I don’t know what they’re doing, but a part of me hopes that they’re now afraid to show their faces.

What’s even more gratifying to me personally is the collapse of the QAnon cult that held that Trump was going to bust members of the media and Democratic politicians that were engaging in a child-sex-trafficking ring, an accusation with no basis in fact. Many were hoping that the storming of the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 would spark those mass arrests; instead, some of his erstwhile followers have now dismissed him out of hand, calling him “weak.” (Which most of us already knew.)

And on top of that, social media outlets, citing violations of terms of service, not only banned Trump in light of the riot but some months previously also began shutting down QAnon-related accounts, prophetically citing the potential for real-world violence.

Here’s hope that the calm we may feel now produces some healing from the abuse that this nation has suffered over the past four years. But more than that: Similar to the Truth & Reconciliation efforts in post-apartheid South Africa, we need a full accounting of what actually happened and why so that it’s never repeated.

Some are saying that the second impeachment trial of Trump, tentatively scheduled for next month and which I believe to be just, isn’t necessary because it would “divide the country.” Nonsense, since the country already has been divided for four decades; he simply exploited that. We also know that he’s completely unrepentant so, although I don’t see him as returning to the White House, it’s up to us to make sure that he’s never in power again.

Above all, we Christians who did support him — of course, I’m not in that number — ought to take a look at ourselves to consider how we went wrong. Perhaps we focused too much on political and cultural power to allow the light of Christ to shine through. Perhaps we saw Trump as a messiah to rid the world of the “ungodly,” never mind his lack of commitment to any, let alone Christian, principles. There’s no question that our support of Trump has hurt the witness of the Gospel.

If we turn back to God with our whole hearts in humility, know what will result? The revival that people say that they want.

The result of ‘cheap grace’

Two weekends ago I was explaining to someone that the basic problem with the presidency of Donald Trump, thankfully coming to an end tomorrow, wasn’t merely political or ideological — it was theological in nature.

I didn’t appreciate just how true that was until I learned that the riot at the U.S. Capitol building two weeks ago featured “Christian patriots” in full force, believers invoking God and Christian music being played and sung. (And, I might add, alleged Christians using foul language in the process.)

At that, I was horrified.

Numerous Jews who survived the Holocaust have noted that Trump’s racist rhetoric was reminiscent of Hitler, not to mention the large number of supporters that he had. The reason I bring up Nazi Germany is that I’m reminded of the real problem with the church there was with what martyred German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.”

That failure of American evangelicalism, most notably in its “charismatic” wing, which dominates Christian media, is what really drives people away from a true knowledge of the Savior and the reconciliation that He represents. The thinking is, really, in practice that once personal sins are forgiven you can pretty much live the way you want. Sin, of course, runs much deeper than personal sins or those connected to sex, stealing or lying.

Back in January 1984, at the lowest point of my life, I attended a church retreat. During that retreat we held a communion service, and after I took the wine I burst into tears, saying, I killed Jesus, I killed Jesus. You see, as bad as things were, in that moment I was owning my own sin for the first time, not blaming anyone else for my predicament. More to the point, in that moment I recognized just what my internal condition cost God.

If you’re not mourning your sin in that or a similar fashion or at least have never done so, you need to check your heart. Because what that should and will produce is humility, a sense of “there but for the grace of God go I — how did I escape God’s judgment?”

Get that? “Grace” — which Bonhoeffer called “costly grace,” not making light of the things that people did, said or even thought that proved evil in the long run. Of course, Bonhoeffer was specifically referring to the church in Nazi Germany, most of which for the sake of preserving itself allied itself with Hitler. (The church failed in that mission, which is why it has so little authority today.)

The “media” wing of the American evangelical church is in similar danger today — and, indeed, has been for decades because it preaches “salvation” but not a separation, and thus transformation, from the world’s way of thinking. There is simply no way that it could whole-heartedly support such a corrupt, cruel, morally compromised, bullying person if it truly understood the grace of God.

And that is why I would never believe that Trump is a true Christian. He said in an interview some years ago that he couldn’t remember anything he had to repent for. He grew up in a church pastored by Norman Vincent Peale — remember the heretical “The Power of Positive Thinking”? — and applied that concept to his entire life, including some big-time denial specifically about COVID-19. Reports have come out that he actually relished the riot that took place two weeks ago rather than fall to his face and say, “What have I done?”

What I hope happens in light of the wreckage that supporting Trump has caused — leading much of the church to sabotage its own witness — that it would repent of the “cheap grace” that Bonhoeffer talked about. That’s the only way it will not only survive but thrive in what many folks see, falsely in my view, as an inherent hostility to religious faith during a Biden administration.

‘You just damned your cause’

In light of the riot Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol Building by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, I was reminded of a rant that Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald wrote in response to the terrorist attacks that took place on Sept. 11, 2001. Reading it again today, I noticed just how similar Pitts’ reactions were to how we should perhaps react to Wednesday’s actions.

They were those of, not to put too fine a point on it, terrorists inflamed by the president himself, who for the last two months complained, with no evidence, that the election, which he lost, was “stolen.”

And this isn’t new by any stretch. Trump has always been a violent man, threatening physical violence numerous times during his 2016 campaign. Nor should this come as any surprise, since probably the majority of his supporters are absolutely intolerant of anyone who disagrees — and have been for decades. It thus didn’t surprise me that they tried to hang President-elect Joe Biden with the pejorative “socialist.” That is, at best, an exaggeration — they simply want to exert power and control.

Not wanting to take responsibility for their role in Wednesday’s riot, following their infamous and fearful leader, they’ve taken to blaming it on left-wing “antifa” forces that supposedly infiltrated their ranks — again, without proof.

It will thus be interesting to see just how pro-Trump Christian leadership reacts to this. Many were ready to condemn Black Lives Matter for its alleged Marxist leanings, which they were likely convinced led to the riots — which, to be fair, took place in only a handful of cities and were fed by pro-Trump groups itching to fight.

But as I heard New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman say some years back, “Terrorists always overplay their hand.” That is to say, they’re so focused on the righteousness of their goals that to their mindset the means to achieve them was irrelevant. Numerous folks as disparate as Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Chicago Sun-Times columnist Sydney Harris have written that not only do the ends not justify the means but that the means can corrupt the ends, and I think they’ve done so in this case.

As Pitts wrote then, “Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.” We’re seeing that today, as GOP leadership that had previously supported Trump is now deserting him, numerous Cabinet secretaries are turning in their resignations and Democratic members of the House have asked Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to have Trump removed or, barring that, have drawn up more articles of impeachment.

I do believe that the healing has already begun, though it will take at least a generation to be fully reconciled because Trump supporters will continue to nurse their grievance and thus allow their bitterness full flower. But their cause has now been shown to the world as unjust — which is why, in describing 9/11, Pitts referred to it as “damned.”

I hear the sound of Baal

After Joe Biden was announced as the president-elect last month, many of President Trump’s supporters went into full-scale denial. Kenneth Copeland, known for “name-it-and-claim-it” theology, led an outbreak of laughter at a service, and other self-styled prophets said they absolutely heard from God that Trump would be reelected.

But for sheer lunacy, nothing beats the incantation of Paula White, a member of Trump’s religious advisory team who, during a so-called prayer, called in spirits from Africa and South America to overturn the election results and kept saying, over and over, “I hear the sound of victory.”

It seems to me that she was summoning spirits all, right — but not from God.

White also subscribes to what disgraced evangelist Jimmy Swaggart referred to as “hyperfaith” — that if you simply speak to what you want it’s guaranteed to be on its way. Trouble is, however, God will do that only if doing so serves His purpose and that the request is being made in humility.

And in the case of White, there’s not a shred of humility in her demand that the result be changed.

I was reminded of a situation described by a missionary in my church about three decades ago about a tribe in Southeast Asia that made a fetish and banged it every time a member wanted something from the gods. Of course, the missionary wanted the tribe to understand that God doesn’t work like that.

Then you had the prophets of Baal who, according to 1 Kings 18:20-40, were called out by the prophet Elijah and challenged to a duel. Remember what happened — the prophets of Baal called out his name all day and into the evening, even cutting themselves, with the sacrifice completely unmoved on their altar. After that, Elijah uttered a simple prayer—and his sacrifice was burned up completely.

Does that thus sound silly from a Christian perspective? Well, that’s what White appeared to be doing, apparently believing that if you prayed hard enough you would get the desired results. You could say that she was calling on Baal — who is no God at all.

If you haven’t noticed, Trump has lost the election — and here's why

It probably sounds absolutely crazy that much of the country has refused to accept that Donald Trump lost the presidential election seven weeks ago. Many of his supporters have complained that it was “rigged,” that, among other things, voting machines used in a number of states actually changed their votes (their manufacturer is suing Newsmax and One America News, two right-wing television networks making that phony charge, for defamation).

But what you’re seeing is a lot deeper than Trump — indeed, it has been for a very long time. The political populist right has long believed that power is its birthright and anyone who doesn’t agree with it is illegitimate.

We first saw this with Bill Clinton in 1992.

The right was so frightened of losing an election that it actually filed suit in Federal court in Little Rock, Ark. to have him removed from the ballot (the judge must have laughed them out of his courtroom). Within weeks of his inauguration bumper stickers began appearing that read: “Don’t blame me — I voted for [George H.W.] Bush.” Then you had right-wing media playing up Whitewater, a failed land deal that cost Bill and Hillary Clinton; and his alleged tomcatting and bogus accusations of rape. (Keep in mind that the Fox News Channel didn’t exist at this time.) Then you had H. Ross Perot as a spoiler, apparently taking enough votes from Bush in ’92 and Bob Dole in ’96 to hand the reins of power to Bill Clinton.

Ever since, supporters of the “radical right” wanted a Republican presidential candidate to trash-talk his or her opponents with impunity. George W. Bush didn’t. John McCain didn’t. Mitt Romney didn’t. (Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin came the closest.) Trump, however, did, which is why he’s literally worshiped — it had so much hatred for political opponents that even talking to them was considered surrender because they were considered sub-human.

The thing is, you can “go low” for only so long before folks start to react, which is something that Trump’s minions didn’t, and apparently still don't, understand. The “liberal snowflakes” certainly screamed when Trump got elected. But then, they began to organize, making some headway in 2018. 

That organization became even more focused this year, with groups sending texts to people encouraging them to vote — I received about a dozen such texts — and even the NAACP not only mounting a voter-registration drive but calling upon volunteers to reach out to black voters.

And those black voters came out strong, initially propelling Joe Biden to primary victories in the South, eventually handing him the Democratic nomination and later the presidency. (It didn’t help that Trump denounced the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer, giving them more ammunition.) Then you have his failure to address the COVID-19 epidemic, insisting that it would simply go away. (It should be noted that Trump was raised with Norman Vincent Peale, author of “The Power of Positive Thinking,” as a pastor, which might explain his reticence to do more.)

See, that’s the real reason that Trump complained about the election being rigged — he can’t stand the idea of people, especially those in power, opposing him. During his administration his whole mindset was exposed as defective and his failures were not only magnified but used against him. Even now that he’s playing out the string he’s failing to govern, filing these frivolous lawsuits to try to overturn the election results. And shame on those people trying to argue that “We wuz robbed!” Because they weren’t — they lost fairly and squarely and are about to have their boy turned out because of his own failure.

Let that word sink in — failure.

‘Authority’ vs. ministry

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

—   Mark 9:35

Have you noticed that, with all the money and connections that the “religious right” has maintained within the halls of power, it has precious little influence around the nation? Outside of it supporters, it has no real power to speak of.

There’s a reason for that.

See, it thought, erroneously, that focusing on “authority” — that is to say, passing laws and getting courts to agree with those supposedly biblical injunctions — was the key to spiritual renewal. Thing is, it never had any chance of doing so, for one simple reason: Seeking authority for its own sake is ruinous, not to mention futile.

In this case, Jesus is saying that any authority actually is derived from ministry — in fact, it’s a by-product.

My church, which I’ve attended for 22 years, has a great reputation in the immediate “at-risk” neighborhood where it’s located, not to mention the city at large and even around the country. It didn’t always, however, because just over 30 years ago it was a drive-in congregation disconnected from the community.

But under different pastoral leadership it committed to reaching out, even adjusting its culture to welcome those on the outside; over time, it grew from 400 to over 3,000 attendees. Most “church growth” experts were likely scratching their heads because trying to build a church that way didn’t, and still doesn’t, fit the model.

They miss the point, however — the church became, and remains, a place of service. One unusual thing about us is that a good two-thirds of adults, myself included, participates in some sort of ministry.

Even at its founding at the turn of the last century, that focus on service existed. When the founding pastor was asked to “superintend the work,” he responded that he couldn’t do so, “but if the Holy Spirit [would], I would gladly run errands for Him.”

The same goes for marriage, which as a newlywed I’m experiencing now. As the husband I have “authority” in the home but prefer to use whatever authority I’m under to serve my wife, not to push her around — whenever I do or say something that warms her heart I occasionally say, “That’s part of the job description,” in which I take great delight.

This is also why I believe that an administration headed by Joe Biden will prove to be more effective than that of Donald Trump, and it won’t take long for that to show itself. From what I see, Biden has always been more of a servant, seeking the best possible solutions to benefit the greatest number of people and working with those who might not agree with him, while Trump from the start was filled with braggadocio, thinking he could simply throw his weight around and get things done. (And he cared about getting the credit.)

Basically, the issue here is humility. A lot of these parachurch ministries claim to speak for God when He has not truly spoken, so when things don’t go their way they have a hard time trying to justify their pronouncements. Their heads wanted to be regarded as leaders, so they hyped up their campaigns and focused on defeating enemies, which raised a ton of money but got precious little accomplished — and I would say that their days are numbered because they not only forgot to serve the LORD but never really encouraged His people to do so.

Listening to the devil

I recently watched a video by “The Friendly Atheist” about several so-called prophets who were guaranteeing a second term for President Donald Trump. After the election happened and Joe Biden was declared the winner, Kenneth Copeland, known in some cases for his false teaching anyway, laughed — and led a congregation in laughter — at the results, and Trump “spiritual adviser” Paula White, in the midst of an incantation, called upon spirits in Africa and South America to overturn the result. I’m sure they believed, and told anyone listening, that they had heard from God Himself.

The problem, however, was not that they and others weren’t listening to God, though they weren’t. It’s that they were hearing the wrong voice and thus got off-track.

What they heard instead was the voice of Satan, who has only one goal: To keep people from recognizing God as He is.

Now, that’s not a charge I or anyone should make frivolously, that anyone could, should or would mistake the siren song of the devil for the voice of God. But the True and Living God won’t prophesy victory for the sake of giving His people a leg up politically, culturally or socially — indeed, He often predicts hard times for His followers despite, and in some cases because of, their faithfulness.

According to The New York Times, even before he officially announced his run for 2016, Trump was already making campaign stops promising largely-Christian audiences that “Christianity will have power” — which I immediately recognized as a temptation because when Christianity does gain power it almost always loses its purpose. Remember, the Gospel of Jesus Christ ultimately is about reconciliation, first between God and people and, then, people to one another — something you would never hear from these so-called ministries who mistake hype and spectacle for His Holy Word and Spirit. And that’s the real reason why, after over 40 years of activism and billions of dollars for advocacy groups in centers of political power, the “religious right” has so little influence.

Now these so-called prophets are being exposed as the charlatans they always were, and I hope their ministries collapse as a result. One thing about “prophecy” not often mentioned is that if a prophet got even one thing wrong in ancient Israel he or she would be put to death, not simply because of the particular thing about which he or she was prophesying but also misunderstanding the underlying issues that caused it. And in our nation today such underlying issues included economic disparity, racial injustice and poor political leadership, which are alluded to in the Scripture but none of which Trump or many Christians had any interest in addressing — and, also, the reason he lost.

I would say that it’s high time for many of us to admit that we were seduced by the temptation of “being No. 1,” something that God just doesn’t promise. Basically, we followed the devil into a rabbit hole and, as a result, got “caught up” in a program that diverted us from a true spiritual path of righteousness and justice. I hope the election will wake us up to our need for repentance.